DVD
REVIEW: ANGEL & DEMONS
11/22/09
OVERVIEW: The team behind the global phenomenon The Da Vinci Code returns for the box office smash Angels & Demons, coming to 2-Disc Extended Edition DVD and Blu-ray Disc™ November 24 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The film will also be available on 1-Disc Theatrical DVD, PSP, and for digital download. Two-time Academy Award® winner Tom Hanks (Best Actor: Forrest Gump, 1994 Philadelphia, 1993), Academy Award winner Ron Howard (Best Director and Best Picture, A Beautiful Mind, 2001), and bestselling author Dan Brown team up with Ewan McGregor (Star Wars trilogy, Big Fish), Ayelet Zurer (Adam Resurrected, Vantage Point), and Stellan Skarsgård (Mamma Mia!) on a thrilling journey through Rome as Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon (Hanks) discovers the shocking truth about the Illuminati, an ancient secret brotherhood who will stop at nothing to destroy its eternal enemy, the Catholic Church.
SYNOPSIS: In Ron Howard's thrilling follow-up to The Da Vinci Code, expert symbologist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) follows ancient clues on a heart-racing hunt through Rome to find the four Cardinals kidnapped by the deadly secret society, the Illuminati. With the Cardinals' lives on the line, and the Camerlengo (Ewan McGregor) desperate for help, Langdon embarks on a nonstop, action-packed race through sealed crypts, dangerous catacombs, and the most secretive vault on Earth!
FILM REVIEW:
Back in 2006 I found The "Da Vinci Code" to be one of
the best thrillers of the year. Not only intelligent by well
done in every aspect. All this regardless of the accuracy of its
facts. Since I have not read the book yet, my approach to
"Angels & Demons" is the same one that I followed
for the "The Da Vinci Code", watch the movie first,
read the book later. That seems to have worked for me in many of
the book adaptations to the big screen in order to avoid being
bias towards the book. With that in mind my expectations for
Angels & Demons were high, very high.
If you have read articles about
Dan Brown's books, probably you know that "Angels &
Demons" is the prequel to "The Da Vinci Code",
however the film is presented as a sequel by Ron Howard.
In doing this, Howard was able to present an experienced
Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks), especially when it came to action
sequence. This to me was a disappointment because for the most
part the Robert Langdon looks like an action adventure hero. At
times, he looks like MacGyver and at times he looks like James
Bond, when in reality he is just a professor.
Something that made "The
Da Vinci Code" interesting was how the clues that led to a
new destination where presented, at least the audience was able
to guess what was the next destination. I was expecting the same
in Angels & Demons, however in an attempt at making a non
stop action film, Howard decided to just rush the clues to the
audience and start an action sequence. I'm not going to say that
I don't like action scenes, but it took away that guessing game
that I love in this type of films.
What I found to be amazing in
the film was its cinematography and special effects. For a film
that was not allowed to be shot inside a Catholic Church the
film looks real.
Overall Angel & Demons
accomplished what most of the Summer film do, entertain, however
in any way this film is not better than "The Da Vinci
Code".
DVD: The
film is presented in a widescreen with a 2.40:1 aspect ration
preserving its theatrical format. The picture is complemented
with a 5.1 Dolby Digital audio in English and French. It also
includes English and French subtitles.
VIDEO:
2.40:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
AUDIO:
English and
French Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles - English SDH French -
Optional
SPECIAL
FEATURES:
“Rome Was Not Built in a Day” - The Filmmakers share their secrets to creating the world of Angels & Demons
“Writing Angels & Demons” - Dan Brown and the screenwriters discuss adapting his bestselling book into a movie
“Characters in Search of the True Story” - The cast share their experiences of bringing Dan Brown’s characters to the screen
“CERN: Pushing the Frontiers of Knowledge”
- A look at one of the world’s largest and most respected scientific research centers
RATING BREAK DOWN:
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