Angels & Demons - 4/6

After seeing Ron Howard's take on The Da Vinci Code, I can't say that I was too pumped to hear that he was also directing the sequel. Frankly I don't think I can name a single Howard flick other than Far and Away that I actually love. But as a movie buff, I had to see it... and frankly, I wasn't too disappointed.

Basically, Tom Hanks returns as Robert Langdon, the man who discovered that Christ actually did sleep with Mary Magdalene and produce an heir to the throne of God, so the Catholic church isn't too stoked on him. But, when there's a terrorist threat against the entirety of the Vatican by what they assume is the secret organization known as the Illuminati, the men in red call on ol' Langdon to save the day.

For conspiracy nuts or anyone interested in religious history, this movie is for you. However it starts with this long drawn out process of a scientific experiment involving something called anti-matter which apparently some scientists believe is what caused the creation of the world. They call it the God Particle. If you're confused don't worry, I still am. This, plus the next 15 minutes or so of the movie were way too drawn out and confusing and I took points off the film for that.

The acting performances around the board were great. I love Tom Hanks, Stellan Skarsgard can do no wrong, and Ewan McGregor is Obi-Wan Kenobi! Obi actually has this incredible scene where he pleads with the Catholic cardinals to bend the rules and shows how science AND the church have wronged each other. The force was strong with him in this flick.

The pace of the movie was strange for a thriller as it was a race against time but with the way they edited in the music (a great score by Hans Zimmer), it seemed to jump from really intense to really slow to really stupid. Points off for that as well, although it definitely earned its musical points.

The cinematography was decent, although I think Salvatore Totino had a pretty easy time since it takes place almost entirely in Rome, and is it even possible to make Rome look ugly? Totino has chops though, maybe it's just time for him to break away from Ron Howard and try working with a new director that isn't Brett Ratner (Totino shot Changing Lanes, the Affleck/L. Jackson masterpiece).

All in all, it's an alright movie. It's not great by any means, but it's entertaining and if you love conspiracies and religion like I do, you'll probably like it.

As I used to do with The Weekly Re-Brew, I'm going to rate the movies I watch with beer bottles. I give Angels & Demons 4 out of 6 bottles, docked for its random music placements, its choppy editing and the fact that the first half hour of this movie is as boring as all get out.

Here's what The Brew had to say about the flick here.