Angels and Demons - dir. Ron Howard

Angels and Demons is the sequel to 2006's The Da Vinci Code, which achieved notoriety for its perceived anti-Catholicism. I don't think it was anti-Catholic, just a rather clumsily told story. Angels and Demons is similar. In fact, in watching it one cannot but help feel a sense of deja vu as Angels and Demons contains all the faults of The Da Vinci Code. Namely, weak plot, bad characterisation and poor acting. Amazingly, however, the film still holds together and for all its faults, I quite enjoyed it.

Weak Plot

A phial of anti-matter has been stolen from the Large Hadron Collider in Cern, Switzerland. In Rome, the pope has died and the cardinals of the Catholic Church are about to enter the conclave to elect his successor. On its eve, however, four cardinals are kidnapped. They are described as preferiti. I haven't heard this term before, but insofar as it means 'favourites to become pope', it seems analogous to the term papabili.

The theft of the antimatter and papal election would be of no interest to Professor Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks), but it turns out that both outrages have been committed by a secret society called the Illuminati. They were last heard of three or four hundred years ago when the Catholic Church persecuted its members and destroyed the organisation. The Illuminati was comprised of scientists and other learned men who believed that science more than religion had the answers to the mysteries of the universe. Now, they are back for revenge. Langdon is asked by the Vatican Police to solve the mystery of where the four preferiti are being held; rather helpfully, the Iluminati have left clues to their whereabouts for the police to follow.

When Langdon arrives in Rome there is a slightly surreal though amusing scene between him and Commander Richter (Stellan Skarsgård), head of the Vatican Police, as they allude to Langdon's lack of popularity in the Vatican after the Da Vinci Code affair. It could almost be a meeting between the Church and Dan Brown.

Once Langdon has arrived in Rome, the film follows his pursuit of the cardinals. The plot is comprised of a bit of exposition, a fast car ride, then an action sequence before repeating itself. As for the exposition, there is too little showing and too much telling. 

Bad Characterisation

Or rather, the lack, thereof. In however small or large a way, a good film should give an insight into the principle character(s) that helps us to see who they are beyond the immediate story. We get nothing of this in Angels and Demons. They exist only to service the story.

On the subject of poor acting, Tom Hanks really does look like he sleepwalks through the film. And no surprise as he has such little to do except decipher the clues and run along to the next one. The script in this respect is very lazy. Langdon has a beautiful young woman (Vittoria Vetra played by Ayelet Zurer) as his partner, but there is too little interaction let alone sexual chemistry between them. Granted that the type of film that this is does not allow for it, but if The Terminator could manage it, I think Angels and Demons could at least have tried.

As the characters are at the mercy of the story, this means that their lives are sold cheaply. Once in Rome, Langdon is guided around the city by Inspector Olivetti (Pierfrancesco Favino) who has the screen presence to become a principle character. But first he, and then two police men who take his place, get killed by the Illuminati assassin, far too quickly and easily.

On the subject of the Catholic Church, the Church is represented far more equitably in Angels and Demons. There are bad priests but also good ones. If anyone tells me that this film is anti-Catholic, I will reply that it is merely anti character and all plot. The Church is pretty much a plot device. The truth is, any organisation could have fulfilled its role. It is Dan Brown's genius (if one may call it that) that he has seen the creative possibilities of using the Church to launch an action - adventure story and written it in such a thrilling way. And for all its own flaws, The Da Vinci Code is a very exciting book, a real page turner. I would expect the book version of Angels and Demons to be no different.

To continue the positive theme, is there anything else that makes the film good? Yes. Its moments of high tension. Unfortunately, Angels and Demons is not consistently tense, but when it gets into its stride, it excels. There is one particularly good scene when Langdon and the police enter a church in search of the cardinals and the camera pans upwards behind them. We see a pair of boots on some scaffolding. It is the assassin who kidnapped the cardinals! Not so; they are just a pair of boots left behind by a workman.

Of course, the shots of Rome are all fantastic. Seeing the Catholic Church in action was also entertaining. The film doesn't always get its facts right - sometimes, as in the case of the Illuminati, this will be deliberate - but there are no offensively bad howlers.

It is extraordinary to think that I could care about what happens to the characters in a film that treats them so poorly, but there it is. I did. Coupled with the well executed action scenes, they create a picture that - albeit you must switch your brain off to enjoy - is an entertaining couple of hours. I recommend it.