ANGELS & DEMONS review by Gary Dean Murray

Ron Howard is one of the most successful directors in Hollywood. His films have generated many awards and much box office over the years. Tom Hanks is one of the most successful actors in Hollywood. His films have generated many awards and much box office over the years.

So when these two titans get together and make a movie, one expects greatness. Their newest collaboration is the sequel to the smash hit The Da Vinci Code and is titled Angels & Demons. The original story is from author Dan Brown.

The film takes place some time after the events of Da Vinci. Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) is a professor at Harvard with a specialty in Symbology, the study of ancient symbols. He is summoned to Rome on an urgent mission. This is the time of conclave, where the cardinals are deciding on who will be the new Pope. It seems that the four most qualified candidates have been captured by The Illuminati, a secret group that has been manipulating world events. They are men of science who have no love for the Catholic Church. And the Catholic Church has no love for Langdon because of the events that transpired in Da Vinci.

On the other side of the plot, there is the murder of a physicist who has just used a super-collider to prove the existence of anti-matter, the 'God particle'. Someone has broken into the lab and taken an anti-matter cylinder. That little piece of particle could generate a Hiroshima style blast if not constantly monitored. The container is hidden somewhere in the Vatican. The Swiss Guard and the police have asked physicist Vittoria Vetra to help in the investigation. The murdered physicist was her father.

The film is a Jack Bauer style adventure where the teacher and the scientist must put together the clues of where the four elements of 'earth', 'wind', 'fire' and 'water' are located in order to stop the killing of the cardinals and influence the Pope selection process. The Illuminati want to see Vatican City consumed by light. It is a race around Rome where each clue leads to another cardinal and the eventual outcome. They are helped along this journey by a priest (Ewan McGregor) who takes the loss of the Pope very personally.



Tom Hanks seems to be enjoying himself immensely in this adventure. The producers smartly ditched his silly haircut from the last flick and gave him more of a backbone. There are actual action set pieces throughout the enterprise and Hanks does his best job at being a 'macho' academic. His fears are based in a common reality and his innate curiosity could be his undoing.

I thought that Ayelet Zurer was note on perfect in what is traditionally the 'girlfriend' role. Though her part is just as much 'eye candy' as active participant, she does keep the film going along. Ewan McGregor has a much harder role, balancing between his faith and the role of science in the investigation. But, the biggest praises have to go to Ron Howard, one of the most under-appreciated directors of recent years. Yes, he has won the Oscar for directing, but he doesn't have that cache of Spielberg or Scorsese. His films are a varied lot but all have a strong moral compass. One knows that they will get the best of a human experience with the films of Ron Howard. His second unit captures all the action sequences as if they were a Michael Bay flick. And at over two hours, the film just zips along. The cinematography in a word is stunning, almost being a travelogue for all that is beautiful about Italy.

If you enjoyed The Da Vinci Code, then you will love this sequel. It is flashier, bigger, and in every way better than its predecessor.

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