Angels & Demons Another Great Howard/Hanks Film?

A conspiracy, history and beautiful cinematography bring life to this film

The Dan Brown character of Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) was first brought to the big screen in May of 2006, in Ron Howard’s The Da Vinci Code which is an adaptation of the book of the same name. Hanks reprises his role as Langdon in Angels & Demons, again an adaptation of the Dan Brown novel of the same name, where the Vatican enlists in Langdon’s help to try and find out how the secret society “the Illuminati” plan to destroy the church.

The entire movie is based around the 12 hours after the Illuminati make themselves aware to the Vatican. Brining Langdon into the fold and how he attempts to help the church save them from the threat. My only problem with this was, a time was given when the Vatican would be destroyed, yet with few hours remaining it seemed they were not rushing, just walking at a very slow but casual pace trying to figure out how to stop the conspiracy. I am not expecting Hanks and his fellow actors to be breaking into a full gallop as we cut from this room to the next but at least show some urgency to trying to find out how to stop the Illuminati.

Howard has much weaker cast than the previous film that included Ian McKellen, Paul Bettany, Jean Reno and Alfred Molina. Aside from Hanks returning as the title character we are introduced to Ayelet Zurer (Vantage Point), Ewan McGregor (The Island), Stellan Skarsgard (God on Trial), Piefrancaesco Favino (The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian), Nikolaj Lie Kas (Pu-239) and Armin Mueller-Stahl (Eastern Promises), this is not a weak cast but they don’t hold a candle to the acting bravado of The Da Vinci Code.

Tom Hanks was more believable as Langdon during his second go around, probably more comfortable with the character. McGregor is probably the weakest of the bunch in his role as the Camerlengo Patrick McKenna. He does have enough screen time but aside from the a few moments you do not believe him as a man of the church. Seeming so out of character during a speech in front of the cardinals, talking about religion and science, saying that they should be more open, and less like the secretive Illuminati, all I could think of was how he did not fit in with the massed group of cardinals. Armin Mueller-Stahl portrayed Cardinal Strauss with a demeanor that made him the strongest actor whenever he was on screen.

The pace of this film was much better than The Da Vinci Code, not bogged down with as much of the dialogue. Howard gets Hans Zimmer again to score the film, marvellously manoeuvring his music as part of the film itself, and many scenes would have been flat and couldn’t hold a viewers attention without Zimmer’s score.

Using the Italian language throughout the film with and without subtitles brought froth another bit of realism, some scenes where the subtitles were absent made you feel Langdon’s loss or confusion about what is happening.

If you like brief bits of history littered throughout your movies with very scenic landscapes of historic Rome and the Vatican weaved into a strong conspiracy theory, this movie is made for you.

3 out of 5
Colin Enquist

The Duel of Frost/Nixon

A history lesson that is given by the way of a Hollywood feature film, Frost/Nixon (Michael Sheen/Frank Langella) describes the Watergate incident and the Nixon resignation. We are then treated with the lead up and the interview that helped define David Frost’s career. Ron Howard is the director of this adapted British play. This movie is showing David Frost’s side of the interviews and while it is successful, Frost just is not that interesting. A far cry from a bad film but you can only riveted when the talk is about Nixon or Nixon is actually on screen. Frost shows no backbone during most of the film and looks nervous and scared, but in the end he is fearless. Never backing down for a moment during the final interview until he gets Nixon right where he wants him. Sheen pulls off the acting as the believable playboy, talk show host with the guts to put his career on the line for a chance to get his interview. Sam Rockewell, Mathew McFayden and Oliver Platt play the “crack” investigative team David Frost hires to help research and bring down Nixon. Sam Rockewell’s character James Reston stands out above the rest but tones down when Sheen or Nixon is on screen.

Langella, although he does not look much like Nixon his demeanour bring us a performance that embodies the former president and after a few minutes of screen time Langella becomes Nixon. Acting arrogant when needed and bringing to the surface the former presidents mannerisms and voice inflection perfectly. Nixon is intimidating and commands respect with only his presence in the room and Langella does this splendidly. Nixon is brilliant at toying with Frost during their interview which is treated like a duel. Kevin Bacon also has minor supporting role as Nixon’s aid that portrays admiration, pity and embarrassment never sure what to do when Nixon is confronted. Hans Zimmer provides us with another fantastic score; it does not overpower but just sits idly in the background adding dimension to the film. Although a few dull moments in the middle of the film don’t make this a perfect film, but since the ending is already known and the story is fairly basic it proves that Howard is still a director that knows his way around a movie set. This movie is up for a few Academy Awards and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Langella accepting best actor or the film walking away with best editing.

4 out of 5
Colin Enquist