Angels and Demons

When I first read Angels and Demons I enjoyed it much more than the Da Vinci Code because I had been to Rome before and could picture in my head where the story was taking place. I would have to say the movies turned out similarly to the books, I enjoyed the most recent edition more. I did not think particularly highly of the Da Vinci Code as a movie, entertaining, but nothing I would rush to buy a copy of or another ticket to. So my expectations going in to Angels and Demons were not particularly high.

I had seen a part of the filming of the movie when I had just arrived in Rome last June with my cousin Linzee. We were walking towards Piazza Navona one night and came to a street that was closed off and had to detour around. We did not know exactly what as going on, but when we finally reached the piazza we saw a large crowd, peered over there heads and there was Tom Hanks having his make-up put on talking with director Ron Howard. I took a picture with Linzee's camera held above the heads of the crowd which I still have not seen beyond the small screen on her camera.

The movie was shot all over Rome last summer and the best story I heard about it involved a scene they were shooting near the Pantheon. It was a Saturday and someone was getting married in the Pantheon (not sure just anyone can do that) but the entrance was blocked by the film crew and the bride's limo could not reach the front door. Somehow Tom Hanks got wind of this and stopped whatever he was going and escorted the bride and her father to church. There was even a picture of it the next day in the daily Metro newspaper.

As for the movie itself, Rome shines above all. Dan Brown's two books that have been turned into movies have one major difficulty in that they are jammed full of so much information (some accurate, some questionably so) that it is difficult to pass all that along in film version. To do this Tom Hanks' character, Robert Langdon, runs off a few random facts here and there that it seems no one else on screen really cares about, but are necessary to move the plot along and keep the audience informed.

Another interesting fact, the Pope would not let any of the movie be filmed in Vatican City. This is obviously a big problem as the climactic 10 minutes or so all take place in the Vatican as well as other scenes here and there. The CGI is good and I was particularly impressed with the depictions of the interior of St. Peter's. It is an absolutely overwhelming space and I think they captured that well.

Like the Da Vinci Code, not something I will run out and buy, but very entertaining and a good start to the summer actions movies.