Angels & Demons

[Odon]

It pissed me off that they didnt explain that the Pope was actually Camerlengo's father, and that he was a child of science.

Yes they did.

[Jefe]

Horrible movie.

[Judai]

Movie was decent. I didn't like the way they went with it though. The "villains" and their motives were kinda stupid, in the end, imo.

Spoiler: show

I mean seriously. The Camerlengo hiring an assasin to kill off the four leading canidates to be Pope in an attempt to scare the church because he thought it was becoming to modern and weak?

On top of that, the Assassin seemed to be very religious, yet here he is killing off the top cardinals in the Vatican... Some of the atrocities done in the name of Religions are just horrid and stupid but the motives behind these villains were plain retarded.

Tom Hanks saved the movie and made it decent. The symbology and hunt to find the Cardinals was solid, I was just extremely disappointed in the Camerlengo's motives. The movie would have been a ton better if the Illuminati were actually in it and behind it all instead of some guy who happened to find their seals.

On top of that, did the Camerlengo or the Assassin really decode the ancient Illuminati path and the symbols and churches by themselves? Or was it just in some document the Church had in the vault?(That apparently nobody else in the Vatican knew about. Otherwise, they would have looked for it the second the threats were made.) The ending really ruined the movie for me.

The Antimatter Explosion was really cool though!

[Toth]

Just got back from the movie tonight. I am a HUGE fan of the book so I was very hopeful the movie would be good, especially after the 'okay' Da Vinci Code movie. Overall, I really enjoyed it. To see Rome come alive like that with excellent shots and locations was the best treat. I feel the actors all did very well in regards to their characters. Tom Hanks was a tremendous improvement in the role and Ewan McGregor was also excellent as the Carmelango. The Vittoria chic did well with her character. The movie moved at a much better pace than the Da Vinci Code (DVC) and the storyline is just simply better.

As for the storyline changes:

Spoiler: show

-I liked the Hassassin re-interpretation. He was just so generic for me in the book as the typical Arab terrorist but in the movie, despite being Italian and thinner, he was just as slick and resourceful as his counterpart. His motivations was quite clear too (selling his soul for money). If they had stuck with the original character, it would have just been Silas done again (ie fanatical follower of their 'faith') so I welcomed the change. I did miss Vittoria drop kicking him to his deserved demise but his movie death was a fitting end as well. Kind of stupid that such a well trained killer would actually get into a car set up by his employer...
- Cardinal Baggio surviving was an interesting twist. It did give the whole quest to stop the cardinals a more satisfying resolution and having him as the pope at the end did not change the overall impact of the story anyway.
- The whole antimatter detonation scene was beautiful. If I could imagine a moment of creation, this was it. The effect below was a wonderful and realistic touch.
- Vittoria's father changed into her partner. Again, would have just rehashed the plotline of DVC with another heroine out for revenge. It worked better in the book only because it came before DVC, and now that it now comes technically first, the change was needed.
- I did miss the CERN director since his motivations and suspicions were such a effective red herring but I felt Richter filled in nicely for the role.
- Thank goodness Ron was smart enough to take out the more...ridiculous things from the book that Dan Brown just loves in throw in: the helicopter 'jump', the whole trapped in a tomb scene, the travel to CERN about that giant airplane that still hasnt been invented yet, plus lots of fluff.
- I think the Carmelango would have been better fleshed out if they had shown the scene where after the pope tells him about how he 'broke' his vows for love, he hears the 'voice of God' telling him to enact his terrible plan.
- I do miss the scene where the Secret Keeper cardinal revealed to the Carmelango the truth about the pope being his father. The fact that he murdered his own father because he believed his father had broken his vows by having sex with the nun when the two actually artificially conceived him through science ( a true child of science and religion) was such a powerful irony and his subsequent breakdown was so well written.
- I really enjoyed the soundtrack as well. I liked how they incorporated some of the DVC themes into it. It made the two movies feel closer.

Overall, a satisfying adaptation that was worth the wait, at least to this fan.

[SamanosukeShiva]

just watched it, thought it was pretty good

[Phla]

i went to see the midnight show and i really liked it.. but seeing you guys rave about the book makes me wanna read it now too ;/

[Crizto]

I didn't like the movie, but loved the book. I did like the hassassin character however.

[Xavier]

Saw the movie, thought it was okay overall.

The explosion near the end was absolutely gorgeous, thought that whole scene was fairly impressive and awe-inspiring. Of course, the "plot twist" 5 minutes later completely ruined it.

Probably would've enjoyed it a lot more without the end twist.

[Ferien]

Saw it the night it came out, after having just finished reading both Angels & Demons and The Da Vinci Code. I couldn't stand it...

Spoiler: show

-Almost completely removed the old pope's backstory. His being a huge supporter of science, and the relationship between he and the Camerlengo were especially important
-Camerlengo just seems like some nutjob trying to become Pope for his own gain, instead of the entire backstory surrounding that (as well as the schizophrenia)
-WTF @ the Assassin in the movie? Just some guy making hits for money vs a trained Assassin from a line of Assassins dating back from the Crusades. Also, the book was written before 9/11, it wasn't about being "the typical Arab terrorist"
-Janus, Kohler, and Leonardo Vetra are completely gone and the only one who's marginally replaced is Vetra...by a "lab assistant"
-Mortati's character is replaced, and his story is completely changed.
-The Camerlengo's speech, probably one of the best parts of the novel, is completely gone.

My roommate (never read it) and his gf (read it a while ago, didn't remember much of it) both enjoyed it though. I will admit, the explosion was awesome.

[Qeomash]

Been a long time since I read the book, and I greatly enjoyed the movie. Though, I went in specifically to just enjoy the movie. I didn't want to pick it apart.

[MisterBob]

Err, I thought it was quite clear in the movie that the pope raised the Carmalengo and that he was a major supporter of science. Perhaps you guys were too busy nerd raging about the movie to notice?

[Xavier]

I never read the book and I completely understood from the movie that the Carmalengo had done what he had because the Pope, who had raised him, had broken with tradition and taken a more moderate philosophy. The explanation given in the last 5 minutes especially made it clear that the Carmalengo was rallying against science in its entirety.