The Da Vinci Czzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

[angelophile]

Hmm... Hot chocolate, coffee and effervescent vitamin C tablets make for an interesting taste sensation when served together as a single beverage...

Quiet weekend for me. Pottered, did washing, shopped on Saturday and yesterday went round to my sister's for the afternoon to spend time with my niece and family. Had an enjoyable time keeping her amused (let's face it, a two year old is about my level), then had a Chinese I'd picked up. Very nice.

Ended up watching the Da Vinci Code, which was everything the critics said. Dull, turgid, over complicated, ridiculous premise - but I knew all that from the book. What crippled the movie was the desire to pack every single bit of plot in, often without explanation for why it was happening which made it hard to follow, or to give background in horrible information dumps that were impossible to follow - most of which Tom Hanks has to take the blame for. A little enthusiasm from Hanks would have pulled the plot along - as evidenced by every moment that McKellen is onscreen, giving a likable performance - but instead it makes it dull, dull, dull.

Ian McKellen's info dumps were full of life, which made them easier to digest, despite the fact he had to deliver a horrible, 15 minute scene that simply explained what the hell was going on. It's not even as if McKellen was up to his normal standard - the role called for plenty of hamming-it-up, considering how ridiculously over-the-top and faintly xenophobic it is - but McKellen has charm even when poncing around chewing the scenery and he was the only one of the main characters who didn't seem to be asleep. Hanks gave his most uncharismatic performance to date, reeling out plot in a dull monotone that made my sister and brother-in-law nod off before the end of the film. They missed the last 20 minutes and had no desire to go back and revisit it.

Things weren't helped by the fact that about half an hour of the lengthy movie is taken up by the characters trying to solve a riddle so staggeringly simple I had it pegged within seconds of reading it, while the heroes have to go on a slow-motion chase around London to try and figure out what should be incredibly obvious. I wanted to scream the answer at the screen just so they could get the hell on with it.

Frankly, it's probably the adaptation the less-than-impressive and over-hyped book deserved, but disappointing regardless, considering the solid cast. Ian McKellen and Jean Reno, for gawd's sake. How bad could it be?

The answer is very bad indeed.

Comments

[tadiera.livejournal.com]

Angels & Demons would've been a better choice for a film. It was a better book. I've always wondered why DaVinci Code got all the praise it did.

[angelophile.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure it got praise, exactly, it was just controversial. Personally, I thought Dogma did the plot better, with the advantage of having a poop monster.

[tadiera.livejournal.com]

How very true! :D