A lot can be said about this film.  The struggle I face is deciding how to introduce it since I didn’t review The Davinci Code, this film’s prequel.  Maybe an appropriate place to start would be to briefly mention that if The Davinci’s Code was offensive to many Christians since it was a story of an academic uncovering the greatest conspiracy of all time-the Orthodox Christian church’s cover-up of Jesus’ marriage to Mary Magdalene-Angels and Demons is less about undermining the historic Christian faith and more about the relationship between science and religion.  Considering it’s less controversial, you may notice me trying to beef up the content of this entry with cenematic/artistic commentary, though I by no means claim “movie-critic” status or even a working knowledge of the field.

I will skip the plot summary and just encourage you to view the film when you have the opportunity (click here for IMDB’s page).  And for my Christian readers, I assure you your Pastor has no good reason to discipline you for viewing!  I enjoyed it enough that I saw it in theaters twice (once while trying to subtly type notes on my phone, and the second time for pleasure with a couple of friends).  The theater experience was worth it even if only to hear, at loud decibels, the genius soundtrack work of Hans Zimmer throughout the movie!  The music was truly epic and suited the scenes so perfectly.  If you buy the soundtrack, notice the climactic crescendo at 2:28 in “God.”  One of the reasons I feel Angels and Demons did a better job than The Davinci Code at capturing its audience is because the soundtrack was written so well, was generously laden through the film, and cooperated with a better written script in creating moments of suspense.  Two examples of this, which amounts to being two of the best scenes in my opinion, were the discovery of the burning and drowning cardinals.

There are other elements that made this film a success in comparison to its prequel.  The script had some good one-liners (“Faith will not protect those in St. Peter’s Square”), it included a mysterious, aggressive secret society called the Illuminati who were bent on purging the Roman Catholic church, and had some shocking moments like the tearing of a page out of Galileo’s notes (stored in the Vatican’s archives) by Robert Langdon’s co-protagonist.  Some further irony that made this scene even more enjoyable to watch was their using a cart full of ancient books in the Vatican archives to ram a glass wall.

Since the plot revolved around the electing of a new pope for the Roman Catholic Church, it was intriguing to hear some of its history and church procedures; things the Protestant layperson isn’t exposed to much.  One term that stuck with me was “election by adoration.”  To be fair, some procedural & historical details were not in fact accurate.  But Dan Brown did a good job at presenting them in a way to contribute to the story.  Besides the thematic details, the visual work was truly amazing.  Included were (both real and computer-generated) images inside the Vatican and of Rome from a bird’s-eye view.  This again was one of the film’s strong points.

In conclusion, it should be noted that with mysteries like The Davinci Code and Angels and Demons, it’s difficult to pack into a film what flowed so naturally in a long novel.  Too many twists and turns can tire a viewer.  As with its prequel, this too began to feel a little slow about half-way through the film.  But it quickly realigned itself and brought itself to focus on the main direction of the plot.  Though something can be said about its portrayal of faith, science, and the relationship between the two, Angels and Demons did a good job at remaining neutral in matters concerning the RCC, Christianity, and faith in general.  It was a rather fun watch as a mystery/thriller, the music was excellent, and the visual elements were well done.

Rating: 4/5