Review of:The Da Vinci Code (2006)
Director:Ron Howard
Rating:PG-13 for disturbing images, violence, some nudity, thematic material, brief drug references and sexual content.
Starring:Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Ian McKellen, Alfred Molina, Jurgen Prochnow
After seeing the Da Vinci Code the first thing I thought about was, “what was all the hoopla about?” The Catholic church was fearful that this film could cast a shadow on peoples faith in its claims that Jesus Christ married Mary Magdalene and that a vast cover up was being perpetrated by the church? After the viewing I attended I was wondering how I could have fallen into the belief that this was a good way to spend my hard earned cash. After thinking it through for a while I came to the conclusion that the movie studio had committed a conspiracy against me! I was born with the belief that you should get your moneys worth from a film. Maybe it was instilled in me at a young age by my parents or maybe I fell into the belief after hanging with people that believed that way. I don’t know, but all I have to say is that the publicity department behind the Da Vinci Code must be applauded. I was really anticipating the release of this movie, and now? Now, I am looking forward to the release of X-Men 3, and superman.
This dilapidated story starts by following Professor Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) to the Lourve museum where a curator has been murdered. He is given the task of finding out what some strange markings are on the body. Soon he is implicated in the murder of this man, but is helped in his escape by a police cryptologist by the name of Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou). Soon they are on a treasure hunt to find out why someone would want to murder a curator, and discover a secret that would shock the world.
Although I found the story plausible I still didn’t think it was on par with what I had heard about it. It is like all things that have been hyped a lot before they come out. When you have the actually product in front of you it never is as good as you think it should be.
Out of all of Tom Hanks movies this is the one that will stand out as his worst acting job. Hell, I thought he was the wooden Keaunu Reeves most of the movie. Probably the most interesting character in the film was Silas (Paul Bettany) who plays an albino assassin in the film. His confliction at least focuses you on him for the time he is on screen, and makes you wonder how he came to be such a way.
For what they are charging these days I can’t recommend this film for premium prices. If you can make it to the matinee to see this one you will still feel a bit cheated, but if you wait until it comes out on DVD or is at your local barbershop you will be even happier.
