I read the book before the film, and I was glad I did. Without a little bit of background info, the film would have been even more confusing. I liked the first 75% of the book a lot, after that I felt the book faded out. I liked the last 25% of the film, the first 75% part was just plain boring, and completely lacked the intensity of the book.
There was no chemistry whatsoever between Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou, which is impressive as I both like them as actors. And I even liked Tom Hanks’ long hair, he looked quite cool with it. But it just wasn’t enough to make it work for me. I found Jean Reno irritating, and Paul Bettany as albino monk, naah come on.
The only real highlight in this film was Ian McKellen. Really fantastic actor, and Brit, but he couldn’t save this film either. The only reason this film gets a 6 is because it has some shots from London. Bonuspoints for that. The Louvre scenes are filmed in the UK too by the way, they rebuilt a part of the museum on the set.
So – should you see it ?
Well if you want to take part in the hype discussion about this film, you might want to. If not, pick another film to spent your money on. Which one ? Well The Squid and the Whale was quite allright actually.
Tagline A murder inside the Louvre and clues in Da Vinci paintings lead to the discovery of a religious mystery protected by a secret society for two thousand years — which could shake the foundations of Christianity.
Directed by Ron Howard
Cast Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Ian McKellen, Jean Reno, Paul Bettany
I just wanted to say thanks for posting this mini review of The Da Vinci Code. It seems that you have a pretty even-keeled take on it, which is a lot more than I can say about the other reviews I’ve read. that makes me tend to trust your judgment more. So, I’ll take your advice and spend my money on something else for now :)
Well, I haven’t read the book but I did read some of the books upon which the Code was based. The theme is interesting. And of course I get triggered by the name Ron Howard, being an old Happy Days (the first few series in any case) fan. But I think I’ll skip this film.
Well I think Ron Howard is a great director (I loved A Beautiful Mind) but this film just wasn’t it. Of course they had an awful lot of expectations to live up too with it.
I just read that Sony has announced that Angels & Demons is going to be made to a film too. (Neither Howard nor Hanks have been confirmed for this project though). I liked that book a lot more than Da Vinci, so let’s see what they can make out of that.
I read the book and hated it. Take a whole bunch of so called facts and make up a very small, tiny and worthless plot. And hey, let’s call it The Da Vinci Code. The so called “facts” are no facts at all and I don’t the writer’s style at all. Not my piece of cake, but you already knew that, didn’t you :-)
No movie for me, even if this is the last movie on earth. I happen to dislike Audrey Tatou as well :)
Ik ga lekker ook niet. Nu weet ik het zeker. :-)
off topic: Ingrid, can I leave an order for your postcards with you or do I have to contact the publisher?
I have the book – by the way – and haven’t even opened it. What I do know is that it conserns a scripture that is well discussed over the years and has some intreaging sides. I have pondered on its secrets a great deal and I guess that makes me reluctant to read or go see the movie. But oh well, who cares. If you really want to know, go to France. It is buried there.
@Jan – the book is quite allright, so you will probably enjoy reading it. The subject is definetely interesting.
The postcards – not all of them are printed yet, I have received the first 4 motives. 6 of them still have to be printed, and that might take some time. By the time I have them all, I can let you know :-) But I have them in limited quantities !
HP/de tijd (or maybe it was ELsevier) had an article last week called “The Da Vinci mode” :-)
Ik had juist het boek niet gelezen voordat ik de film zag. En idd, in het begin was het lichtelijk verwarrend. Daarna kon ik dat loslaten en vond ik het een aparte film, spannend ook, maar niet zodanig dat ik hem super bijzonder vond. Wel ging ik de bioscoop uit met de vragen die de film oproept …