[img]7|left|||no_popup[/img] Unlike it’s predecessor “The DaVinci Code,” “Angels & Demons” doesn’t come burdened with ambition it can’t live up to. Caught in its own structure as a murder-mystery, the first film adapted – faithfully, I assume – from Dan Brown’s inexplicably popular books presented as destination what should have been the journey. “Angels & Demons” involves nothing so grand as the Church-sanctioned cover-up of a history-busting secret; it settles for a murder conspiracy involving the Illuminati and an anti-matter bomb set during the Vatican’s conclave to elect a new Pope.

With a climax that doesn’t make a point of showing up the preceding action as the fluff it is – this only means the climax is just as nonsensical as everything else instead of holding the glimmer of a better story – “Angels & Demons” already is in position to be a superior movie to “The DaVinci Code.” This isn’t saying much; this is a film that, by any sensible criteria, shouldn’t work. As before, Robert Langdon is not so much a character as the instrument by which the plot can lurch from location to location, event to event. There’s the self-importance of inventing the academic discipline of “symbology” for Langdon – Benjamin Gates from the “National Treasure” series accomplishes more with a mechanical engineering degree, a history degree and a family history of treasure hunting than Harvard-professor Langdon. But there’s also the lack of human context that comes from a character’s personal stake in the story’s outcome and relationship with other characters. Also as before, Langdon is a wishy-washy agnostic, sensitive not to offend the Church but also clearly suspicious of it; there’s drama in forcing ideological adversaries to work together, but not in this story. This makes Langdon a mere abstraction of the detective archetype; positioned as uniquely skilled to solve the mystery, selfless and driven, but utterly without human dimension. If generic characters in the service of plot aren’t enough, how about two? The abstracted hero comes with an abstracted sidekick – scientist Vittoria Vetra, played with little enthusiasm or conviction by Ayelet Zurer – who dutifully follows him around like a mobile sounding board.

Religion, Science:  Can They Co-exist?

And the plot could rank as eco-friendly if recycling plot devices actually did anything for the environment. Dangerous killer? Check. Mastermind? Check. Church secret? Somewhat, so check. This time, however, the story comes overstuffed with pontifications on the intersection between science and religion. Presented as a supposedly defunct secret society of enlightened scientists looking to avenge themselves on the Catholic Church after the latter violently purged scientific heresies from theological orthodoxy, the Illuminati are in a smackdown against religion. But the film really wants us to accept that science and religion can co-exist, and it hammers that noble sentiment until, with the murder’s identity revealed, it becomes clear that the problem doesn’t so much lie with science but with religion’s ability to adapt to scientific discoveries. Perhaps “Angels & Demons” is loaded with too much ambition after all; the ambition for epic themes, undone by sanctimony and caricature and an exploitative, mostly nonsensical, plot.

That the film works at all, even if only as guilt-inducing amusement, is due to the tag-team salesmanship of Tom Hanks and Ron Howard. Even without a character to play, Hanks emotes and ponders sympathetically, acting out the script’s demands with a cool headiness that gives the story a pretense of seriousness that it doesn’t really deserve. Howard’s keen ability to restrain the melodrama of a scene without sacrificing momentum or style – emotion without sappiness – offers up a quick pace and also makes the film’s conceit easier to buy into. Yet neither Howard nor Hanks can raise the material above its cheap thrills. The competing “National Treasure” films, at least, know that they aren’t scholarly dissertations and use that self-awareness to their advantage to deliver charm, excitement and a surprisingly contagious love of history. “Angels & Demons,” like “The DaVinci Code,” isn’t boring, but is certainly too ponderous for its own good.

Entertainment Value: * (out of two)
Technical Quality: * (out of two)

Angels & Demons. Directed by Ron Howard. Written by David Koepp and Akiva Goldsman, based on the novel by Dan Brown. Starring Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer, Stellan Skarsgard, Pierfrancesco Favino, Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Armin Mueller-Stahl. 138 minutes. Rated PG-13 (some violence).

Frédérik invites you to discuss this film and more at his blog, www.inkandashes.net.