"Angels & Demons" earns its wings as an intelligent action movie.
Angels & Demons (2009)
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Reviews Counted: 228
Fresh: 84
Rotten:144
Average Rating: 5.1/10
Consensus: Angels and Demons is a fast-paced thrill ride, and an improvement on the last Dan Brown adaptation, but the storyline too often wavers between implausible and ridiculous, and does not translate effectively to the big screen.
Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for sequences of violence, disturbing images and thematic material
Runtime: 2 mins 18 secs
Genre: Action/Adventure
Theatrical Release:May 15, 2009 Wide
Box Office: $131,324,373
Synopsis: Dan Brown’s novels are packed with fascinating historical tidbits which he ingeniously twists into plots that are so intricate and complex that there is a constant need to inform the reader with... Dan Brown’s novels are packed with fascinating historical tidbits which he ingeniously twists into plots that are so intricate and complex that there is a constant need to inform the reader with exposition, often leaving little room for character development. There is a bit of this stilted quality to ANGELS AND DEMONS, the second of Brown’s novels to be brought to the big screen by the tandem of Ron Howard and Tom Hanks, but more than enough intense action to keep the eyes of the audience as busy as their minds. The details of the plot are as diabolical as any in Hollywood history: after the pope’s death, a nefarious organization stashes an antimatter bomb somewhere in the Vatican, threatening to annihilate the conclave of cardinals who are meeting to elect the papal successor. To pass the time until the bomb will detonate, the enemy begins to torture and kill a few of the individual cardinals, but there is a pattern to the grotesque executions, involving hidden sculptural symbols and secret architectural clues. Unfortunately for the church, the man most capable of deciphering the code is the American "symbologist" Robert Langdon (Hanks), who happens to be an affirmed atheist. The script is filled with amazing details about the centuries-old conflict between the church and the Illuminati (whose members included Galileo, Michelangelo, and Bernini), which Hanks uncovers as he breathlessly races between various landmarks in Rome, always a step behind the sinister assassin. The secondary cast consists almost entirely of European actors, including Ewan McGregor, Stellan Skarsgaard, and Armin Mueller-Stahl, who betray so little emotion that it is impossible to tell who is a part of the conspiracy until long after the explosive climax. [More]
Starring: Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer, Stellan Skarsgaard
Starring: Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer, Stellan Skarsgaard, Pierfrancesco Favino, Nicolaj Lie Kaas, Armin Mueller-Stahl
Director: Ron Howard
Director: Ron Howard
Screenwriter: David Koepp, Akiva Goldsman
Producer: Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, John Calley
Composer: Hans Zimmer
Studio: Columbia Pictures
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Reviews for Angels & Demons
Why are quality pros like Howard and Hanks involved in this enterprise? Do they need the money? Angels and Demons is sure to make plenty. But their artistic souls will do hard time in purgatory for it.
...too long and ponderous for its own good, but Howard and Co. gloss over or eliminate most of the more outlandish howlers in Brown's preposterous story.
There is little in the way of excitement. There is, however, plenty of ponderous hemming and hawing about the role of the Vatican in a forward-thinking society, and a host of supporting players whose intentions remain murky until the big revelation.
Call it the 'National Treasure' for adults: harmless, but engaging fun that even Catholics shouldn't get too worked up about.
It's easy to think of Ron Howard's new effort Angels & Demons as more of an apology than a movie.
It's enjoyable, toothless, and a disposable smartypants hero movie. These are rare enough that they deserve attention.
At one point Hanks can be glimpsed gasping for air, mid-endless-sentence. Has there ever been a flatter movie character played by a more innately likable star?
one wonders how much more engrossing its nick-of-time shenanigans would have been had we cared for the central character ... or even found him remotely interesting
Without a doubt, one of the worst movie franchises going right now. This is tedious Catholic torture porn!
A mess of a thriller without a single audience-engaging puzzle in sight.
Langdon ... comes off as a stuffy, self-important egghead with no sense of humor. He's no Indiana Jones.
It's true that Angels & Demons is a better movie than its predecessor, The Da Vinci Code. That's not saying much.
I did not like The Da Vinci Code, but only because it was completely faithful to the book which I didn't like. As such, I never read Angels & Demons, but I can tell it's faithful too because it's exactly the same thing.
For all the hype and hurrah, Angels & Demons is a tame thriller, requiring several leaps of faith."
The new Ron Howard movie, "Chaos & Disorder"--sorry, "Angels & Demons"--is a sequel to 2006's "The Da Vinci Code," and like that latter film, the news surrounding it is as dull as the luster on Miss California's crown.
The chief problem is that the literary-historical elements of the story that so root it in detail are the same things that work against the film's time-crunch structure, which doesn't play convincingly.
At one point Langdon bellows, "I need a map showing all the churches in Rome!" which is a hilarious bit of dialogue because you might as well demand a map showing all the bars in Milwaukee. Then again, that would lead to a more entertaining movie.
Latest News for Angels & Demons
May 18, 2009:
Tune In to the Rotten Tomatoes Show This Week!
This week, The Rotten Tomatoes Show will be looking at the movies that opened over the weekend, with help from you (the Rotten Tomatoes community), the Current TV community, and... More...
May 17, 2009:
Box Office Guru Wrapup: Angels Floats to a #1 Debut
This weekend Tom Hanks and director Ron Howard reteamed for their second Robert Langdon adventure Angels & Demons and reached number one with an opening that was respectable,... More...
May 17, 2009:
Da Vinci Code sequel as disappointing as original. ![]()
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May 16, 2009:
Angels & Demons: Plucked eyeballs, swiped secrets of living matter, Catholic jihad, and egghead metaphysical sleuths without a clue. ![]()
More...
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