Ok, so here's another review where I have to begin by saying that I have not read this book. Anyway, this movie is basically what would happen if someone made the movie "Memento" with Robert Langdon as the main character.
The story is essentially told backwards, with the audience receiving the answers first and the questions later. There's nothing wrong with this, and, in fact, nonliner storytelling can be very interesting. I always cite "Pulp Fiction" as an example of this. No, the problem with this film isn't how the story is told. The problem with this film is the story.
Said story is rather bloated and unnecessarily convoluted with characters popping in and out for no reason and the whole thing not being as focused as the previous film in this series, "Angels and Demons."
The direction is also at fault here. The whole thing is pieced together in a way that is rather meandering and slow, a rather odd choice for a story taking place over the course of only a couple days. The score is very standard and shockingly forgettable, considering it was composed by the amazing Hans Zimmer, one of the greatest film composers working today.
The characters are mostly generic and boring, with the exception of a couple. Robert Langdon is still great. Tom Hanks has yet to give a bad performance and he does the best he can with this material considering the fact that he's somewhat confused and forgetful for most of the runtime. In addition, Irfan Kahn is his usual awesome self, portraying a character that is somewhat interesting. Felicity Jones should also be commended for giving her all to a character that is rather run of the mill, save for a halfway decent twist.
It isn't horrible, though. The story is still fairly investing, and once Robert Langdon is back to his old self, his knowledge proves entertaining. It's simply not put to proper use here.
All in all, this is a fairly forgettable excursion that doesn't really add anything to the Robert Langdon character. It doesn't deserve to be thrown into the inferno, but it also doesn't belong with the angels.
The story is essentially told backwards, with the audience receiving the answers first and the questions later. There's nothing wrong with this, and, in fact, nonliner storytelling can be very interesting. I always cite "Pulp Fiction" as an example of this. No, the problem with this film isn't how the story is told. The problem with this film is the story.
Said story is rather bloated and unnecessarily convoluted with characters popping in and out for no reason and the whole thing not being as focused as the previous film in this series, "Angels and Demons."
The direction is also at fault here. The whole thing is pieced together in a way that is rather meandering and slow, a rather odd choice for a story taking place over the course of only a couple days. The score is very standard and shockingly forgettable, considering it was composed by the amazing Hans Zimmer, one of the greatest film composers working today.
The characters are mostly generic and boring, with the exception of a couple. Robert Langdon is still great. Tom Hanks has yet to give a bad performance and he does the best he can with this material considering the fact that he's somewhat confused and forgetful for most of the runtime. In addition, Irfan Kahn is his usual awesome self, portraying a character that is somewhat interesting. Felicity Jones should also be commended for giving her all to a character that is rather run of the mill, save for a halfway decent twist.
It isn't horrible, though. The story is still fairly investing, and once Robert Langdon is back to his old self, his knowledge proves entertaining. It's simply not put to proper use here.
All in all, this is a fairly forgettable excursion that doesn't really add anything to the Robert Langdon character. It doesn't deserve to be thrown into the inferno, but it also doesn't belong with the angels.
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