The Da Vinci Code

Each breath you take is a sin. No shadow will be safe again, for you will be hunted by angels. The Da Vinci Code is directed by Ron Howard and adapted to screenplay by Akiva Goldsman from the novel of the same name written by Dan Brown. It stars Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Ian McKellen, Paul Bettany, Jean Reno, Alfred Molina and Jürgen Prochnow. Music is scored by Hans Zimmer and cinematography by Salvatore Totino. When a man is murdered inside the Louvre, his body is found to be surrounded by cryptic messages. The police call in American symbology expert Robert Langdon (Hanks) to decode the clues. When he is joined by Parisian cryptologist Sophie Neveu (Tautou), it quickly becomes apparent that nothing is as it first seems and a mystery begins to unravel that could shake Christianity to its very core. Extended Cut (Blu-ray) Version Viewed. I haven't read the book! And I love treasure hunt/clue chasing movies! So I came to Ron Howard's hugely successful film (over $600 million in worldwide profit) bereft of literary pressure and with only a modicum of genre expectation. Perhaps this is why I'm apparently only in a small percentage of film lovers who really enjoyed the fil

Writing this review might be considered an act of vanity. Until recently I was among the very few who hadn’t seen The Da Vinci Code, or even read the book. But now I have done so — watch the movie, that is. I still have no plans to read the book. But is there anyone left out there who might benefit from a review? Mostly I thought the movie was rather silly. Oh, I know that the book was researched about as well as your average documentary, and that the plot is intricate and suitably complex for a thriller. Like a spy thriller, it develops that the two heroes can never be sure who they can trust. In fact, the short answer seems to be “No one!” There are plenty of plot twists, reverses and surprising revelations, some nifty but others that are utterly predictable. But it lost some of its credibility for me near the beginning when the female lead drove her car at a high rate of speed in reverse in and around traffic, faster than most drivers could manage driving forward. Really? There is a lot of action in the movie, but it lacks the exuberance and humor of a classic like Raiders of the Lost Ark. I guess religion is a serious business.

This had all the ingredients and even a self-flagellating Paul Bettany so what happened? Well it all started strongly enough with the aforementioned man perpetrating a mysterious killing in the Louvre museum. It turns out that the victim is one of the museum’s curators and when the police discovers that his body has been defaced with ancient symbols, they call in “Sophie” (Audrey Tautou) to investigate. She, in turn, invites acclaimed American professor “Langdon” (Tom Hanks) to help find out what this might all mean, and swiftly there are embroiled in the machinations of a legendary society that has it’s roots stretching back to the very beginnings of Christianity. Indeed, as they try to stay one step ahead of these people who would have them dead, too - and who have a multitude of connections throughout French society and government - they begin to suspect that the Holy Grail might be the ultimate goal here as their travels take them, ably assisted by “Sir Leigh Teabing” (Sir Ian McKellen), to a burial site in London reputedly connected with the crusades. The supporting cast includes Jean Reno and Alfred Molina and the story itself is thick with religiosity and controversy, but th