Angels & Demons: Review By SMRTALEC

I read both Angels&Demons and The Da Vinci Code when I was in high school and really enjoyed them. I felt The Da Vinci Code movie was over hyped and it was an OK adaptation. I was worried how Angels&Demons would turn out due to the first film's mistakes.

The beginning of the film had already made me a little annoyed but after the first 10 min things start to kick into gear. The time frame with this story is shorter than the Da Vinci Code so that made the pace of the film faster which was a good thing. Following the clues, deciphering codes, and identifying secret symbols was a lot of fun. The two main characters were constantly on-the-go because they have until midnight before disaster strikes. So it was a good thriller that kept you on your toes.

There were some noticeable cgi sets/backgrounds but it was understandable because I'm sure there was absolutely no way the Vatican City would let Ron Howard & co. film wherever they wanted to. Other than that the cgi was very good.

Tom Hanks did well, the new girl was alright, and Ewan McGregor was a bit of an eye soar but bearable. Steven Saarsgard was also very good. The cast definitely did not live up to Da Vinci Code's.

I turned to Terminator Salvation to see this and I'm glad I did. I am recommending this film if you're a fan of a good summertime blockbuster thriller, loves history, and have an open mind to the ideas of religion and science.

And one last thing: the best aspect of this film was the score, composed by one of the master of scores...Hans Zimmer with beautiful violin solos by Joshua Bell. Great music that matched the film perfectly.