The Da Vinci Code: Critic Reviews

The Da Vinci Code succeeds as a popcorn film.

The film is faithful enough, but it's hard to imagine it making many converts.

... Mr. Howard and Mr. Goldsman handle the supposedly provocative material in Mr. Brown's book with kid gloves, settling on an utterly safe set of conclusions about faith and its history, presented with the usual dull sententiousness.

... a melodramatic, sometimes lifeless film that is missing the suspense of the popular novel.

The most controversial thriller of the year turns out to be about as exciting as watching your parents play Sudoku.

As a film derived from a book, The Da Vinci Code isn't a fiasco on the order of The Bonfire of the Vanities nor is it a triumph a la The Lord of the Rings. Instead, it's an acceptable but uninspired simulacrum.

If only it were allowed to be merely a cheesy romp, an Indy Jones movie with more sophisticated stereotypes and far less humor. But apparently this is no mere pop novel-turned-high-hat megaplex product.

The movie is so nervous about offending anyone that it's hardly any fun.

Even as a visual aid, The Da Vinci Code is a deep-dyed disappointment. Paris by night never looked murkier.

Absent is the pure guilty joy of sequential puzzle-solving; instead of participating in the hunt, we're shoved off to the side as a couple of crashing boors do it for us.

The movie doesn't have the pulp excitement that the author's gimmicky storytelling generated. In fact, it often has no excitement at all.

In a marketplace rife with guides for idiots, dummies and the rest of us, this movie stands as the novel's priciest CliffsNotes.

If there's anything to be learned from this dud, it's that when you decide to adapt an explosive property like The Da Vinci Code, playing it safe isn't safe ...

The Catholic Church has nothing to fear from this film. It is not just tripe. It is self-evident, spirit-lowering tripe that could not conceivably cause a single member of the flock to turn aside from the faith.

The movie works; it's involving, intriguing and constantly seems on the edge of startling revelations.

How can a film contain so many clues yet remain utterly clueless?

... The Da Vinci Code may be controversial and even heretical -- but worse, still, it's plodding, tedious, deathly dull.

Ron Howard's adaptation of Dan Brown's bestseller is punishingly long, dramatically overwrought and fatally short on the thrills we demand from summertime blockbusters.

Here's the gospel on The Da Vinci Code: It's a total snore.

If there's a flavor to describe director Ron Howard's all-too-faithful adaptation, it's vanilla.

I won't go so far as to recommend it, and I can't imagine ever wanting to see it again.

What's wrong with The Da Vinci Code can be summed up in one word: everything!

An oppressively talky film that isn't exactly dull, but comes as close to it as one could imagine with such provocative material.

... a crackling, fast-moving thriller that's every bit as brainy and irresistible as Dan Brown's controversial bestseller.