The Da Vinci Code (Movie Review)

Movie Review
The Da Vinci Code
2006
Starring: Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Jean Reno, Ian McKellen
Directed by: Ron Howard

Usually films that run around two and a half hours encounter one of two problems: they either try to cram too many ideas into a film resulting in it feeling bloated, or the film keeps recycling plot twists and tries to keep the story going with constant unforeseen circumstances. Ron Howard’s film adaptation of The Da Vinci Code is a case of the latter. Although he’s confined somewhat to telling the story from the Dan Brown novel, watching the film feels like going in circles. While the story is interesting, you can’t really understand why you wasted your time watching the film.

While promoting a book in Paris, American professor and symbologist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) is asked by the Parisian police to help them with a crime that occurred at the Louvre. However, it quickly turns out that Langdon is their prime suspect. A murder had happened and there were some words written near the body that said to find Langdon. Aided by a French police woman named Sophie (Audrey Tautou), Hanks is able to escape going into custody. It’s revealed that the murdered man was Sophie’s grandfather. The scope of the mystery turns out to be bigger than the murder itself as it involves the Vatican. Langdon and Sophie are on the run from both the police and the Catholic Church as they try to figure out why Sophie’s grandfather and others are being murdered in the name of religion.

This is not Tom Hanks’s best performance. In fact, it’s pretty far down on the list. He seems kind of lame here; almost to a point where he thought he made a mistake by signing on to take the role. That’s not to say the acting is bad but the film feels kind of emotionless. The supporting cast do a decent job but nobody really stands out. It feels, at times, as if the actors are reciting lines rather than acting them out.

The story itself is rather interesting but the movie relies heavily on plot twists. There are problems with this since there are too many of them and most of them you can see coming. I never read the book and never really spoke to anybody about it and I knew exactly where the film was going and how it was going to end up after about ten minutes. It’s not that it doesn’t seem original. Actually, I think the premise is creative and it helped to endear me somewhat to the film. However, it feels like the whole film is paint by numbers even though the story tries very hard to be unconventional.

To say that the film is an attack of the Roman Catholic Church or organized religion is preposterous. The story doesn’t feel plausible and those who say the story is taking a shot at religion are looking too much in to it. It’s a piece of fiction. If you can’t separate reality from fiction, then you have a bigger problem than deciding whether you should watch this film or not. That being said, there may be some underlying motives as to why this story was created but when it comes down to it, the film is fantasy—nothing more.

The Da Vinci Code isn’t really a bad film but it ends up not being all that special. It’s watchable but it’s not a must watch movie. Ron Howard’s film is hampered by uninspiring and overwriting but it’s not terrible. It’s fine to watch if you stumble across it but it’s not a movie that needs to be seen.

☆☆