The DaVinci Code (2006)

Columbia Pictures
Theatrical Release Date: May 19, 2006 (USA)
Director: Ron Howard

Review by James Harper for UnRated Magazine

Ron Howard, to my mind, is a safe director. He does not take a lot of chances. If you look at his track record he has a very varied career. He has been a producer (one of the producers of 24), an actor, as well as a director. I have never been a big fan of his films in general, though I did like Parenthood a lot. I still haven't seen Far and Away yet, and it has a pretty good reputation. On another note I have not read The DaVinci Code so I did not bring a lot of expectations to the table. As a result I cannot speak on what they left in and what they left out.

I think the movie is a getting somewhat of a bad rap. If I was giving the movie stars I would have given it two stars, and maybe sneak in a third star based on Tom Hanks alone. This movie did get their moneys worth out of Tom Hanks and Ian McKellen. I can never think about Ian McKellen without thinking about Richard III. It was kind of odd that the car dealer I bought my Toyota from (before I wrecked it) looked exactly like Ian McKellen. It was a little spooky. I shudder to think what this movie would have been like without Tom Hanks or Ian McKellen.

The movies production values look very good. The movie is a thriller with religious themes as a jumping off point. This movie is not worth starving yourself over in case someone told you otherwise. The movie is a thriller. And as a thriller is works pretty well: this is not a nail biter. The movie brings up a lot of religious questions but doesn't really answer any of them. There is an awful lot of talking throughout the movie, explaining the various groups' motivations, but Ron keeps the screen interesting and keeps things moving. I was never bored. You could have taken this same basic plot idea and applied to a million different situations (as I am sure has been done before). I personally did not find the movie disrespectful to a specific church in anyway or to churches in general. After all it is just a movie, and you have to have a reason for the characters to run around. Otherwise the movie gets a little boring. It would be a very short movie if everyone agreed with one another in the first two minutes of the movie. I was disappointed to see Jean Reno as a crooked policeman. I just seems like he is cast so many times in the same type of movie role.

There are a lot of little puzzles and clues in the movie (very close to the same way I Robot used clues) but they don't really suck us in like might happen if we had read the book instead of seeing the movie. Maybe trouble comes from trying to serve too many masters, trying to make a book into a movie, trying to retain the nature of the book, trying to please fans of the book, and trying to make a reasonable length movie. I think Dune suffered from some of these same types of problems. So, of course, you have to make compromises along the way. I read and saw Ironweed. I thought Ironweed was a great book but just a so-so movie. I am sure that the many fans of The DaVinci Code will think the same this time out.

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Review by Dan Hansen

For those of you who have read the book, Ron Howard and Tom Hanks do it justice. Making a movie is tough alone but making a movie from a book adaptation is even tougher, especially from the screenwriters point-of-view. If you follow the Harry Potter movies you know what Im talking about, when important parts in the novel do not make it to the silver screen because it doesnt translate visually. Akiva Goldsman (screenplay) took all of the best from the novel by Dan Brown and created a great thrill ride with an ending that gave me Goosebumps. There was even applauding at the end, which is rare these days, even by me.

There is a lot of controversy over the book and not to mention the movie but Im forced to remind people that its just a story and a smashing good one about murder and intrigue set in the context of conspiracy. Tom Hanks character (Robert Langdon) is a leading expert in the field of symbols and is equipped with a photographic memory, which he uses to follow all the clues left by the infamous painter, Leonardo Da Vinci, for finding the Holy Grail. Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou), is the granddaughter of the famous Paris Louvre Museum curator who is killed by the creepy assassin, Silas (Paul Bettany). Sophie has been left the means to decipher the code but is unable to without Langdons aid. Langdon seeks out, a competitor, Sir Leigh Teabing (Ian McKellen) to seek more knowledge about the Da Vinci Code and joins him on the Grail quest. The only thing I will tell you about the ending is that it is far more satisfying then the books.