Angels and Demons

I went to see this last night with a friend of mine and I thought I'd write a few words of review though I suspect the subject has already been extensively covered on blogs, Twitter and every other concievable online facility known to man/woman/child/and small furry creatures!

The Da Vinci Code caused alot of controversy, this film does not seem to have achieved that same affect though has been equally hyped up so I would expect it's going to be a big hit no matter what! And too be perfectly honest, I think that would be a well-deserved outcome. In my opinion both films are very entertaining, enjoyable, well-made, and certainly keep your attention. I can't remember how long Da Vinci Code was but this one is apparently over 2hrs and it does fly by.

I think Dan Brown (and these films) have recieved alot of criticism which, apart from the religious angle, has really seemed to centre on the technical merits of the writing, the style, the plots, and the over-hyping of something that some would argue is seriously lacking in many ways. Fine, these flaws may be perfectly justified and even I wouldn't argue that these are great works BUT, it is VERY good entertainment. These are films you can watch, they are gripping, they keep you guessing a little but the relevaltion at the end does not diminish the enjoyment of the ride to get there; these are films you can watch again and still enjoy.

A word of warning however: Da Vinci Code did have some very brief scenes that were violent or a little shocking but nothing that would cause me too much concern. Angels and Demons, however, is quite gruesome and there were several points where I had to look away. The film is a 12A but I would have argued it might be more appropriate to be a 15 based on these scenes and the overall context in which they occur. I know that some of these images are probably no worse that the mock-horror of films like Indiana Jones but here it is quite disturbing.

I should also mention that anyone who is remotely technical/geeky or a particle physicist would do well to prepare themselves for the absolutely garbage science in this film. If you know anything about Dan Brown it should not surprise you, he doesn't seem to let facts get in the way of a good story. There really are some hideous liberties taken here! I managed to fight the urge to leave when the psuedo science reached a peak, I expect I will have to fight that response even harder if they ever do a film of "Digital Fortress" (which features some truely ridiculous computer-related non-sense).

Anyway, a good night was had by all, I'd highly recommend this film.

I just checked and I didn't mention anything about seeing the new Star Trek movie last weekend. Sorry but I'd have to say that is rather justified, the film was a bit disappointing for me, pretty standard stuff, nothing new or impressive and the same old, tired time-travel and parallel universe plot. I expect the sequel, if there is one will be a great improvement, it can hardly be much worse than this one.