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Sunday, May 31, 2009

Angels and Demons


Usually we say that Indian films revolve around the superstars and heroic subjects. We should watch English films as a benchmark in such cases. They are not behind heroes; rather they give importance of the story of the film and its presentation. The significance of artists in the film is secondary only...like that it goes. In majority of the cases, it may not be true in the case of Hollywood films also. Since the value of the hero always helps the global business of a film, we can’t blame anyone for such things. Now the latest film ‘Angels and Demons’ had got Tom Hanks in the lead role. The actor who did films like ‘The Davinci Code’, ‘Cast Away’, ‘Saving Private Ryan’, ‘Forest Gump’ etc. His new film cannot be rated as a heroic subject.



To watch a film after seeing its trailer (promo) will help you to understand the mood and style of the film. I also followed the same, since the medium is English. So it was easy for me to get a pre-assumption regarding the fact that the creators of ‘Davinci Code’ has come up with their next project, thus the theme of the film is also some what related to the former hit. The director of both the films (Ron Howard) and writer (Dan Brown) for the two films are same. They had also maintained the same camera man and editors. Columbia Pictures distributes the film. The notable thing here is that the new film’s story has not yet become controversial as in the case of ‘The Davinci Code’, which in turn catalyzed the financial aspect of the project.



As expected, the story of ‘Angels and Demons’ are based on the Vatican churches and its related atmosphere. An important substance is stolen from the laboratory head quarters, some priests are being kidnapped and they have been kept under captivity, the criminals warned that a bomb is being kept in some area around the St.Peter’s square (the place where people assemble to see the Pope greeting them through the window). This all happens at a time when the election of the new Pope takes place. The enemies had left a few clues with signs and letters, which forced the history expert (Tom Hanks) to reach there to help the police. He relates this kidnapping to an incident happening inside the church in the 16th century. After a few findings using the reference from a book in the archives, he almost reached the criminals with his experience (it is not as simple as it is told in a single line). Breaking the suspense, the real culprit is caught in the end. In brief, it is the serious but cinematic representation of a snake and ladder game or some adventurous games, we played in our childhood.



No need to praise the creativity and the performance side of the movie, they are as usual on the top level. The art work on the sets, which shows the different churches in the Vatican area, is outstanding. It is very difficult to separate a graphics sequence from a real shot. The shots and the lighting used by the cameraman and the dim grading given for the film are also notable things. The film which was slower in the first half, takes its real pace in the second half. (With my inexperience in watching English films, I failed to follow few dialogues here and there). The director had succeeded in setting the story line which happens in few hours of a day to a thriller. Those who have seen ‘The Davinci Code’ should see this film also and they might found some similarity in the basic environment shown in both.



‘Angels and Demons’ are for those people who got some passion for English films also.


Rating : 8.5 / 10


2 comments:

Haree said...

"Some scientists are being kidnapped from the laboratory head quarters..." - It is not the scientists, it is the priests who came to participate in the papal conclave.
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Anonymous said...

thanx for this review.tomarrow i will go and watch this movie.