Cast: Tom Hanks (Robert Langdon), Audrey Tautou (Sophie Neveu), Ian McKellen (Sir Leigh Teabing), Jean Reno (Captain Fache), Paul Bettany (Silas)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's The Da Vinci Code page.
With the exception of the strange choice of Tom Hanks for Langdon, The Da Vinci Code was very well cast! No one I know who read the book agreed with the choice of Tom Hanks, but you can't deny his overall box office appeal, in spite of some recent flops. James and I think that Michael Vartan would have been perfect - he plays an American on Alias so the fact that he's actually French shouldn't have mattered. Of course, he's not nearly on the level of Tom Hanks in terms of box office guarantees go, so I can understand the choice they made.
If you haven't read the book, I'd say see this in theaters definitely - especially if you don't plan to read it. If you always choose to either read the book or see the movie and you read, what have you been waiting for? Get the book and read it.
Although the movie was good, it definitely lacked something. It wasn't as intense or interesting as the book. Perhaps it's just because I knew the story, but I've been re-reading the book and found it just as captivating, so I don't think that's the answer.
Ron Howard did a great job of following the book. Some things were changed, but most of them were pretty minor changes that allowed for skipping some of the story due to time constraints and didn't change the story much. There was really only one major thing they changed that I thought was critical to the plot (and wouldn't have taken up much time), but on the whole they followed the book I love very well.
The cast was (for the most part) amazing and the direction and special effects were well done. I even jumped at some of the crucial suspenseful points of the movie, in spite of the fact that I knew what was going to happen.
Spoiler alert for the 5 people who haven't read the book...
Seeing the tomb made me understand why it took them a bit to figure out that the rosy orb had to be an apple when we were talking about Newton. When I was reading the book, I felt like yelling at them, "It's an apple, you idiots!" When you see it in the context of the movie, one can understand why it might take a bit longer to figure out, since the apple was not on the tomb and there was definite pressure to come up with the answer quickly, which can make it more difficult to think.
...end of spoiler
The Da Vinci Code movie is definitely worth seeing and will be much better and more exciting on the big screen, so see it before it leaves theaters. I'm sure this gives you months, since it's the second-highest grossing film for the opening weekend internationally. It didn't do as well as I thought it would in the US, but I'm sure that it'll be around for quite a while.
Grade: B
Labels: 2006, drama, Ian McKellen, movie, mystery, Paul Bettany, thriller, Tom Hanks
Reviewed by Kat at the 8:00 PM show | 1 screams
The one I saw by this name was crass, over-simplistic, lacking control and direction and suffered from terminal plot-creep.
At two and a half hours it was two hours too long.
This film was made for those of limited mental capacity.
It was a good film for people with the attention span of a flea, a bad film for anyone with an IQ over 100.
No wonder it got booed by the critics in Cannes and has taken a complete pasting by the vast majority of media critics.
If something has got four legs, fleas and it barks... it's a dog.
This film is a dog.
Pretty CGI and average FX don't make a film.
A good script, tight direction and good acting make a film.
This effort has none of the above.
In three years time the world will look back on this film and laugh at it.
My comments are entirely directed at the film and not the book.
I agree with your comments re casting of Hanks though. :-)
TryingTimes screams,
May 29, 2006 8:08 PM