Angels & Demons - the Da Vinci Code follow up

May 14 2009 By Pierce Hunt, Surrey Herald

TOM Hanks is back as the Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon in Angels & Demons, the follow-up to 2006's The Da Vinci Code.

After the Vatican expressed its disapproval of the first instalment of director Ron Howard's film adaptation from Dan Brown's book The Da Vinci Code, it was no surprise to anyone that the church refused the production of Angels & Demons access to the Vatican to film the sequel, which led Howard to recreate the set in LA.

But while the Roman Catholic Church was angered at The Da Vinci Code's take on the life of Jesus - the son of God marrying and fathering children didn't go down too well - they seem to be less inclined to give any damning report of the latest film. And why would they?

Angels & Demons is pure fiction, filled with an abundance of inaccuracies, historical and geographical, meaning the film acts, as it should, purely as entertainment, and by no means as a factual or historical account of events.

Robert Langdon (Hanks) is summoned to the Vatican to help find out who is behind the kidnapping of four Cardinals at an incredibly vulnerable time for the church, as the Pope has just died.

Langdon's relationship with the church remains a little frosty from their last meeting, but both parties are prepared to put their differences aside for the sake of the Cardinals' safe return. Langdon soon discovers that one of the church's oldest enemies, the Illuminati, is behind the kidnappings.

They are seeking revenge for an incident some 400 years ago, and by threatening the lives of the four Cardinals, who are most likely to be named the new Pope, and planning to blow up the Vatican with a stolen batch of antimatter from CERN (European Organisation for Nuclear Research), the Illuminati's underground organisation is soon to become very apparent to everyone.

As more pieces of the puzzle are put into place, it becomes clear that the abductions were an inside job. A number of people within the church soon become suspects, including the adopted son of the late Pope, Camerlengo Patrick McKenna (Ewan McGregor), head of the Swiss Guard, Commander Richter (Stellan Skarsgård) and Cardinal Strauss (Armin Mueller-Stahl).

Langdon deciphers the complex code used by the Illuminati to establish where he can locate each of the Cardinals. He is accompanied by Vittoria Vetra (Ayelet Zurer), a member of CERN, whose research focuses on the containment of antimatter. But after the experimental batch is stolen from the Swiss containment lab, she is desperate to stop a worldwide catastrophe occurring with the unpredictable antimatter in the wrong hands.

Angels & Demons manages to keep the action flowing, while serving up a picture-perfect backdrop of Rome, even if the stomach-turning events that unfold aren't as pleasant as the stunning skyline. Hanks' subtle humour and unflappable nature combine to win over the Vatican and smooth over the cracks of their difficult early correspondence.