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The Last Temptation of Christ - The Feeling Begins |
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 Finally watched The Da Vinci Code with my sister, Kris. OK LANG. It wasn't really a total mess like what some critics are saying. It's just that it wasn't half as exciting as the book. What makes the book exciting are the little details Robert Langdon would share throughout the novel. Like how Walt Disney can actually be part of Priory of Sion, how there was a Magdalene portrait in Disney's The Little Mermaid that could actually mean that Ariel is a symbol of Sacred Feminism. All these things are gone in the movie, which is really understandable. But if they were able to put those little interesting details, the movie could have turned out to be good. Because strip the film of those, and what you get is a chase movie, which isn't really an exciting one. Half through the movie, it just got so dragging. I couldn't believe that I'm actually watching a movie version of a novel that I couldn't stop reading. Not that the story seemed like John Irving thought of the plot. It was indulging enough, but again, it's those little details, those little information of Da Vinci's works that made the novel interesting. You don't really care if they're true or not, but they make you think because you like conspiracy theories.
Surprisingly, I got over the feeling that I really I couldn't imagine Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon. He still wasn't the Robert Langdon I imagined, but at least, he wasn't himself in the movie. Mas hindi ko nakita si Sophie Neveu kay Audrey Tatou. She wasn't being Amelie, but she just seemed so childish. I imagined Sophie to have the poise and sophistication of someone like Julianne Moore or Monica Belluci. But she had shining moments like when she confronted Silas in the plane. And she's so pretty!!! She kinda looks like Aiko Melendez. Paul Bettany was perfect as Silas. So was Ian McKellen as Teabing and Jean Reno as Fache. Alfred Molina didn't do much, but he is also worth mentioning.
Although the movie remained faithful to the book, I didn't like the script. When will Ron Howard realize that Akiva Goldsman is a ham writer?!?! Sheesh. It just wasn't affecting. I never felt involved with the characters. The Last Supper scene was executed beautifully though, but some effects looked like they were taken out of A Beautiful Mind. Wonderful shots in the ending.
I also noticed that in the book, Robert Langdon was so sure of the whole Jesus-The Last Supper-Mary Magdalene theory, while in the movie, he was questioning it. Why the change? So that Langdon would seem more logical and affectionate? But Dan Brown is Robert langdon and Brown was so sure of what he wrote. He is even more convinced than the writers of Holy Blood, Holy Grail that there IS a Priory of Sion. Maybe Brown is Teabing after all. Anyhow, the movie lost some balls that way.
Was I disappointed? Yes. Was I expecting too much? No. I didn't even have any expectations before watching the movie. I dunno, maybe I was just biased because I've read the book, and somehow, having read the book, I was deprived of that "on the edge of my seat" feeling while watching the movie.
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