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Movie
description
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-Tom
Hanks
Dan
Brown’s
novels
are
packed
with
fascinating
historical
tidbits
which
he
ingeniously
twists
into
plots
that
are
so
intricate
and
complex
that
there
is a
constant
need
to
inform
the
reader
with
exposition,
often
leaving
little
room
for
character
development.
There
is a
bit
of
this
stilted
quality
to
ANGELS
AND
DEMONS,
the
second
of
Brown’s
novels
to
be
brought
to
the
big
screen
by
the
tandem
of
Ron
Howard
and
Tom
Hanks,
but
more
than
enough
intense
action
to
keep
the
eyes
of
the
audience
as
busy
as
their
minds.
The
details
of
the
plot
are
as
diabolical
as
any
in
Hollywood
history:
after
the
pope’s
death,
a
nefarious
organization
stashes
an
antimatter
bomb
somewhere
in
the
Vatican,
threatening
to
annihilate
the
conclave
of
cardinals
who
are
meeting
to
elect
the
papal
successor.
To
pass
the
time
until
the
bomb
will
detonate,
the
enemy
begins
to
torture
and
kill
a
few
of
the
individual
cardinals,
but
there
is a
pattern
to
the
grotesque
executions,
involving
hidden
sculptural
symbols
and
secret
architectural
clues.
Unfortunately
for
the
church,
the
man
most
capable
of
deciphering
the
code
is
the
American
"symbologist"
Robert
Langdon
(Hanks),
who
happens
to
be
an
affirmed
atheist.
The
script
is
filled
with
amazing
details
about
the
centuries-old
conflict
between
the
church
and
the
Illuminati
(whose
members
included
Galileo,
Michelangelo,
and
Bernini),
which
Hanks
uncovers
as
he
breathlessly
races
between
various
landmarks
in
Rome,
always
a
step
behind
the
sinister
assassin.
The
secondary
cast
consists
almost
entirely
of
European
actors,
including
Ewan
McGregor,
Stellan
Skarsgaard,
and
Armin
Mueller-Stahl,
who
betray
so
little
emotion
that
it
is
impossible
to
tell
who
is a
part
of
the
conspiracy
until
long
after
the
explosive
climax.
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