Posted on Mon, May 25 2009 @ 18:48
2 comments

The One With "Angels & Demons"

Andy and I went to see "Angels and Demons" last night. It was a pretty good film, actually. I admit, the only reason I wanted to go see it is because of Rome, but I was sort of pleasantly surprised. I didn't really pay much attention to the plot and most of my attention really went to locations (I was reliving memories), but it being Rome, how could it not? The plot seemed to be a bit plot-holish, but I suppose you need to read the book to get a better picture, which I did not. In fact, it didn't matter because, really, the whole film was about Rome. You don't need to be a religious person to succumb to the power of that city, in my opinion, and I think it worked as well as it did because it was set in Rome. It could have not achieved the same impact if it had been set anywhere else. That city and its locations were, without a doubt, the real stars of the film.



Like I said, I didn't read the books. Andy did, and he read the other Dan Brown books as well. He was not particularly impressed but he was clearly drawn by the anti-religion vibe that dominated them. I'm not advocating religion here, mostly because I, like him, am not a religious person, but Brown just doesn't do it for me. His plots are unoriginal. The "speculations" and ideas (and I admit there's quite an aspect of plausibility in them) he's basing everything upon have existed for centuries. He just happened to be the first person to put it on paper in a way that made him millions of dollars. On top of that, preaching anti-religion in today's world is not going to do him any good. Religion, any religion, is too significant a part of our human culture to vanish at this stage; our dependency on religion is rooted too deep in who we are; we're dependant on it in one way or another. You take it away now and you guarantee chaos. Religion, ironically enough (and I say ironically because of all the awful things that happened in its name over the centuries) keeps men in check. It is organized for the sake of organization. As long as men need structure and need something to cling to and feel better about themselves, it will triumph, and men will always need it… therefore they are men.



So once again, it wasn't the plot, in my opinion, that was the center of this movie. I think it was shot in a way that even the director knew that the plot came second. There were no bad or good guys; it was very carefully laid out. It wasn't preaching or taking sides; I liked that about it. But it was certainly glorifying Rome and basing its success on the existing glory of Rome. Having watched it, even if you'd never been to Rome before, you cannot help but feel in awe of it. And if you had, well… if you're anything like me, you're dying to go back. Again.



Also, the score was very impressive.

Mood: Romesick
Listening to: None