When - 31 October 2008
Where - Home (SD)
How - Aired on TNT in HD
This was about my third time seeing this film, having seen it before in theatres back in 2006, and then on Encore just a few months back. Each time, it just confirms why I kind of dislike it: it's a bloated attempt to remain TOO faithful to its source material. This same disease affected the first Harry Potter film, and while it makes fans stand up and cheer, it can also make passive film-goer completely disinterested. So many moments feel like the could have been excised, without sacrificing any of the cool historical facts or thrilling action set pieces. Also, it's a tad bit too long; the film's climax happens a good 20 minutes or so before the actual end of the film. Granted, there's a huge revelation that awaits in those final moments, however, the ending still feels a tad bit tacked on, serving more as an epilogue. Having read the book (in a fever, mind you, reading almost the entire thing in one night), I much prefer the book. I look forward to Angels and Demons, this film and book's prequel; it's a much better story, and it's much more suited for film than this one. A great history lesson with some nice speculative Christian doctrine, but overall, it's kinda a mess, trying to tell TOO much story for a two hour film.
Side Note: A good friend of mine and director of one of my short screenplays was Ron Howard's assistant on Angels and Demons.
Buy - No
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