The Da Vinci Code

And naturally, Ray and I went to see the movie right after reading the book.

What can I say. We both liked it, but we both realize that if you hadn't read the book ahead of time, you'd be very confused and probably extremely frustrated.

The movie actually felt like a speeding train, like a swirling tornado hurtling an endless stream of information, symbols, mysteries and revelations at the viewer.

Having read the book, we both knew what was coming next and we could make sense of every bit of information presented, but if you hadn't, boy oh boy, you were in for quite a roller coaster ride.

As for the movie itself, I have to admit that, as adaptations go, and given the incredible amount of information comprised in those 400 or so pages, this one was pretty good.

No major plotline was butchered or drastically altered and all the major occurrences of the book were more or less included. That's also the reason the movie was so rushed. With all that data to present, explain, decode and digest, no one had the luxury to lie around much.

The biggest flaw of the movie is probably the lack of character development, caused, once again, by the lack of time to actually develop them. Also, because of the movie's speed, all the astonishing discoveries and revelations offered gradually and to great effect in the book were just barfed out by whatever character whose turn it was to be on camera.

Too bad, since the story is brilliant. Also, some character's predispositions didn't match those in the book, most glaring of all, Langdon's attempts at debunking or watering down all of Teabing's explanations and theories during one of the most important scenes, when Sophie is told the many truths that are at the center of the story.

That's the kind of change that rubs the reader the wrong way, because it just doesn't ring true to what he knows, since in the book Langdon supports everything Teabing says. And Langdon is the main character, so a drastic change in his belief system can make you do a double-take (and make you go, Wait a second, that's just wrong, Langdon would never say that!!)

Other changes, like in the characters of Fache, Bishop Aringarosa and Saunière, or the Vatican's role were less troubling and more justified by the need to adapt the story to a different medium.

Anyway, my whole attitude, going in, was to gain some visual knowledge of the many places described in the book that I had only seen with my mind's eye, and on that respect I was pleased.

Technically, the movie wasn't bad. I can't really say much about the soundtrack (the sound in that theater was horrible, and it even went out at one point), but the acting was good and the art direction/set decoration excellent.

Overall, Ron Howard did an ok job, he just had to much to squeeze into a single movie. Maybe he could have made two, Ã -la Kill Bill. A good cliffhanger at the end of the first part would have ensured the crowd would have flown back in theaters to see the end.

Grade: 6.5