Angels and Demons Review

Just watched Angels and Demons last Friday at Kuching Star Cineplex with my buddies (thanks to Richard Simon for the tickets. Hahaha). Before watching the movie, I have actually read the book (mine is in e-book format…LOL), thrice. While the movie looks stunning to those who haven’t read the book, I do feel slightly disappointed with Ron Howard’s effort. Anyhow, below are some differences between the movie and the novel that I have noted. Feel free to add more.

1. Langdon didn’t ride the ultra high speed jet going to the Vatican.
2. The character Maximilian Kohler, CERN director, was not present in the movie (not sure why!)
3. The body found in CERN’s lab isn’t related to Vittoria Vetra (movie) but he’s actually her dad, Leonardo Vetra (book).
4. The Camerlengo was Patrick McKenna; in the novel, he is named Carlo Ventresca (which is a better name!)
5. In the movie, the fourth prefereti (Cardinal Baggia) was branded with a Water ambigram and was chained but was eventually saved by Langdon. He was drowned in the book as Langdon failed to save him.
6. In the movie, the fourth prefereti (Cardinal Baggia) told the location of Hassasin. In the book, Langdon completed the Path of Illumination to find the Hassasin.
7. Hassasin should look more like a Middle Eastern guy as portrayed in the book. In the movie, he looks more like a European!
8. In the book, Hassasin dies after being pushed from a balcony by Langdon at the Castel Sant’Angelo and breaking his back on a pile of cannonballs below and not being bombed in a car as in the movie!
9. Vittoria was not captured by the Hassasin.
10. The fifth ambigram was not the illuminati diamond as in the book. They used instead two crossed keys.
11. The camerlengo retrieved the antimatter and got into the helicopter alone. In the novel, the camerlengo and Langdon took the helicopter together.
12. Patrick & Richter confrontation recorded by CCTV (movie) but it’s actually Kohler & Ventresca, caught on Kohler’s mini camcorder at his wheelchair.
13. In the book, the Camerlengo was revealed as the birth son of the late pope, conceived through artificial insemination, which resulted him to burn himself and not as simple as portrayed in the movie.
14.  In the movie, the fourth preferati became the new pope, while in the book Cardinal Mortati (named Strauss in the movie) was elected
15. The new pope loaned the book which contained Folio 5 to Robert. In the book, the Illuminati Diamond brand was loaned to Langdon.

Maybe Ron Howard got his own reasons for the changes he made on his adaptation of the Dan Brown’s book. But i do think he could have done it better!  In terms of the cast, Tom Hanks is slightly better than he was in The Da Vinci Code. Ayelet Zurer looks sexy and stunning but should have been given more solid roles. Anyway, if you enjoy adventure and action movie, this is a must watch. Don’t worry about religious issues, it’s not that sensitive compared to The Da Vinci Code. I give this movie a B+.