The Da Vinci Code (2006)
You're dangerous cause your honest, you're dangerous cause you don't know what you want. - U2, Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
This may be tricky. But I'll try...
Movie: The Da Vinci Code.
Director: Ron Howard
Who's in it: Tom Hanks (That guy who acted in every other film), Audrey Tautou (That Amelie chick), Ian McKellen (Gandalf/Magneto), Jean Reno (Ronin, Leon, Pink Panther!)
My views. From the perspective of one who has read thebook.
To be honest, I wasn't too satisfied. But perhaps I hyped it up too much. It was gripping, and definitely entertaining. But it was too.....safe. And like a lot of things (in the arts) that are safe, they end up being forgettable. You may say...SAFE?! It was questioning the basis of Christianity! (But hasn't the book done that already). I guess what I'm saying is it just seemed that the script was re-written over and over again just to make sure they wouldn't end up overtly offending anyone. I just don't think you should try too hard to be nice when you set out to be naughty. Besides, it's a piece of fiction. It's a 'What If', not a 'This is What Happened'. The whole hoo ha about the book/movie being offensive in my opinion, was unecessary. But that's just me.
Then again, I never really had much faith in Ron Howard. Ian McKellen was good in this though. He always is. I can't wait to watch XMen3!!!! And I've always loved Jean Reno as an actor, but in this, he was mediocre, which is sad. For me.
I would give it a 6.9 out of 10. I also think the movie was a bit overstuffed.
I'm craving to discuss overlaps between book/movie but I'm afraid of spoiling it for those who haven't watched it. The classic line of the night though would have to be Roger's "So I.M Pei was in it all as well!" (I.M Pei - architect of the Louvre Museum, Paris).
What did everyone else think? (Besides, 'It was scary'! (Clara))
posted by Lin @ 7:28 PM
9 Comments:
urgh, i don't think any sane person would want to watch this movie again but for Audrey Tautou's dimples.
yes, Xmen 3. Much anticipated!!
I actually found it a lot better when I wathced it today, probably cos my expectations were so low after the first time...
...and i knew when to look away...
but seriously, i think there were heaps of details left out from the book, not to mention anticipation and mystery, which made the movie really fall flat for me.
Audrey's shoes were the only reason I kept watching;)
I dunno miss insane...I feel leaving out too much detail is alright, (otherwise it becomes even more overwhelming), as long as the detail u put in is convincing enough. I wasn't convinced.
I didn't notice Audrey's shoes!! But then again, I didn't notice her dimples either...dammit, I missed the best parts!
XMEN3's OUT TODAY!!!!
Baja! Sorry for lateness of blogage but have been so busy that have only just had the time to see DVC. Must say I found it really poor. Personally I have never rated Ron Howard. He is too safe a director (which is why Hollywood loves him so much I guess) and so your comment on rewriting the script to avoid offence is very pertinent. And for the love of God was it just me or did anyone also think that in terms of mood, dreamy flashback sequences and even music this smelled a lot like Beautiful Mind 2? Maybe they should have called it revenge of the Nash.
I agree Sir Ian was great but I also thought Paul Bettany was exceptional (but then again he also always is). Jean Reno is starting to get a bit typecast - hmmmm we need a gruff French type to play a police sergeant, who you gonna call? Such a waste of one of my favourite actors, it was almost as bad as seeing him in Godzilla. The less said about Hanks and Tatou the better.
Lin, I read the book on a flight from America whilst returning from a conference. I thought then it was a really trashy easy to read novel but with loads of interesting bits and a fast moving plot. The one thing however that I couldn't help but think as I was reading the book was how it read like a film script. So how on Earth did they manage to f*** it up so convincingly when the source material didn't really need that much tweaking to adapt it into a screenplay. Maybe it was the editing that was really clunky. Thank God however that they left out the romantic subplot between the two leads which I found really unnecessary.
It is a controversial idea, but one that has been mooted so much anyway these days it probably isn't all that offensive now so I feel as you do that the filmmakers should have really just taken a stab at it. I really laughed about what you said about IM Pei (because that is exactly what I thought!). Incidentally, did you know that apparently 666 panes of glass make up that pyramid? Me writing this on 06/06/06 as well.......shudder!!
Anyway that is my rant on the Da Vinci code finished. A few more things:
1) Have you received your phone?
2) Cool pictures of Jellyfish and little fluffy plastic bags.
3) It is a choir singing I've got soul but I'm not a soldier. The video is well cool. Glad you like them. The Arctic Monkeys are my current favourite band.
4) I will be going to the Isle of Wight festival this weekend so pray for good weather.
5) Come on England!
6) Australia are in a really tough group aren't they (Brazil, Japan and Croatia)? Still, good to have qualified for the finals.
7) X-Men 3 is good but still prefer X-Men 2. Didn't stay till end so not sure what happened to Blue Monkey.
8) I went all-in with jacks the other day at a tournament and won!!! Must be a new trend.
Koki x
KOKI!!
Good rant! Yah I thought you probably wouldn’t have liked the movie. You’re right though..It had so much more potential. Perhaps they should have given it to Peter Jackson??
I must go visit the Louvre soon. I didn’t have time to hop by Paris when I was down last year. It was down to skiing in ValDiSere or sightseeing in Paris and I’m glad I chose the former!!!
06/06/06..how freaky!!!
Jacks are the new ‘in’ thing! I want to tell you about my first experience at a proper poker table, but I will do that via email one day! It was exciting, but don’t worry, no encounters with Johnny Chan or strange Orea-eating Russian dudes yet.
John Malkovich was SO COOL in Rounders!!!
Thanks again for the goodstuff. Loved it all. Must have been quite a kerfuffle for you post all that bulk!
-Baja
Your are Nice. And so is your site! Maybe you need some more pictures. Will return in the near future.
»
Greets to the webmaster of this wonderful site. Keep working. Thank you.
»
Post a Comment
<< Home