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View Full Version : The Da Vinci Code: Caution



Myles
May 24th, 2006, 01:18 AM
If you haven't read the book or seen the movie you probably don't want to be reading this thread. It'll just ruin it for you.

Or will it?

I haven't read the book. I didn't want to because the movie is always worse than the book. Cleverly, I put off reading the book just long enough to see the movie. This would ensure that the movei was fantastic.

Or was it?

Well not really. It was just, well, nothing. It was vanilla, mediocre, just plain average. The storyline has puzzles, but they are just zipped through so fast that you don't even enter the mind of the main character like "A Beautiful Mind" instead you are just watching. Its pretty much like watching someone else do a puzzle for you. The progression is rather predictable and the ending is extremely underwhelming.

So what went wrong?

Well I'll just get the big one out of the way. Tom Hanks sucked. He just was too much himself. He would have flashes of development, but they would easily be destroyed by random action scenes that made you wonder if his character was some kind of superhero at times.

Next, well everyone is part of some secret cult and everyone knows it. I don't see how both of these things can make sense at the same time. They talk about how surrounded in myth everything is for about 30 seconds before launching us into murderous rampages and car chase scenes and never really making this cult feel like it was secret at all.

The puzzles were probably the worst part though. They were like a paint by numbers or something. Find a note, read the note, follow the note, get attacked by bad guy, your princess is in another castle (I mean find another note). Until eventually we find out that the girl is the whole point of the show and she has about 50 people that know who she is.

So where am I going with this?

1. If you did read this without having watched the movie or read the book. Go read the book. Don't ruin it by watching the movie first.

2. Please prove me wrong. Enlighten me as to where I'm undervalueing what I can only call a flop. I expected goosebumps. I expected "A Beautiful Mind", "Gladiator", or "The Matrix" instead I got ... the third Matrix. Basically an entire movie where I'm trying to convince myself that this movie is great until eventually the ending comes and I've failed at doing so.

Now don't get me wrong. I might have even said in the above that the movie was bad. It wasn't bad. The real problem is I expected eleven thumbs up and I got one, maybe one and a half if Ebert is generous.

Basically, if you walk into this movie expecting nothing. You'll probably enjoy it. If you read this post first, you'll probably love the movie, but if you walk into it like me expecting Batman Begins you are going to be sadly mistaken when you realize you just watched Final Fantasy the Spirits within.

SuperSwede
May 24th, 2006, 01:30 AM
The puzzles were probably the worst part though. They were like a paint by numbers or something. Find a note, read the note, follow the note, get attacked by bad guy, your princess is in another castle (I mean find another note).


Thanks for the warning Vitalmyles! It sounds like the early 90´s computer adventure game Kings Quest or something ;)

Spudman
May 24th, 2006, 07:58 AM
Yes, read the book first. I think the movie is more geared towards fans than the general public.
That said, in interviews that I have heard one of the aims was to play it safe as not to possibly incur backlash from Opus Dei or the Catholic Church by the introduction of Hollywood glimmer.
Certainly reading the book makes the movie make more sense as they did not deviate much from the book.

Myles
May 24th, 2006, 08:39 AM
Certainly reading the book makes the movie make more sense as they did not deviate much from the book.
Foiled again!

So this time if I would have read the book first, I'd have liked the movie more. Well millions of people can't be wrong about the book so I'll have to go out and read it.

Tim
May 24th, 2006, 10:06 AM
I did not read the book. Instead I listened to the book … 5 CDs worth. Since my eyes are getting older, I would rather listen to a book than read it. The narration of the reader did an excellent of attempting to change his voice for the different characters.

Although I am not an avid fan of the story plot that is being portrayed, but I do try to keep an open mind on things that impact the world.

I will go see the movie when I find the time. I am surprised on Vitalmyle’s comment that Tom Hanks did such a poor job in the movie. But then Tom must follow the Director’s instructions. Ron Howard is no slouch on directing movies.

If the movie is as bad as Vitalmyles says it is, then maybe that is what it is suppose to be. It just wasn’t supposed to be a successful movie. I also believe in a higher “Source”. I also do not believe in faith bashing. The movie attacked more than one institution. I will go and watch it in order to protect my belief system.

Now on the other hand … give me a good exorcist movie and I will be on the edge of my chair for the complete viewing.

Spudman
May 24th, 2006, 09:24 PM
Now on the other hand … give me a good exorcist movie and I will be on the edge of my chair for the complete viewing.

I can't do exorcist movies...it messes with my belief system.:rolleyes:

It's just FICTION! A story! I wish everyone would lighten up and just enjoy it for what it is. It's just a fictional story. That is why not much got put into the movie. The makers were afraid of annoying people. Personally, I like to be annoyed because it makes me think.
NPR may still have the audio archive of their recent piece on the movie. Check NPR.org and you hear the thoughts of some of the people connected to the movie.

Myles
May 25th, 2006, 12:39 AM
Indeed it does seem that after some research that they filtered the content of the movie in order to appease a number of different groups. I have to echo the words of Spudman that its just a movie and they really should have just told the tale the way it was suppose to be told.

You guys might be surprised that I'm going to try to watch the movie again after my rant crazed review. I understand that there is this part of me that can really enjoy movies when I underestimate them and really hate movies when I expect too much. The second time I see this one I won't be expecting anything. I can only hope that I'll get more out of it the second time.