The Da Vinci Code

Due to the publicity and the fact that less intelligent people took the Da Vinci Code for fact, I avoided this movie for some time. I also didn't like Tom Hanks with long hair, but thats just aesthetic concerns.
I finally watched the movie and it was a good show. However, when unfurling a mystery, there comes a point when enough is enough. The audience is no longer how asking how deep the rabbit hole goes, instead they are asking when the rabbit hole will end. The plot is interesting and the film is made with that trademark Ron Howard touch; which means its easy to watch.

I did like the fact that the french characters actually spoke french. Ron Howard, one of the ultimate audience pleasing directors, made the audience actually have to read subtitles! You rarely see this for any extended period of time with a big budget film like this. It has always bothered me that the Nazi's would speak English when amongst themselves. It also allowed Jean Reno, a fabulous actor who is hamstrung when forced to speak english, to actually be able to act and speak in his language.

Tom Hanks was servicable, you could tell he didn't have much of a character to work with. He was the buffer between the plot and the audience, there to explain and translate everything that happened. They tried to add character by having him be afraid of enclosed spaces, maybe he had a better character in the actual book, I don't know.

The other actors were fine, no one performance stood out. Ian Mckellan stood out because he had the most colorful character to work with. Everyone else was a one trick pony despite an outstanding cast.

There was simply too much going on in this film, too many layers, ulterior motives and betrayals. The actors knew too much about everything and events had a timing only available in movies. Its worth a watch, but really failed to suck me in.