Artists and book fanatics all over the world call it, 'A work of art.' Opus Dei labeled it, 'A work of fiction.' The Vatican condemn it, 'A work of evil.' But however we prefer to name it, The Da Vinci Code is selling to millions, this time onscreen and finally out with a lot controversey. It opened nationwide here in the Philippines on May 18, 2006, despite the protests of some officials of the MTRCB and the futile action of the Roman Catholic church to stop it from coming in.
OK, but first of all, why the R-rating? From what I have seen, I think it is justified by a couple of necessary scenes. The first one is the dead body of Sauniere in Vitruvian fashion. No, of course they won't really show 'his nakedness,' as I prefer to put it, but it is still something mindless minors shouldn't see. The second one is Silas' self torture ('pain-is-good' belief). Again, sorry to the gays, no albino nakedness exposed. I cringed at the way it was shown. Either it was because I was too soft-hearted or the actor was just waay too good.
Having read the book during my senior year in SJ, I had no doubt with the quality of the story. The primary question that sat on my mind was, "Will the actors deliver?"
7 Positive points:
- The first scene opens with Sauniere running from his killer, Silas. I was surpised and happy with it because it was exactly as I had perceived it during my readings. The killing of the nun as he broke the Rose Line was also shown in accurate details.
- I initially thought that Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon wasn't exactly fitting, because I have the idea that the book character was supposedly younger-looking. But he showed otherwise. With the way he hadled his role, all I could say was, 'Sweet!'
- I laughed pleasantly at the fact that they chose the actor who played Magneto ni X-Men to play Sir Leigh Teabing and the actor who played Doctor Octopus in Spiderman 2 to be Bishop Aringarosa. I respect these actors for their great talent in effectively playing characters with twisted minds and double personas.
- I loved the suspense, especially that part with Silas jumping at Robert all of a sudden while he was having a heated discussion with Teabing.
- The guy who played the Captain was really good with his acting.
- The cryptex, along with all the props, was beautiful and very detailed. The cillice that Silas wore and his lash wounds- all believable.
- The best positive point of all is that, while almost all book-movies do unsatisfactory cuts that make the movie unclear and incomplete, this movie was 'necessarily cut' in a most perfect fashion. What I mean with this is that, they omitted the other book details with respect to the running time and changed the story a bit without losing its essence.
- I think other actresses would have given life to Sophie's character more effectively than the one in the movie.
- The music was not too good.
- I didn't like the way Silas died in the movie (I understand that the running time was very limited, but still..!)
- Teabing's revelation and sinister character was not given too much importance in the movie.
- Langdon's display of subtle humor (come on, he's Tom Hanks, he can do more with a better script!) was too limited.
- The Bishop seemed too young (I'd buy it if they had dyed his hair with a hint of gray).
- And the worst? The latter part where the revelations were made became too mushy and overwhelming. I wish they had spread the revelations evenly without overflowing the ending with too much information.
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