00s Movie Review - The Da Vinci Code

Director: Ron Howard
Genre: Mystery/ Thriller
Runtime: 139 minutes
Year: 2006
Starring: Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Ian McKellen, Paul Bettany, Alfred Molina, Jean Reno

Description: A murder and clues in paintings lead to the discovery of a closely guarded religious mystery

Review: The church wasn’t happy with the book “The Da Vinci Code” by author Dan Brown. But I think the church hates the movie even more, because it’s very detailed, realistic and close to its source material. A plus for director Ron Howard, who gave Browns killer a face, lets the blood visually flow and made the search for the holy grail a mysterious quest. It’s a search full of discoveries, surprises and cliffhangers. Over two hours on the edge of your seat. 

How detailed the movie may be, you can’t be as complete as 429 pages. But there is no need to. Howard used enough references to history from daily life. Why Friday the 13th is an unlucky day for instance. They aren’t flashbacks, it’s like Professor Langdon and Sophie are thinking it all over, to help them with deciphering codes, anagrams and riddles. 

Off course nothing speaks like your imagination. It’s often said that the book is better than the movie, because the characters get a different face than you imaged for instance. But the casting is good. Tom Hanks leads it as Robert Langdon and, as always, does a great job as the leading man. Audrey Tautou convinces as well as Ian McKellen and Jean Reno. But it’s Paul Bettany that steals the show, as Silas. The way he portrayed Silas; possessed, brutal, submissive.

Howard used some modern tricks for the movie. Where Langdon and Sophie use a library database in the book, here they work their way around a pocket computer with wireless internet connection. And the drive in a Smart, that manages to sneak through a gap between two trucks, is also a bit more spectacular than in the book. 

The movie is not as complete as the book, but equally impressive. The movie challenges you to believe, or at least ask yourself questions about it. The truth behind it when it comes to religion and history. For many “The Da Vinci Code” is a collection of factual inaccuracies, but the truth is what you believe. And that’s what Robert Langdon thinks.

Rating: 4/ 5

Movie Moments: The Da Vinci Code

"The Da Vinci Code" got a lot of negative critique when it came out. I was one of those moviegoers that liked it immediately. I love the story and excitement of the movie. I would like to share my favorite moments from the film.

Moment # 1: Robert Langdon
We meet professor Robert Langdon while he’s lecturing about symbols.

Moment # 2: Silas
Silas has just committed a murder in the Louvre and is now talking in Latin to someone on the phone. Next we see hem inflict pain to himself. He’s suffering for Jesus Christ.

Moment # 3: Deciphering Saugniére’s messages
Jacques Saugniére left a message for Langdon and Sophie and they need to decipher it. It leads them to the Mona Lisa, where he left another riddle. When the are pointed to Madonna of the Rocks Langdon and Sophie find a fleur-de-lis. It’s a key.

Moment # 4: Cryptex
The key that they found leads Langdon and Sophie to a crypts. Sophie once received one from Saugniére and she tells Langdon all about the cryptex.

Moment # 5: The holy grail
Langdon asks his friend Leigh Teabing for help, because he’s an expert in the holy grail. Teabing explains Langdon and Sophie what the holy grail actually is.

Moment # 6: Langdon opens the cryptex
Teabing wants Sophie to open the cryptex, because he thinks she’s the keeper of the holy grail. Sophie doesn’t know and Langdon gives it a try. He says he can’t either and throws the cryptex at Teabing. It’s broken, but we later see that Langdon retrieved the map before the cryptex broke. The code was apple.

Moment # 7: Sophie is the secret
When Langdon and Sophie think they found Mary Magdalene, Langdon discovers that Sophie is the secret. She is royal blood, the heir, the end of the bloodline, the last living descendant of Jesus Christ.

Moment # 8: Langdon and Sophie say goodbye
After a long journey, Langdon and Sophie say goodbye. Langdon tells her a story about himself, when he was a child. When Sophie goes back to her family, she tries to walk on water, as a joke.

Moment # 9: Langdon follows the roseline
When Langdon is in his hotel room, he decides to follow the roseline. It ends at the point where the two pyramids come together and that’s the place where Mary Magdalene’s sarcophagus is.

Favorite Moment: Moment # 9: Langdon follows the roseline

Top 5 Thursday: Female Movie Characters

It’s all about the ladies this week. There are so many great, strong, bitchin’, cool, awesome, kick-ass, perfect and funny female movie characters. Here are my five favorites.

5. Olive Hoover (Abigail Breslin in “Little Miss Sunshine”)
Olive is the sweetest little girl you can imagine. She's always happy, enthusiastic and kind. She wants nothing more then to attend the Little Miss Sunshine competition. And she really doesn't care about what other people think of her. All the other children in the contest are supposed to look perfect, but Olive is the only true beauty in the pageant.

4. Olive Penderghast (Emma Stone in “Easy A”)
Olive is witty, intelligent, she has a great sense of humor and she is very kind. Olive is one of the best characters ever written for film and I adore her. Everything about her.

3. Amélie Poulain (Audrey Tatou in “Amélie”)
Amelie is a whimsical do-gooder whose benign interference helps out friends and neighbours, but who then has to help herself when she falls in love with a stranger. I love Amelie’s nice gestures.

2. Elizabeth Bennet (Keira Knightley in “Pride & Prejudice”)
Elizabeth is an intelligent young woman, with a lively, playful disposition, which delighted in anything ridiculous. Her mother wants only one thing: for her to get married, preferably to a rich man. Elizabeth can only marry a man because of love.

1. The Bride (Uma Thurman in “Kill Bill: Vol. 1+2”)
The Bride, aka Beatrix Kiddo, is a formidable, ruthless warrior who used to serve at the right hand of Bill. She is a strong willed woman and literally kick-ass.

They almost made the top 5: Shosanna Dreyfuss (Mélanie Laurent in “Inglourious Bastards”), Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormans in “Fargo”), Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson in “Lost in Translation”), Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts in “King Kong”)