Da Vinci Code-I saw it today.

Slimothy

Veteran
First off, let me say I loved the book. Best book I've read in a long time. Dan Brown is one smart dude. This is the only movie I've ever purposely seen on opening day. Aside from the horrible review it received from Cannes, I was still really looking forward to this one.

MAY BE SOME SPOILERS!

Overall I can't tell if I liked the movie or not. I think I am SO biased from reading the book that I can't weigh in on it objectively. I have to say that my gut feeling is telling me that I really didn't care for it. Here is what I didn't like:

-The movie changed some things from the book for NO apparent reason. Certain things were different that could have just as well been totally by the book. I understand that things have to be tweaked in order to tell the story in the alloted time, but certain small things were changed. For example: When Lei is explaining to Sophie all about the Priory and Jesus having a wife etc, Robert is sort of arguing with him and interjecting. In the book, Robert is totally on the same page (so to speak) with Lei and just kind of sits back as he explains the myth to Sophie. This was aggravating because the whole reason Jacques Saunneir (spelling?) trusted Langdon was because he had uncovered some of these myths in his rough draft of the book he sent him. (sorry if all that was confusing. I'm stupid.)

-The acting from the actress (I thought) was god awful sometimes. Not the whole time, but sometimes she would say a line and I wanted to throw my popcorn at her face. It really sounded like she was reading from a teleprompter on a few lines. The other thing is that her accent was so thick in the beginning of the movie, I had to listen REALLY closely just to understand her (damn French).

-Finally, the movie basically did a rough job of explaining everything. The three other people I was with hadn't read the book and didn't really know what was going on. They got the gist of it, but all the little things that make the story cool eluded them. I looked over at them and they looked like a mixture of boredom and confusion.

The more I think about it, the more I don't like this movie.

Overall: One of the few times the critics were right.
 
I also heard it was terrible, and that everyone should stick to reading the book, lol. I still wanna see it though.
 
aw man! I have not read the book (read Angels and Demons and loved it!) but I held off on reading this book because that usually RUINS seeing a movie adaptation. I was going to read the book AFTER seeing the movie. But I dont want to sit confused, only getting the gist of it. I have not even read reviews of the movie because I didnt want to be swayed...and look what I did! hahaha!!!! I dont mind the spoilers, and I would consider your review "unbiased" and "unaffected by public pressure". So maybe I will read the book, and then wait for the DVD, hoping for good BTS coverage on the adaptation 'reasons why we did this' kind of thing. :huh:
 
well, i wasn't interested in it, the book or the movie now i'm really not interested in it, thanks for ruining my expectations throwing away my money Tim!
 
roger ebert's review is in and he loved the film... i feel the reason for the negative reviews is that the critics don't want to sit through a movie about history... which is basically what this is...
 
ravinesedge said:
roger ebert's review is in and he loved the film... i feel the reason for the negative reviews is that the critics don't want to sit through a movie about history... which is basically what this is...

Is that a joke?

Saving Private Ryan, Band of bros. Black hawk down, Schinder's List etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. Don't remember those movies getting bad reviews.
 
sorry what i meant was it discusses a LOT about history of symbols and what they mean and such... a lot of people don't care where the swastika comes from before the nazi's use it... or how we get the peace sign or the meaning of a trident... most people don't care about symbology and its importance... i for one find it very interesting... i've been doing those crack the code things from NBC and got them all... its so cool to try and figure them out but the people as a whole don't find it interesting IMHO

it came out wrong sorry.
 
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Elvis said:
I have to say, if you have not seen the movie why are you posting?
I saw it today, not great but it did not bore me. It was very predictable i.m.h.o. Go see it and post what you think!

how do you know i haven't seen the movie? i loved it. thought it was a great film... i just think that the negative reviews is because of the history lesson of symbology... IMHO.

The acting was great on all parts. Hanks goes without saying and Tautou was great as well and i always enjoy McKellen.
 
Man, I just watched it. I'm pretty dissappointed. First off, there was no Clint Howard (Ron Howard's brother) in this. Secondly, there were a lot of redundant cutaway's (for example, ...SPOILERS AHEAD: So the old man, the french jesus and langdon land the plane and pull into the hangar. After being approached by the french police, the old man is allowed to leave. He turns to the back seat and talks to french jesus and langdon and says something like "They didn't even see you pass right before their eyes", and then they proceed to show the shot of french jesus and langdon running out of the plane and into the car, as if we couldn't figure out how they got there).

The third issue was the dialogue. I don't know if it was the writing itself or the delivery, but it was just corny and once again, redundant.

The dialogue can be looked past, and possibly the editing, but the fact that clint howard wasn't in this is inexcusable. :(

It was good in some respects but watching it from a critical eye, I wasn't very impressed.
 
Ron Howard's brother? Funny looking little bald guy? He's gotten a small role in almost every one of Ron Howard's pictures.
 
I guess the guy has some major fans! :)

I know you'd recognize him if you saw him. He's had "nothing" roles in DOZENS of really great movies.
 
Well, he can't be too bitter, Ron's been treating him well.

And yeah, the guy is ALL over the place. Years ago I noticed him in Apollo 13, That Thing You Do, The Rocketeer, and Austin Powers...I wanted to find out who the heck that weird looking guy was. Now I see him all the time. It's like "Where's Waldo" for the cinephile. :)
 
didn't MTV give Clint a lifetime achievement award? i remember it started off as a joke until everyone saw how moved and touched clint actually was. i believe he teared up a bit while accepting the award.
 
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