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I was able to sees preview showing of this film.  Having not really been excited about the DaVinci Code (the prequel to Angels and Demons), I wasn’t sure what to expect.  Angels and Demons is an all-around better movie than the DaVinci Code was.  It’s more exciting, has a more engaging plot, and plenty of good action scenes.

You absolutely do not need to see the first movie or have read either book to appreciate this movie.  The biggest cultural contrast is that this movie/book to the first is that Angels and Demons generated almost no controversy.  This may be in part because there is no reference to Jesus being married and having a lineage in this story.  While it still plays off a historically inaccurate concept of the Illuminati (they didn’t even exist in the 17th Century), the new film shows much more respect for the Catholic church.  This time Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) joins up with the Catholic church working to stop an imminent terrorist threat at the Vatican after four cardinals likely to replace a recently deceased pope have been kidnapped.

It does show some pattern with the DaVinci Code as each scene provides some cryptic symbolic code that Langdon must figure out in time leading into the next schene.  The movie has plenty of plot twists and turns to keep you wondering who the good guys are.  The action scenes are not over the top with blood and gore, and are generally tastefully done.

In conclusion, simply an entertaining movie.  Whereas the Davinci Code seemed long and dull at times, this one was engaging all the way through.  Go see it.

Currently unrated

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