Da Vinci Code -- Movie Review

“Ron Howard was making another movie!” That was good enough to get me excited. Master pieces like Apollo13, Ransom and a Beautiful mind made by this genius. And this time it was an adaptation of Dan Brown’s controversial novel “The Da Vinci Code” made it the most electrifying movie to watch this monsoon.

The 2 hour 29 minute Action/Adventure/Thriller though with a brilliant star cast lead by Tom-Hanks (of Cast Away and Forrest Gump fame) and Audrey Tautou (of Emilie fame) give an ordinary performance.

Akiva Goldsman, the script writer for the movie tries to cram every single detail of the novel in the movie; making it a long wait to the finish and difficult to comprehend for the viewer esp for ones who has not read the book. Thus proving the popular belief that the screenplays for adaptations if written by the author (like Mario Puzo for GodFather, the movie), keep the true essence of the novel alive.

The Dolby/Digital effect would have been an added attraction if the music was catchy and appealing. The sale of the music as ring-tones for mobile phones does not seem to do any good for Sony, the production house.

The cinematography and the direction give the feeling that the movie is based on fiction rather than a true story. The biggest letdown is the deviation of the ending in the movie from the gripping novel. The suspense and the drama created by book surpass the one created in the movie. Thus also proving that reading a book is any day better than any movie or stage adaptation.