film was shot, Ron Howard's THE DA VINCI CODE had it's teaser trailer out to generate buzz around the fact that Dan Brown's book was being made into a movie. Since then, the Sony Pictures HYPE machine has been in full force, generating buzz around the movie. This film is without a doubt the most anticipated movie this summer by a lot of people, just not me.
Before I begin, I'm not going to be one of those people that will spend months trying to decide if THE DA VINCI CODE is a book that is a work of fiction, or if it is a clever book based on fact. I'm sure there are scholars around the world that will debate that fact for the rest of time. I do know that when I walked through the local book store on my way to the movie, the book was in the FICTION section, so I'm sure that there will be MORE scholars debating whether book stores have put the novel in the wrong section as an attempt to save religion as we know it.
Since the movie has made more than 70 million at the box office in North America ALONE on it's opening weekend, and 50 Gazillion People have read the book, recapping the plot here would just take up space and time. I know my time is valuable, I would just hope yours is as well.
I found The Da Vinci Code a frustrating movie. I grew impatient sitting in the theatre. This ISN'T one of Tom Hanks better roles, he seemed pretty stiff in the movie. The chemistry between Hanks and Audrey Tautou stilted and laughable. This isn't an action movie either. This is a talky film, it's HEAVY on the exposition, and after a while I found myself nodding off, much like I did during history class in grades 7 thru 12. To me, it was boring. I fidgeted, and I rarely do that in a movie during the summer.
I'm sure director Ron Howard and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman did an admirable job of being faithful to Dan Brown's novel, Much like Christopher Columbus did with the first Harry Potter movie. But again, there is this fine line any filmmaker has to take when taking a novel from the page to screen, ESPECIALLY a Novel like The Da Vinci Code, where there is such a HUGE following: You have to satisfy the established base, and try and keep the interest of someone, like myself, who hasn't read the book. I'm not sure if they succeeded.
So, at the end of the day, The Da Vinci Code: The movie comes off as a long, drawn out snoozefest for me. Will it draw me into conspiracy theories like so many people? Will it make me wonder about religion? I doubt it. Is it a perfect example of the Hollywood Hype Machine gearing into overdrive to generate so much buzz people can't HELP but want to see it? That I'll go along with.
The one piece of controversy that has arisen from me seeing The Da Vinci Code came when I went to get my usual Diet Pepsi. The theatre chain has dropped Pepsi Beverages from their concessions, and have gone with Coke products. You would think it isn't the end of the world, but it is for me. Besides that, nothing to see... time to move on to the next summer movie, which next week is X-men 3.
The Da Vinci Code: D+
ps.. no they aren't a mistake... it's a GAME.. in the spirit of the movie...
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