Author Dan Brown has written dozens of books, most of them international best sellers. Probably his most famous was The Da Vinci Code, the first in a series of four novels that includes historical themes and Christianity as motifs, some of them generating controversy. Three of them, The Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons and now Inferno have been made into movies. The common denominator in all of these stories is Harvard professor and symbologist Robert Langdon, always played effectively by Tom Hanks. He follows up his Oscar-level acting from Sully, with another fine performance.
Many, maybe most of you, have read Brownâs books and/or seen the movies. You know they are exciting, fast-moving and at times confusing as Langdon tries, and always manages, to untangle the mysteries left centuries ago, breaking codes and symbols left by the ancients. Inferno is no exception to author Brownâs pattern. I am always amazed at how he not only devises his plots, but uses historical objects and legends as the themes. Each one of his tales is an explicit look at an ancient religious issue, translated into a chase, usually around the world to solve a mystery of one kind or another. Danteâs Inferno is the subject of this story, as Langdon tries to untangle symbols from the 700-year-old book, to save the worldâs population.
Inferno
Entertainment Rating: ★★
Rating: PG-13: no profanity, lots of action and bloodletting
Possible Oscar Nominations: None
Director Ron Howard, one of the best, lets us down in this one. The story moves very quickly and combines flashbacks as the plot progresses, at times leaving us wondering what, when and where. As usual, Langdon deciphers various codes and symbols as he works his way through, but the audience will have trouble understanding what they are and what they mean as the verbiage is at times way too fast. While Langdon, his cohorts and the scriptwriters know whatâs being said, you and I donât always know. To add to the confusion, two of the main characters played by Omar Sy and Irrfan Kahn speak in strong dialects, making them hard to understand much of the time. The plot is filled with twists, turns and surprises, as are all of Dan Brownâs stories.
On the positive side the âtravelogueâ portion of the movie is remarkable. We jump from Florence, Italy to Venice to Tuscany, to Istanbul, each filmed on location, and the studio shots were filmed in Hungary. We are provided with in depth looks at some of the worldâs most historic sites, and having seen most of them, I can tell you they may be worth the price of admission, especially if you havenât been there.
Personally, I think the book would be a better road to go, since the story is so fast, there are so many characters to keep up with, and trying to understand the meaning of the various symbols and codes Langdon is deciphering is not always an easy job.
In the meantime, I will tell you the best book Brown ever wrote was Deception Point. Amazing!
