Film Talk: Terror ride through Rome – a look back at Angels & Demons

Directed by Ron Howard, 2009’s film adaptation of Dan Brown’s Angels & Demons is a dark yet thrilling ride alongside an unlikely hero and his mission to stop a murderous terrorist from tearing the heart of the Catholic Church apart.

Written by Akiva Goldsman and David Koepp, this second instalment in the Robert Langdon film series is the sequel to 2006’s The Da Vinci Code, though in Brown’s run of novels, Angels & Demons is the first ‘Langdon’ tale.

Set during an adrenaline-fuelled night in Rome against the backdrop of a Vatican awaiting its doom, filming for the flick took place in the Italian capital as well as at Sony Pictures Studios in California.

Following a strong turn in The Da Vinci Code, Tom Hanks returned to the role of symbologist Professor Robert Langdon, with Ayelet Zurer joining him as female lead and fellow fish out of water, Dr Vittoria Vetra.

The Da Vinci Code had achieved strong commercial success, in fact resting as the second-highest grossing film of 2006. However, response from critics had been pretty unfavourable, with the flick even being described as “dull and bloated”. Pressure was on then for Angels & Demons to not only bring home the bank, but also to put a smile on the faces of the film community’s most discerning voices...

Though his relationship with the Catholic Church is fractious, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon may be the only person who can save the lives of its leaders. The Pope has passed away, but before the College of Cardinals can decide who will succeed him, the ‘preferiti’ – the four favourites for the papacy – are kidnapped by a violent terrorist.

From 8-11pm one of them will be murdered on the hour, with the assailant’s evening of destruction culminating at midnight with the detonation of a stolen canister of antimatter that will obliterate Vatican City.

With the hand of the church’s old enemy – the enigmatic Illuminati – in the frame, Langdon and antimatter expert Dr Vetra must follow an elaborate web of forgotten clues to find and save the kidnapped cardinals and the church itself before it is too late. However, as their path twists and turns, the truth of the terrible scheme at hand may be more shocking than either Langdon or Vetra could ever have realised...

Grossing $485 million worldwide, Angels & Demons did well at the box office, and while most critics did not sing its praises from the rafters, many considered it an improvement on The Da Vinci Code. A sequel, based on Brown’s later novel, Inferno, was released in 2016.

Without question Robert Langdon’s greatest cinematic outing, Angels & Demons ticks many of the boxes for a good solid thriller. It has tension by the barrel-load, an abundance of high-stakes cat and mouse action, its lead stars pack plenty of presence, and (surprisingly for a flick based on a work of Dan Brown’s) its plot is pretty straightforward and easily enjoyed.

As is typical of a man who may well be Hollywood’s finest ever son, Hanks shines in a role that others may have found wooden or constricting, while Zurer delivers a great turn alongside both him and a compelling Ewan McGregor.

A heart-pumping adventure taking in some of the most incredible streets and sites on the planet, this one combines style, mystery, action and intrigue well to deliver an intelligent yet accessible flick. You’ll never look at an ambigram tattoo in quite the same way again...