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Angels & Demons (film)

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Angels and Demons
Theatrical poster
Directed byRon Howard
Written byScreenplay:
David Koepp
Akiva Goldsman
Novel:
Dan Brown
Produced byBrian Grazer
John Calley
StarringTom Hanks
Ayelet Zurer
Ewan McGregor
CinematographySalvatore Totino
Edited byDaniel P. Hanley
Mike Hill
Music byHans Zimmer
Production
company
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Sony Pictures
Release date
May 15, 2009
Running time
138 min.
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$48,550,000

Angels & Demons is a 2009 film adaptation of Dan Brown's novel of the same name, released on May 15, 2009. It is the sequel to The Da Vinci Code (2006), another Brown film adaptation, although the novel Angels & Demons was published and takes place before the novel The Da Vinci Code. Filming took place in Rome and the Sony Pictures Studios in Los Angeles. Tom Hanks reprises the lead role of Robert Langdon, while director Ron Howard, producer Brian Grazer and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman also returned.

Plot

The film starts with the death of the Pope in the Vatican. It then switches off to CERN, a scientific research facility in Geneva, where a research team is experimenting with the creation of antimatter. In this scene, a woman named Vittoria Vetra, a scientist in the research team is introduced. Just moments after the antimatter has been successfully created by the team, the research facility is compromised by an intruder dressed as a scientist who steals the antimatter after murdering one of the individuals guarding it. Robert Langdon, who is a professor at Harvard University is visited by the Vatican police official who tells him that someone has been making threats against the Vatican and has already kidnapped four cardinals (called preferati — Italian for preferred) who were being considered to be the next Pope. The officer also tells Langdon that the kidnapper will begin executing the cardinals every hour starting at 8PM that night. After Langdon comes to Vatican the Vatican police sees the antimatter placed in an undetermined location through a video camera specifically shooting the object that is fed into a surveillance system. After Camerlengo, the assistant to the previous Pope, suggests the idea, the Swiss Guard decide to find the location of the antimatter by systematically shutting off sections of the city's electrical grid and monitoring the surveillance camera to see if it shuts off corresponding to the city sections being shut off. If a section of the city's power has been turned off and the camera also loses power, the theory holds that the camera is located in that section of the city.

Langdon at this point mentions the history between the Illuminati and the Vatican and the conflict that began between them in 1668. According to Langdon, during the 17th century, the Vatican purged Catholics who favored science over creationism. The conflict eventually led to the Illuminati becoming a secret society determined to take vengeance on the Vatican for this incident and because of the Vatican's uncompromising position opposed to the science that the Illuminati stands for. Therefore, Langdon concludes that the threat and kidnapping of the four cardinals has been done by Illuminati to take that revenge by using the antimatter to blow up Vatican City. The antimatter is contained in a battery-powered canister, and as Vittoria explains, when the battery power runs out, the magnetic force keeping the antimatter suspended will shut down and cause the antimatter to react with matter (the canister), thus creating an intense explosion. It would recreate how science believes the universe was created. Langdon then educates the police force about the symbolic meaning of kidnapping four cardinals that the Illuminati's connection to the four pillars of science: earth, water, air and fire. He then deduces that the kidnapper intends to kill each of the kidnapped cardinals using the four pillars. He then receives special permission from Camerlengo to locate clues from old texts in the Vatican archives to find where the church of Illuminati is and in the meantime trying to save the four cardinals from being executed in four different locations. He finally discovers a poem hidden in Galileo's Diagramma della Veritas; the poem is a riddle that helps Robert figure out the path of illumination, the four churches in which the cardinals will be murdered in. The Camerlengo at this point urges the cardinals to evacuate the Vatican because of the bomb threat but the head of the cardinals refuses, saying that they needed to have faith in God, and also not break the tradition of the conclave. The cardinals are in a conclave in the Sistine Chapel in order to elect the new Pope. Later, the Camerlengo makes a speech to the cardinals about religion and science, saying that they should be more open, and less like the secretive Illuminati.

Meanwhile, through the ancient Illuminati trail created to be hidden from the church, Langdon encounters the first cardinal, already dead by the element of Earth with his hand cuffed behind his back, soil filled in his mouth and the word "earth" branded onto his chest. Langdon discovered he was located at Santa Maria del Popolo, a chapel Raphael once had built, through the poem that the Illuminati left along with their initial threat of killing the four cardinals.

Langdon is led to the next clue when he realizes that, while they were in a chapel built by Raphael, the sculptures it contained were all Bernini. This leads him to St. Peter's Square — a place containing many of Bernini's colonades. There he finds the second cardinal, who also dies from the cause of Air outside the St. Peter's Square. As Vetra tries to give him mouth to mouth resuscitation she realizes that the killer had punctured his lungs. The sculpted tile located near where the cardinal died depicted a face blowing air. Langdon follows the direction of the 5 breath marks on the tile.

  • Ecstasy of St. Theresa, detail
    Ecstasy of St. Theresa, detail

As he follows the third trail, he finds one of the cardinals dying from fire by burning on top of a flame made up of wooden chairs inside Santa Maria della Vittoria also with a word — "Fire" — branded onto his chest. Bernini's Ecstasy of St. Theresa is in the chapel in proximity to the burning man. Langdon and the Swiss Guard try to save him, but the kidnapper foils their attempts by killing all of the police personnel inside the church. Langdon manages to escape the scene by hiding underground. The cardinal dies.

Langdon draws out the previous three locations on a map and cites the line in the poem from the Diagramma della Veritas "'cross Rome" and realizes that, in drawing a cross to connect the places and a church related to water, he has found the next location. He and the police team pursues the next trail to a fountain. As soon as they arrive, they see a van pulled up next to the fountain. As the two officers accompanying Langdon notice something suspicious about the van and approach it, the assassin surprises and kills both, unloads the fourth cardinal tied with weights into the fountain, and drives off. Langdon, with a help of strangers, saves the cardinal who tells him that he was held captive in the Castel Sant'Angelo. This is the location of the Illuminati church. Langdon then knows where the final operation was to take place and to locate the antimatter before it gets blown up before 12 A.M. that night. As Langdon and the police approaches the location, they see the same van empty and so proceed down to the church of Illuminati. At this point the assassin is at the location and is checking bank account wire transfer information on his laptop. He reads an email that the final wire transfer was successful and that there is a Volkswagen with a key in the ignition waiting for him outside. As he prepares to leave, Langdon and Vetra walk in on him. As they look for the clue the assassin appears out of hiding behind a wall and leaves without shooting them, saying that it is because they are not armed, but advises them not to follow him. At that location Langdon realized that there is the fifth branding iron that depicts two keys crossed. Initially, he believes it is a symbol of the papacy. He then thinks that there is going to be a fifth death and is likely to be Camerlengo, the assistant to the late Pope. As Langdon and Vittoria run to save the Camerlengo from impending death, they witness the explosion of a car—the one the assassin had been promised in exchange for killing the four Cardinals.

They get to the Vatican and find the head of the Swiss Guard, Commander Richter, pointing a gun at the Camerlengo. The accompanying police subsequently shoot Richter to death. They also shoot a bishop who enters the room in response to Camerlengo accusing the bishop of being Illuminati. Camerlengo has the fifth symbol freshly and painfully branded onto his chest. They finally locate the antimatter in the St. Peter's tomb in the necropolis under the Vatican. When Vittoria's attempt to diffuse it proves futile, the Camerlengo snatches the antimatter and loads it to a helicopter outside and flies with it as high as possible before it explodes when the timer reaches 12:00, supposedly sacrificing himself. Just before the huge detonation in the sky, he parachutes out and lands in St. Peter's Square with a delight of onlookers who seem to admire him for saving the Vatican. The explosion is ultraseismic and the resulting several explosions ripple waves throughout the city causing minor destruction and minor injuries.

Next, the cardinals debate whether the Camerlengo should be Pope after hearing about his heroic effort that saved the Vatican. After some deliberation about the age of Camerlengo (who is much younger than the minimum required age), they reach consensus to vote him as a candidate to be the next Pope. While this happens, Langdon and Vetra go through the Commander of the Swiss Guard's desk, since he is now dead, to recover journals that the commander took from Vetra earlier in the movie. The journals were written by the first man—a colleague of Vetra and a Catholic priest—killed by the terrorist. They discover a hidden surveillance system on the Commander's computer and rewind the recording to see that the Camerlengo had plotted everything and had branded the fifth symbol onto his chest himself. Camerlengo is revealed to be much more radically religious than the previous Pope and had become increasingly uncomfortable with the Vatican's increasing openness to science. He had poisoned and killed the previous Pope and tried to appear as the savior of Vatican from the threat from the Illuminati, which he said was trying to destroy the Vatican in the religion and science debate. He made an opposite act to appear as being more open to science in order to unite the Catholic church. When he was in the hospital recovering from injuries he received during the shockwave of the antimatter explosion, he is informed that the conclave of Cardinals wants to see him in the chapel, which he thinks means that he will be voted in as the next Pope. Upon entering the conclave and receiving a stock-still room full of accusatory eyes, he realizes that the Cardinals now know everything. He walks out of the chapel quietly, but is trapped by the Vatican police. Seeing no way of escape, he then immolates himself with candle oil while putting his hands together and saying prayers, and burns to death. Cardinal Baggia—the fourth cardinal and would-be victim of the assassin—is then elected pope and Langdon is given the "Diagramma della Veritas" on indefinite loan to be returned in Langdon's last will and testament. The head of the cardinals reveals to Langdon that they are all imperfect and therefore religion is also imperfect. Knowing Langdon's dissatisfaction or disagreements with the church, he also advises Langdon that in his impending publication, any mention of the Catholic church should be made "gently", just as he had instructed the seizure of Carmelengo should be carried out.

Cast

See also: List of characters in Angels & Demons

Production

Development

In 2003, Sony acquired the film rights to Angels & Demons (2009) along with The Da Vinci Code (2003) in a deal with author Dan Brown. In May 2006, following the film release of the 2006 film adaptation of The Da Vinci Code, Sony hired screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, who wrote the film adaptation of The Da Vinci Code, to adapt Angels & Demons.[1] Filming was originally to begin in February 2008 for a December 2008 release,[2] but because of the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, production was pushed back for a May 15, 2009 release.[3] David Koepp rewrote the script before shooting began.[4]

Director Ron Howard chose to treat Angels & Demons as a sequel to the previous film, rather than a prequel, since many had read the novel after The Da Vinci Code. He liked the idea Langdon had been through one adventure and became a more confident character.[5] Howard was also more comfortable taking liberties in adapting the story because the novel is less popular than The Da Vinci Code.[6] Producer Brian Grazer said they were too "reverential" when adapting The Da Vinci Code, which resulted in it being "a little long and stagey". This time, "Langdon doesn't stop and give a speech. When he speaks, he's in motion."[7] Howard concurred "it's very much about modernity clashing with antiquity and technology vs. faith, so these themes, these ideas are much more active whereas the other one lived so much in the past. The tones are just innately so different between the two stories."[6]

The filmmakers cut out the amount of time Langdon spends in the novel at CERN, and also received advice during a visit to the facility to make the plot more realistic: it would take two billion years to produce the antimatter in the novel, so CERN suggested other physics involving antimatter for the new plot. McGregor's character was changed from Italian to Irish, to accommodate the Scottish actor.[5]

Filming

Shooting began on June 4, 2008 in Rome under the fake working title "Obelisk".[8] The filmmakers scheduled three weeks of exterior location filming because of a predicted 2008 Screen Actors Guild strike on June 30. The rest of the film would be shot at Sony Pictures Studios in Los Angeles, California, to allow for this halt.[9] Roman Catholic Church officials found The Da Vinci Code offensive and forbade filming in their churches, so these scenes were shot at Sony.[8] The Caserta Palace doubled for the inside of the Vatican,[8] and the Biblioteca Angelica was used for the Vatican Library.[10] Filming took place at the University of California, Los Angeles in July.[11] Sony and Imagine Entertainment organized an eco-friendly shoot, selecting when to shoot locations based on how much time and fuel it would save, using cargo containers to support set walls or greenscreens, as well as storing props for future productions or donating them to charity.[12]

Tom Hanks and Ayelet Zurer outside the Pantheon

Howard hated that the Writers Guild strike forced him to shoot the film during summer, where crowds gathered to watch the filming of scenes, and some would even sing the Happy Days theme at him. Regardless, he felt the quick shoot allowed him to refine the naturalism he had employed on his previous film Frost/Nixon, often using handheld cameras to lend an additional energy to the scenes. Hanks interrupted filming of one scene in order to help a bride and groom get through the crowds to their wedding on time; Zurer recalled the bride told Hanks "Your hair is much better right now." McGregor said the Pope's funeral was the dullest sequence to film, as they were just walking across staircases. Then, "Someone started singing 'Bohemian Rhapsody' [and] it became the funeral theme tune."[5]

When recreating the interior of St. Peter's Basilica, production designer Allan Cameron and visual effects supervisor Angus Bickerton recognized the Template:Ft to m tall soundstages were only half the size of the real church. They rebuilt the area around and the crypts beneath St. Peter's baldachin, including the bottoms of the columns and Saint Peter's statue, and surrounded it with a 360 degree greenscreen so the rest could be built digitally. Cameron had twenty crew members photograph as much as they could inside the Sistine Chapel, and had artists sketch, photograph and enlarge recreations of the paintings and mosaics from the photographs. Cameron chose to present the Sistine Chapel as it was before it was cleaned up, because he preferred the contrast the smoky, muted colors would present with the cardinals. Although the chapel was built to full size, the Sala Regia was made smaller to fit inside the stage.[13]

The Saint Peter's Square and the Piazza Navona sets were built on the same backlot; after completion of scenes at the former, six weeks were spent converting the set, knocking down the Basilica side and excavating 3 1/2 feet (1 m) of tarmac to build the fountain. As there had been filming at the real Piazza Navona, the transistion between it and the replica had to be seamless. To present the Santa Maria del Popolo undergoing renovation, a police station in Rome opposite the real church was used for the exterior; the scaffolding would hide that it was not the church. Cameron built the interior of Santa Maria del Popolo on the same set as the recreated Santa Maria della Vittoria to save money; the scaffolding also disguised this. The film's version of Santa Maria della Vittoria was larger than the real one, so it would accommodate the cranes used to film the scene. To film the Pantheon's interior, two aediculae and the tomb of Raphael were rebuilt to scale at a height of Template:Ft to m, while the rest was greenscreen. Because of the building's symmetrical layout, the filmmakers were able to shoot the whole scene over two days and redress the real side to pretend it was another.[13] The second unit took photographs of the Large Hadron Collider and pasted these in scenes set at CERN.[14]

Music

Hans Zimmer returned to compose the score for the sequel. He chose to develop the "Chevaliers de Sangreal" track from the end of The Da Vinci Code as Langdon's main theme in the film.[15] The soundtrack also features violinist Joshua Bell.

Controversy

CBS News interviewed a priest working in Santa Susanna, who stated the Church did not want their churches to be associated with scenes of murder. A tour guide also stated most priests do not object to tourists who visit out of interest after reading the book, a trend which will continue after people see the film. "I think they are aware that it's, you know, a work of fiction and that it's bringing people into their churches."[16] Grazer deemed it odd that although The Da Vinci Code was a more controversial novel, they had more freedom shooting its film adaptation in London and France.[7] Italian authorities hoped the filmmakers corrected the location errors in the novel, to limit the amount of explaining they will have to do for confused tourists.[8]

William A. Donohue, president of the Catholic League, has not called for a boycott, but has requested that Catholics inform others about alleged anti-Catholic sentiments in the story. "My goal... is to give the public a big FYI: Enjoy the movie, but know that it is a fable. It is based on malicious myths, intentionally advanced by Brown-Howard." A Sony executive responded they were disappointed Donohue had not created attention for the film closer to its release date.[17] Howard criticized Donohue for prejudging the film, responding it could not be called anti-Catholic since Langdon protects the church, and because of its depiction of priests who support science.[18]

Hindu spokesman Rajan Zed felt Angels & Demons would bring confusion and create stereotypes in the minds of some audiences. He added that the filmmakers should have handled the subject more sensitively as cinema is a very powerful medium.[19] In India, parts of the movie were reportedly censored following complaints from local Christian communities.[20]

The official Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano has called the film ""harmless entertainment", giving it a positive review and acknowledging "The theme is always the same: a sect versus the church, [but] this time, the church is on the side of the good guys."[21][22] Beforehand, it had stated it would not approve the film, while La Stampa reported the Vatican would boycott it. However, it also quoted Archbishop Velasio De Paolis as saying a boycott would probably just have the "boomerang effect" of drawing more attention to Angels & Demons and make it more popular.[23]

Reception

Critical reception

The film has received mixed reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 38% of critics gave the film positive reviews based on 186 reviews, with a weighted average score of 5.1 out of 10.[24] Among Rotten Tomatoes' "Top Critics" demographic, which consists of popular and notable critics from the top newspapers, websites, television, and radio programs, the film holds an overall negative-leaning approval rating of 35% based on 31 reviews.[25] Another review aggretator, Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average score of 49, based on 33 reviews.[26]

Richard Corliss of Time magazine gave the film a positive review stating that "Angels has elemental satisfactions in its blend of movie genre that could appeal to wide segments of the audience."[27] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded the film with 3 stars praising Howard's direction as an "even-handed job of balancing the scales" and claiming "[the film] promises to entertain".[28] Even The Christian Science Monitor gave the film a positive review claiming the movie is "an OK action film".[29] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film a 2.5/4 stars claiming "the movie can be enjoyed for the hell-raising hooey it is".[30] Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal gave the movie a mixed review claiming the film "manages to keep you partially engaged even at its most esoteric or absurd."[31]

Neil Smith from Total Film gave the film 3/5 stars and said: "some of the author's crazier embellishments are jettisoned in a film that atones for The Da Vinci Code's cardinal sin — thou shalt not bore."[32] Kim Newman awarded it 2/5 stars, stating: "every supporting character acts like an unhelpful idiot to keep the plot stirring, while yet again a seemingly all-powerful conspiracy seems to consist of two whole evil guys".[33] Mark Kermode called it "the stupidest movie ever made" and went on to expand that "the thing it has over The Da Vinci Code - The Da Vinci Code was people running into rooms, standing still, pointing, and explaining the plot. Now they point and explain the plot while they're running."[34]

Box office

Angels & Demons grossed $152 million worldwide in its opening weekend, including $48 million in the United States and Canada. The Da Vinci Code had opened domestically to $77 million, but the sequel's opening met Columbia Pictures' $40-50 million prediction, since the film's source material was not as popular as its predecessor's. The worldwide opening was the largest since Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull's the previous year.[35]

References

  1. ^ Michael Fleming (2006-05-23). "Brown's 'Angels' flies to bigscreen". Variety. Retrieved 2006-12-20.
  2. ^ Michael Fleming (2007-10-24). "Howard moves fast with 'Code' sequel". Variety. Retrieved 2007-10-31.
  3. ^ Tatiana Siegel (2007-11-16). "'Da Vinci' prequel hit by strike". Variety. Retrieved 2007-11-17.
  4. ^ Tatiana Siegel (2008-06-11). "Koepp hopes to keep 'Town' rolling". Variety. Retrieved 2008-10-30.
  5. ^ a b c Ian Freer (May 2009). "Critical Mass". Empire. pp. 69–73.
  6. ^ a b Edward Douglas (2008-11-13). "Ron Howard on Arrested Development and Angels & Demons". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved 2008-11-13.
  7. ^ a b Scott Bowles (2008-10-17). "First look: 'Angels & Demons' will fly faster than 'Da Vinci'". USA Today. Retrieved 2008-10-28.
  8. ^ a b c d Elisabetta Povoledo (2008-06-24). "Dan Brown Tourists: Next Stop, Rome?". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
  9. ^ Pamela McClintock, Michael Fleming (2008-02-27). "Film greenlights in limbo". Variety. Retrieved 2008-02-28.
  10. ^ "ET on the top secret 'Angels & Demons' set!". Entertainment Tonight. 2008-09-09. Retrieved 2008-09-13.
  11. ^ "ANGELS AND DEMONS was Filming Today at UCLA in Los Angeles". Collider. 2008-07-10. Retrieved 2008-09-13.
  12. ^ "A Green Production". Official site. Retrieved 2009-03-28.
  13. ^ a b "On Location". Official website. Retrieved 2009-03-25.
  14. ^ Ceri Perkins (2008-06-02). "ATLAS gets the Hollywood treatment". ATLAS e-News. CERN. Retrieved 2008-09-05.
  15. ^ "Sneak peek" (Quicktime). Apple.com. Retrieved 2009-04-13.
  16. ^ "Fans Line Up For "Angels & Demons" Tours". CBS News. 2008-06-19. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
  17. ^ Tatiana Siegel (2009-03-06). "Catholic controversy doesn't bug Sony". Variety. Retrieved 2009-03-18.
  18. ^ Ron Howard (2009-04-20). "Angels & Demons: It's A Thriller, Not A Crusade". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
  19. ^ "Hindus Express Disapproval Over "Angels & Demons"". All Headline News. 2009-05-04. Retrieved 2009-05-04.
  20. ^ "Portions to be deleted from 'Angels and Demons'". The Hindu. Retrieved 2009-05-04.
  21. ^ "Demons 'harmless', says Vatican". BBC News Online. 2009-05-07. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
  22. ^ "Angels and Demons: Vatican breaks silence to review film". The Telegraph. 2009-05-07. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
  23. ^ Eric J. Lyman (2009-03-20). "'Angels & Demons' may face Vatican boycott". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2009-03-23.
  24. ^ "Angels & Demons Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
  25. ^ "Angels & Demons Movie Reviews - Cream of the Crop". Rotten Tomatoes. IGN Entertianment. Retrieved 2009-05-16.
  26. ^ "Angels & Demons (2009): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  27. ^ "Review: Holy Hanks! Fun and Games in Angels & Demons". TIME Magazine. 2009-05-13. Retrieved 2009-05-16.
  28. ^ "Angels and Demons :: rogerebert.com :: review". Chicago Sun-Times. 2009-05-16. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  29. ^ "Review: 'Angels and Demons' - the Christian Science Monitor". Christian Science Monitor. 2009-05-15. Retrieved 2009-05-16.
  30. ^ "Angels & Demons : Review : Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. 2009-05-14. Retrieved 2009-05-16.
  31. ^ "Plot's Knots Bedevil 'Angels'". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2009-05-16.
  32. ^ "Review". Total Film. Future Publishing. Retrieved 2009-05-06. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  33. ^ "Review". Empire. Retrieved 2009-05-06.
  34. ^ "Newsnight". BBC iPlayer. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
  35. ^ ""Angels & Demons" flies high at box office (Reuters)". Yahoo! Movies. 2009-05-17. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
Preceded by Box office number-one films of 2009 (USA)
May 17 		Succeeded by
TBD
Box office number-one films of 2009 (UK)
May 17 		Succeeded by
TBD

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