...a solid mystery-thriller.
Now, I won't go into the religious politics surrounding this film, except to say that Brown took liberties in creating what is essentially a work of fiction that departs from reality by asking, What if?. What if conspiracy theorists are right, and these two secretive religious groups were trying to make sure that the secret of Christ's offspring was kept-one, in order to preserve the power of the Church, and the other in order to protect survivors in the lineage, as they had sworn to do?
There are labyrinthine twists and turns, a few daring escapes, and more than a dozen murders along the way, with a modern-day angel of death named Silas (Paul Bettany) used by an Opus Dei bishop (Alfred Molina) to help silence anyone-including Langdon and Sophie Neveu-who gets close to the truth. With our heroes trying to solve the mystery while also evading both Silas and the police, there's plenty of tension. But the film really takes an interesting turn when Langdon and Neveu turn up on the doorstep of Sir Leigh Teabing (Ian McKellen) seeking his help. McKellen is a joy to watch, and he proves to be a perfect complement to the sometimes pontificating professor.
Howard got unprecedented access to film inside The Louvre, but wasn't as lucky at Westminster Abbey or Saint-Sulpice. A substitute location (Lincoln Abbey) had to be used for the former, and digitalized background photos of the latter had to be added to green screen shots. But the effects are what you'd expect in a big-budget film like this, and the overall experience of mystery-and escape-is a satisfying one.
Video:
Mastered in High Definition and presented in 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen, "The Da Vinci Code" has a largely ochre, brown, and otherwise dark palette, which could look awfully murky if the picture quality wasn't good. But for a standard DVD, there's a good amount of detail and only the slightest graininess.
Audio:
The audio is a fairly full and robust English/French/Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 with subtitles in English, French, and Spanish. There's great distribution across the speakers and a natural-sounding bass that dominates the treble the way that darker shades dominate the lighter ones visually. No complaints here.
Extras:
The package of bonus features is enjoyable and informative, with ten short features taking center stage: 1) First Day on the Set with Ron Howard, 2) Discussion with Dan Brown, 3) Portrait of Langdon, 4) Who is Sophie Neveu?, 5) Unusual Suspects, 6) Magical Places, 7) Close-up on Mona Lisa, 8) Filmmaker's Journey, Parts 1 & 2, 9) The Codes of "The Da Vinci Code," and 10) "The Music." The trend is toward short features in part because of union rules that call for more pay for longer features, and in part because audiences don't have to invest in a 90-minute bonus feature. Instead, they can access just the parts they choose, and it becomes "interactive," that ever-present buzzword. There are no great secrets divulged here, but you do get some solid background on "The Da Vinci Code" that you may not have picked up on in the film. There's also plenty of behind-the-scenes footage incorporated into all of these, and not just talking heads.
Rounding out the Disc Two extras are DVD-ROM features for PC users, including "The Da Vinci Code Puzzle Game" PC demo.
Bottom Line:
Though not as much is explained as in the book and there's not the same wealth of background material, you do get enough of a sense of what's going on in "The Da Vinci Code" to make for a solid mystery-thriller.
There are labyrinthine twists and turns, a few daring escapes, and more than a dozen murders along the way, with a modern-day angel of death named Silas (Paul Bettany) used by an Opus Dei bishop (Alfred Molina) to help silence anyone-including Langdon and Sophie Neveu-who gets close to the truth. With our heroes trying to solve the mystery while also evading both Silas and the police, there's plenty of tension. But the film really takes an interesting turn when Langdon and Neveu turn up on the doorstep of Sir Leigh Teabing (Ian McKellen) seeking his help. McKellen is a joy to watch, and he proves to be a perfect complement to the sometimes pontificating professor.
Howard got unprecedented access to film inside The Louvre, but wasn't as lucky at Westminster Abbey or Saint-Sulpice. A substitute location (Lincoln Abbey) had to be used for the former, and digitalized background photos of the latter had to be added to green screen shots. But the effects are what you'd expect in a big-budget film like this, and the overall experience of mystery-and escape-is a satisfying one.
Video:
Mastered in High Definition and presented in 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen, "The Da Vinci Code" has a largely ochre, brown, and otherwise dark palette, which could look awfully murky if the picture quality wasn't good. But for a standard DVD, there's a good amount of detail and only the slightest graininess.
Audio:
The audio is a fairly full and robust English/French/Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 with subtitles in English, French, and Spanish. There's great distribution across the speakers and a natural-sounding bass that dominates the treble the way that darker shades dominate the lighter ones visually. No complaints here.
Extras:
The package of bonus features is enjoyable and informative, with ten short features taking center stage: 1) First Day on the Set with Ron Howard, 2) Discussion with Dan Brown, 3) Portrait of Langdon, 4) Who is Sophie Neveu?, 5) Unusual Suspects, 6) Magical Places, 7) Close-up on Mona Lisa, 8) Filmmaker's Journey, Parts 1 & 2, 9) The Codes of "The Da Vinci Code," and 10) "The Music." The trend is toward short features in part because of union rules that call for more pay for longer features, and in part because audiences don't have to invest in a 90-minute bonus feature. Instead, they can access just the parts they choose, and it becomes "interactive," that ever-present buzzword. There are no great secrets divulged here, but you do get some solid background on "The Da Vinci Code" that you may not have picked up on in the film. There's also plenty of behind-the-scenes footage incorporated into all of these, and not just talking heads.
Rounding out the Disc Two extras are DVD-ROM features for PC users, including "The Da Vinci Code Puzzle Game" PC demo.
Bottom Line:
Though not as much is explained as in the book and there's not the same wealth of background material, you do get enough of a sense of what's going on in "The Da Vinci Code" to make for a solid mystery-thriller.
Average user rating (1-5):
[release]19918[/release]