DaVinci Code Unraveled
I saw The DaVinci Code last night. I had read the book twice, but not within the last year. I have learned in the past that it’s not a good idea to read the book directly before you see the movie because with the book fresh in your mind, all you’ll see in the film are all the glaring failures. By allowing some time between, you’ll forget enough of the minutae from the text that you can still enjoy the film’s faithfulness to the plot, story and themes. Unless the film fails in that intent, which The DaVinci Code sadly did. Similar to Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone, at the cost of character development the movie plodded through the book’s plot scene by scene attempting to cram everything in and sacrificing human characters as a result. At least director Chris Columbus (Sorcerer’s Stone) was consistent in that endeavor, even proudly claiming it. Here, Ron Howard takes the same path but throws in the towel about 70% of the way through, realizing he’s headed toward a 3+ hour movie, and suddenly switches gears to a “wrap-up-mode” and obliterates the remaining story. Very frustrating to watch, for anyone who’s read the book. And for anyone who hasn’t, the resulting charachters are one-dimensional, making for a dissatisfying movie for any viewer. Such a shame.
Thursday, May 25, 2006
