Based on one of the biggest selling novels of the last ten years, this quickly contracted, shot and shipped thriller had a tremendous amount of hype to live up to. With an outstanding cast, including two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks, France’s greatest acting export since Gerrand Depardieu, Audrey Tautou and the always reliable Ian McKellan sadly fails to get your heart pumping.
Beginning with the murder and self-mutilation of a Louvre curator, the film quickly moves in to the Police investigation led by Jean Reno’s Captain Fache. Symbol expert Robert Langton (Hanks) is called in to assist with various clues surrounding the body, but soon the finger of suspicion is turned on him. With the assistance of the mysterious Sophie Neveu (Tautou) the two escape taking with them the answer to a code, which appears to lead towards the location of the Holy Grail (which, in the film is Mary Magdelain herself, as wife of Christ).
Pursued by deeply creepy Albino monk Silas (Paul Betthany) and a further assortment of those wishing the Church’s age-old secret in the dark, the two flee to the house of Sir Leigh Teabing (McKellen) and the action moves from Paris to London, and, with a twist or two, to its dramatic conclusion.
With such a classy cast, a big studio budget and a highly bankable director, one would expect a little more tension from the finished product. The whole film is shot in semi-dark (one of the London church locations was even made darker for the scenes filmed there) and the codes seem much too simply solved. The twists can be seen a mile off, but the ride is enjoyable all the same, and the general calibre of the acting keeps proceedings tightly wound. Worth a watch if you have an hour or two to spare.
Rating: 6.5/10
