The Da Vinci Code

Last few months saw lot of hype and controversy worldwide around the movie version of 'The Da Vinci Code' but finally it turned out to be an anti-climax from a movie-goer's point of view.

A risk with a movie on a popular thriller (yes, it's just that. Let us treat this as a work of fiction and do not get too serious about the story-line) is that the end is well-known to majority of audience and so despite another laudable effort from Ron Howard (We still feel sorry for the failure of his last year's directorial excellence -- Cinderella Man, a movie which had all element to be a hit but could not go anywhere because of, we think, a poor choice of its release date in between Star Wars III and the War of the World ) and very good efforts from all actors, the Da Vinci experience was not that exciting. The script just did not allow the actors to come out of their one-dimensional and sometimes very boring existence. The movie is too slavishly faithful to the book, making it poorly paced and only occasionally thrilling experience. Ron Howard did an excellent job of recreating Dan Brown's way of telling the story and, with all respect to Ron, that's what seemed to be the main drawback of this otherwise beautiful cinematic creation.

The choice of locations was awesome. If nothing else, you can treat this as a cheap ticket to tour around some exotic or exquisite locations in Paris, London and Scotland.

In case you do not know, the story-line involves a thrilling murder investigation that unearths the biggest cover-up in human history. Famed symbologist Professor Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) is called to the Louvre museum one night where a curator has been murdered, leaving behind a mysterious trail of symbols and clues. With his own survival at stake, Langdon, aided by the police cryptologist Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou), unveils a series of stunning secrets hidden in the works of Leonardo Da Vinci, all leading to a covert society dedicated to guarding an ancient secret that has remained hidden for 2000 years. The pair set off on a thrilling quest through Paris, London and Scotland, collecting clues as they desperately attempt to crack the code and reveal secrets that will shake the very foundations of mankind.

The film is rated PG-13. Here's the official site: SoDarkTheConOfMan.com