Fearless

Rare enough that a movie actually supersedes the book it as based on. Only a handful of movies from what I can recall have actually surpassed the novels they were based on such as Ben Hur, Gone with the Wind, the Godfather Novels and the excellent Lord of the Rings Trilogy - to name a rare few.

Sadly that didn't hold true for the movie I saw last night. Although it differs only slightly in the movie, I have to say that the print version of the Da Vinci Code is by far superior. In the movie - as in the pages of the book, the surprisingly fearless Robert Langdon, a conservative American professor, utilizes his knowledge of art history, mythology and the annals of Christianity to search for clues to the murder of a renowned Louvre curator.


Bringing church fashion into vogue!
Only recently inducted into the Dan Brown Book Club, Big Bicep Barry found himself utterly engrossed with the movie - and like the typical Archer, full of enigmatic questions that not even Robert Langdon could fathom. Like how does a giant Albino dressed in monkish robes pop in and out of the crowded streets of London and Paris unnoticed? Like what exactly drives the villains to pursue the fumbling Langdon endlessly? After a while, I was confused myself!

Still Barry had braved the maniacally driven crowds for the precious tickets the day before so I had no decent cause to complain. Not even when he was five minutes late although I have to admit that his hastily fumbled excuse of going back to change into spectacularly tight jeans helped soothe my savage temper somewhat. Hard to get angry with guys who look good in jeans.

Although the beautiful computer-generated cut scenes of the historical events does justice to the printed page, the frequent history lectures by Langdon and later Teabing would inevitably bore the average corn-popping movie viewer - especially if they haven't had a prior acquiantance with the book. Unfortunately the exhaustive lessons about etymology, early Christian theology and historical minutiae that fascinate me in the book doesn't translate as well onto the screen. Even the spectacularly rendered effects detailing the rise of early Christianity failed to revive a few uninformed audience members who were snoring in the back.

With all the controversy surrounding the recent release of The Da Vinci Code, by now the movie itself is almost beside the point. Despite the fact that I've sadly lapsed into an occasional reader of the Bible, it's hard to believe that anyone could think that the secrets revealed in this book could topple the Christian faith. Revealing the possibly maligned Mary Magdalene as the chosen leader of the Church and the companion of Jesus Christ could hardly be the secret that could rock the very foundations of the faith. Seriously, those who find their faith that easily shaken should take a closer look at their foundations - which are obviously not as strong as they imagined.

But overall, I still couldn't appreciate the occasional plodding pace of the movie ( far different from the breathless, breakneck speed chase in the page-turning novel ) and the intolerable casting of Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon. Prematurely balding yet with an unusually poufy coif, aging and possibly pudgy, his portrayal of the symbologist protagonist is as far from my imagined ideal as possible - and it's difficult to root for him as the intellectual hero dreamt up by Dan Brown. After the unforgivable character assasination, half the time I found it quite understandable that everyone else wishes to throw him behind bars.

Paul : Good God. Why Tom Hanks?
Barry : Why not?
Paul : Well, look at him! I imagined Robert Langdon as someone far better-looking! At least with a tight ass.
Barry : And looks are that important to you?
Paul : Uhh... it isn't?
Barry : What about intelligence? Personality?
Paul : Ehhh... that doesn't come off that well onscreen, does it?

By God, I do hope I am somewhat intelligent.

***
There is some good news about the endless battle over the forces of evil however. Barry finally gave up trying to rescue his demonically possessed phone from the clutches of supreme evil and is getting a tamer Sony Ericson phone. Hopefully blessed with some holy water this time.