Angels & Demons... the Verdict...

Everyone I know who's seen both Da Vinci and Angels has been telling me that Angels is a better movie than Da Vinci (which I've been hoping will be the case). But, I kept my expectations at bay for fear of getting disappointed come the time I would go and see it...

And saw it we did, my wife and I, yesterday, at Trinoma. Well, I couldn't agree more that it is (by far) a lot better than Da Vinci, despite the slight changes in the story.

The musical score, the cinematography, the effects... all very nice. The acting was pretty good too, though I got a bit bothered by Ewan's... I don't know, he seemed a bit stiff and unnatural.

The catchphrases were pretty good (IMO)... as a matter of fact I got a couple stuck on my mind (though they may not be 100% correct):

"If you're going to write about us, and surely you will write about us... be gentle."

"Religion is flawed, and that's because MEN are flawed..."

I'm giving it 4 out of 5 stars.

By the way, does anybody know why they changed the fifth brand/ambigram???

Something About the Statue in the Angels and Demons Movie Trailer...

The Angels and Demons trailer seems to be rousing the curiosity of many of those who’s seen it.

So, what’s the fuss all about?

Well, it’s the statue… Yes, the statue of the angel that turns into a statue of a demon after a flash of lightning... the same statue shown on the Angels and Demons poster.









My blog’s been getting quite a number of visitors (specifically, on my Angels and Demons trailer post) coming from Google who had been searching for “statue in angels and demons trailer” (or other similar terms).

So what about it?

Well, something’s amiss.

There are 13 statues standing on top of (the REAL) St. Peter’s Basilica’s façade, and none of them are angels… nope, not a single one. Also, in the trailer, the arrangement of the statues near the perimeter of the dome’s drum has been modified somewhat.

And?

Well, if you don’t know it yet, the identities (or, should I say, representations) of the statues (on the REAL St. Peter’s Basilica) are very well established… and they are very well known, biblically speaking that is.

They are Thaddeus, Matthew, Philip, Thomas, James the Elder, John the Baptist, Andrew, John the Evangelist, James the Younger, Bartholomew, Simon, Matthias (yup, the twelve apostles)… and Christ the Redeemer… whose statue stands at the center, directly above the apex of the pediment…


THAT happens to be where the statue-in-question is standing in the trailer.

Case closed.

Angels and Demons Trailer

I got to see the Angels & Demons trailer a couple of nights ago on Apple Trailers… and… let’s just say I’m getting more excited about the movie.

The intro of the trailer was pretty stunning… it starts with a fly-by aerial view of the St. Peter’s Square coming from the back of St. Peter’s Basilica then pans and zooms in to a statue of an angel which, after a flash of lightning turns into a statue of a demon. The scene is made to look like it was filmed at a time when a papal conclave was in progress as a cloud of black smoke is seen rising from the chimney of, what I suppose is, the Sistine Chapel during the fly-by shot.

(Note: Obviously, the introductory scene is computer generated and a very nice one at that... but, have you noticed anything wrong about it?)

By the way, there’s also a narration on this scene which, I’m assuming, is spoken by a member of the Illuminati. I would have been more specific as to the speaker’s probable identity if the story is still fresh in my mind… unfortunately, it’s been a while since I read the book and I have already forgotten all of the characters and much of the details of the story.

Anyway, the introductory scene is then followed by a series of clips from the movie (each shown for only split seconds) showing Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) with shorter hair, a smoking branding iron, and a helicopter landing on St. Peter’s Square among many other bits and pieces.

The series of clips was then followed by a shining and spinning Illuminati ambigram which I enjoyed very much seeing again.

I really hope that the movie will do justice to the superior novel (in comparison to Da Vinci Code) it’s based on.

I also hope that this movie will not be given the X rating like Da Vinci Code was. It’s fiction for Pete’s sake!

Angels & Demons the Movie Due Out in May 2009

Ok, I’m feeling really excited about this.

I’ve heard something about this some months ago (maybe even over a year ago)… that they were going to make a movie based on this book by Dan Brown. But, somehow, I’ve forgotten all about it.

That is until I visited the comingsoon.net website a while ago and found the movie listed there with a release date of May 15, 2009.

In my opinion, Angels & Demons is WAY much better than the Da Vinci Code, as far as the books are concerned.

This reminds me of the first time I heard of Dan Brown…

My then girlfriend (wife now) and I were at PowerBooks in Greenbelt in Makati at the time, and this book, “The Da Vinci Code” which was displayed on the “New Releases” stand, caught my eye.

I had a very strong feeling that I would enjoy the book the moment I laid my eyes on it, so much so that I spent the entire time we were at PowerBooks thinking and deciding whether or not to buy it. It had a price tag of around 850 pesos, I think.

After “thinking out loud” a couple of times, my girlfriend told me “just wait for the paper back”.

Before we left the place, I headed back to the stand where I saw the book, grabbed a copy of it, flipped it over, and looked at Dan Brown’s picture that was printed on the back cover.

Then, in an attempt to discourage myself from buying the book, I thought to myself that he didn’t look like someone who can “convince” me. So, I put the book back from where I got it and left.

Days (or was it weeks) later, the book (or mentions of it) was everywhere… on the papers, on the web, on the news… it was causing a stir which I’ve never heard of since Harry Potter came under the spotlight! How I regretted not buying the first edition of the book. I’m actually still regretting it up to this day.

Anyway, I eventually bought a copy of the paperback version along with a copy of Angels and Demons which was said to be the prequel to Da Vinci Code.

And since it is the prequel, I started with Angels & Demons.

It was so good that I finished reading it in record time. I won’t go into specifics regarding the time frame, but I am quite a slow reader and basing on my standards, I finished the book really fast. Just take my word for it.

And (I NEED to mention this), John Langdon’s works (the ambigrams shown in the book) were so amazing and mind boggling that I became an instant fan!

Naturally, after finishing Angels and Demons, I proceeded directly to reading Da Vinci Code. And, as I’ve already mentioned, I didn’t find it to be as good as A&D which caused me to “stall” a bit in the later chapters. I sort of “forced” myself to read it to the last page just for the sake of finishing the book.

Likewise, I was kind of disappointed with the movie (to which the MTRCB gave an “X” rating which, in turn, resulted to its being banned from all SM cinemas). It didn’t come close to how I imagined it with the book. I like Tom Hanks, but it just didn’t work for me (though, I’ve watched the movie about three times already). But, then again, most book-to-movie adoptions are like that, with the exception of The Godfather parts 1 and 2, in my opinion.

Anyway, I sure hope that Angels and Demons the movie will be better than the Da Vinci Code and/or be as good as the book.

I guess I’ll just have to wait and see.