Daily Plastic: Angels & Demons

Movie	Our Take	Other Takes
Angels & Demons Trailer . IMDB	Angels & Demons is better than the inane Da Vinci Code in every way but one: it has no Ian McKellen. But it's more fun and exciting, and while it requires steadfast suspension of disbelief, it isn’t quite so dumb. Robert Davis Paste Magazine	Backhanded blessings: For the sequel, Angels & Demons, Howard seems hell-bent on atonement — of a sort. He delivers a shapely, stylish, white-knuckle horror-thriller that hits its marks with blood and thunder. It stinks to heaven, too, but it isn’t lame. The streets of Rome haven’t run this red since the Inquisition. David Edelstein New York Magazine [I]t's mostly a beat-the-clock chase through Rome.... Ewan McGregor, Stellan Skarsgård, and Armin Mueller-Stahl edge this adaptation of Dan Brown's novel a couple notches above pulp. Andrea Gronvall Chicago Reader Ewan McGregor's papal camerlengo [is] trying to convince the cardinals both that they're not at war with science, and that science is trying to kill them.... There's only so much [Ron Howard] can do with [Dan] Brown's genuinely idiotic plotline.... Bob Mondello NPR This Church dispenses loaves and red herrings. David Edelstein New York Magazine ... lots of red herrings among all the red hats. Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times But how about that ending: If only Angels & Demons were as rollickingly silly as that plot summary makes it sound. In its last 20 minutes, Angels does attain the status of good bad movie, with a transcendently absurd climax that's great fun to rehash later over burgers. Dana Stevens Slate Which we put like this: When [Ewan McGregor's] rag-doll body goes whipping against the outside of a building for reasons I can't divulge, he’s clearly on his way to either martyrdom or the papacy, having been anointed by special effects, ordained by deus ex machina, and blessed beneath a Spielbergian purple sky. But the filmmakers, fully understanding that they've created those expectations, send their plot ricocheting with surprising giddiness. Robert Davis Paste Magazine Mr. Howard’s direction combines the visual charm of mass-produced postcards with the mental stimulation of an easy Monday crossword puzzle. It could be worse.... The utter silliness of Angels & Demons is either its fatal flaw or its saving grace, and in the spirit of compassion I suppose I’d be inclined to go with the second option. A.O. Scott New York Times [W]hy hide the vial at the end of a trail that can only be followed by clues discovered or intuited by Professor Langdon? Why not just blow up the place? What is the purpose of the scavenger hunt? Has it all been laboriously constructed as a test of Langdon's awesome knowledge? Are the Illuminati trying to get even after Langdon foiled Opus Dei, another secret society, in The DaVinci Code? I don't know, and, reader, there is no time to care. Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times