I should start out by saying "The Da Vinci Code" was a film that I really hoped I would like. (Boy that's a death sentence of an opening line if I've ever read one…) And to be honest, I did like it… kind of. I never read Dan Brown’s book, but the overall premise really intrigued me. First and foremost, the story was a murder mystery, but the mystery was all wrapped up in a theory that Jesus did a little more with Mary Magdalene than stay up and talk on the phone all night. Of course any time a story dares to present Jesus in anything other than a wholly positive and pious light, the Christians rally around the cross and condemn, Condemn, CONDEMN!! Oddly enough, and some of you may not believe this, but I am a Christian. I know, I know, you ask how I could be a Christian and watch all of the horrible movies that I do.

To be honest it's quite simple… I'm a sentient Christian. I'm a thinking Christian. I can discern between fiction and non-fiction, fact or fallacy.
I don't get bent out of shape just because someone has a different opinion, and I certainly don't condemn a film as heresy without actually taking the time to see it for myself. (And yes, that is the typical ignorant faux-Christian attack… decrying a film or book with ever actually seeing it for themselves…)

Anyhow, I did end up rather enjoying “The Da Vinci Code” as a kind of adventurous romp through the Catholic countryside. I never took it seriously (as some have) so I could look past the huge plot holes, inconsistencies and occasional leaps of faith. It was fun, period.

So… based on the wild popularity of the original book Brown followed up with a sequel, “Angels and Demons.” This time around the hero of our story, Harry Langdon (Harvard Professor Extraordinaire), is pulled into the middle of a case of four missing cardinals (the religious guys… not the birds). They are all in line to succeed the Pope, and it seems there has been a threat to execute one of them every hour by the ever powerful ‘Illuminati’, leading up to an eventual bombing of the Vatican using a non-Star Trekian canister of antimatter. Its a little bit science and a little bit fiction… without actually crossing the line of becoming… science fiction.

As you might expect, director Ron Howard thought “Why not…” make a follow-up movie as well and bring Tom Hanks back into the fold as old Harry Langdon himself? With that little thought (and all of Howard’s clout)… the movie sequel was introduced into theaters earlier this year. Opting as I usually do to wait, the DVD and Bluray hits store shelves this week and I settled down over the weekend to check it out for myself.

I wondered if I would enjoy it as much as I did the first and truth be told I actually liked it a whole heck of a lot more. It was actually a lot darker, and in the Extended Version offered here it strays much closer into the ‘R’ rating realm. There were similarities to the first film in that it was full of exposition. I mean there is exposition coming out of your ears by the time this movie is over. A lot of it is quite fascinating from a religious historical standpoint, but I had to wonder how much of it was based on fact and how much was the author’s imagination. This is one of the other things I like about these films; they cause me to want to check out the facts for myself. That aside, Hanks’ Langdon is a veritable cornucopia of information and he uses it like a modern day Sherlock Holmes (albeit unwittingly) to solve various puzzles and codes in order to save the day.

Also like the first film, I made sure not to take it seriously. I had to take it at face value and view it as another fun romp, full of chase scenes and beautiful night time locations. In a way, these films are similar to the “National Treasure” franchise. Don’t take everything as historical fact and you can have a lot of fun with it.

All the performances are well delivered, if not at times a little dull. Doesn’t make the film dull, but you realize very quickly in that you would not want to be stuck at a party with many of these characters lest you fall into a stupor of intellectual conversation. These guys know a lot, but they just fall short in the personality department. Yet it works for the movie and makes the characters all the more believable as real people in an otherwise unbelievable situation.

Sony’s Bluray release of “Angels & Demons” really shows off director Howard’s terrific use of the camera. While the story may fall a little short, the visuals are absolutely gorgeous and this disc captures it all. There are so many scenes that are very dark, with a lot of black on black, but you can still see very minute detail. It is overall a beautiful transfer. The audio is nothing to sneeze at either, with all of the dialogue coming at you fully from the front and never getting lost even in the most explosive of scenes.

There are three discs to this set, the first offering both the Theatrical and Extended versions. Definitely go for the extended version. It only adds 8 minutes here and there, but the changes really make some good additions to the movie. The second disc has all of the extra features, which are plentiful in nature. Most are behind the scenes featurettes focusing on the making of the film, from the author’s take on adapting the book to film to the actor’s thoughts on their character’s motivations. There is even an interview with ambigram artist John Langdon (who was Brown’s inspiration for the lead character in the books). If you do happen to get the Bluray edition, there are also two interesting featurettes that allow you to send onscreen messages to friends who are also watching the film as well as download real-time information about the actors and the production while you watch.

“Angels & Demons” seems to be a film that takes itself really seriously as it unveils ‘truths’ about the history of Catholicism. If you watch the movie and take it as fact, you really need to be institutionalized. However, if you are able to discern fact from fiction, chances are you’ll enjoy it as an intellectually sounding action adventure.

Directed by: Ron Howard
Starring: Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer, Stellan Skarsgard, Armin Mueller-Stahl
Extras: Theatrical & Extended Versions of the Film; The Path of Illumination; Rome Was Not Built in a Day; Writing Angels & Demons; Characters in Search of a True Story; CERN – Pushing the Frontiers of Knowledge; Handling Props; Angels & Demons – The Full Story; This is an Ambigram; CineChat; Movie IQ; Digital Copy of the Extended Film
Specifications: 1080p High Definition (2.40:1), English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround
Studio: Sony
Release Date: 11/24/2009
MPAA Rating: PG-13
http://www.sonypictures.com

We'll give Angels & Demons (Bluray) a B.