The Da Vinci Code (The Movie)

Caught the movie the first day it was released, and realised i made the mistake of reading the book
before watching the show. I already had an impression ofhow i would like the movie to be, hence affecting my appreciation of the Hollywood adaption of the novel.

 

The movie made several changes to the novel, which is only to be expected. Restricted by the length a movie, the producer of the film had problems deciding what to keep and what has to be left out. Sad to say, he got it all wrong.

 

The reason why the novel kept me captivated is the the constant references with Leonardo Da vinci's
works, the ingenuity of the puzzles and codes and how the characters managed to escape time and time again, despite being surrounded by the authorities or enemies. However in this condensed version, most of the essense were lost.

In the scene at the Louvre Museum,
the analysis by Langdon (tom hanks) on the corpse were brief. There wasn't much explaination on the clues that the curator left behind. The fibonacci sequence was just not elaborated. Same for the Vitruvian man,
the venus significance etc. Grave mistakes, as these are integral parts that lead to Langdon solve the first clues.

The novel managed to link facts and fiction seamlessly, always supporting its theory with seemingly true historical data. In the movie, at teabing's place, all the theory were jus "proved" by the painting of "The Last Supper", plus what whatever Teabing said. To make things worse, Langdon made several rebuttals or corrections that i felt was unnecessary. In the end the conspiracy theory seems to be just nonsensical
babbling from a deluded old man, in this case Teabing, totally unconvincing.

 

The part about what Sophie saw that caused the rift with her grandfather was mentioned only much later. The sex ritual was showed, but it did not create the forceful impact like in the book, that made readers understand the trauma that was infliceted to a young sophie. The reasons and significance of the sex rituals were left out. The overall impression i got is that the clues seems like child' play to the characters. Most are solved within minutes, taking the excitment away as well.

 

As for the cast, there were totally no chemistry between Tom hanks and the female lead. They look more like father and daughter when stood together. The saving grace was Silas. He gave a powerful performance, the scene where he punished himself sent shivers down my spine.

 

I heard that those who haven't read the book enjoyed the show much more. I couldn't agree more. The show left me hugely dissatisfied and I just wished the movie to be longer, so that more things can be included rather than left out.