Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Tom Hanks reprises the role as Harvard religious expert Robert Langdon, who once again finds that forces with ancient roots are willing to stop at nothing, even murder, to advance their goals. When Langdon discovers evidence of the the resurgence of an ancient secret brotherhood knows as the Illuminati - the most powerful underground organization in history - he also faces a deadly threat to the existence of the secret organization's most despised enemy: the Catholic Church. When Langdon learns that the clock is ticking on an unstoppable Illuminati time bomb, he jets to Rome, where he joins forces with Vittoria Vetra, a beautiful and enigmatic Italian scientist. Embarking on a nonstop, action-packed hunt through sealed crypts, dangerous catacombs, deserted cathedrals, and even to the heart of the most secretive vault on earth, Langdon and Vetra will follow a 400-year-old trail of ancient symbols that mark the Vatican's only hope for survival.

Ron Howard and Tom Hanks return for the next Dan Brown installment, despite being the first of the Langdon books. I liked this book a bit more than The DaVinci Code and ended up liking this movie quite a bit more than the other as well. I don’t know why but The DaVinci Code bored me in theaters despite being such a great quick read. Angels and Demons never bores and like the book speeds through its 2+ hour runtime pretty quickly. The acting is outstanding but the special effects can be a bit disappointing and distracting at times. It is too bad the Vatican didn’t support filming on location; I would have loved to see the locales in high definition.

Sony delivers a solid presentation for this one. The picture has a very film-like look with natural colors and none of the flashy style you see so much in cinema nowadays. I thought the black levels were a little elevated, but not distracting. Detail is quite good, but not razor sharp. The DTS-HD Master Audio mix provides ample spatial design with great use of the surround soundstage and dynamic range. Overall a great presentation from Sony yet again.

This is a loaded 2-disc edition that includes both the theatrical and extended cut of the film. I watched both and couldn’t tell any difference to be honest. You also get a digital copy of the film. There are quite a few extras dealing with the production and the digital re-creation of Rome along with a look at the story and the inspiration for the lead character. You also get some BD-Live features including chat and Sony’s movieIQ feature that gets you data on characters and more during the film.

While still not living up to the books in terms of overall entertainment, this one delivers better than the last one. I’m surprised we’re not seeing more of Dan Brown’s books being translated to screen; they’d all make great rides.