Just saw DaVinci Code. Why all the negative reviews? It was good!

[Roland99]

It's been two years or so since I read the book but the film followed the book very closely, changing a few minor things and altering one aspect of the character of Robert Langdon that differed greatly from the book.

But, all the negative reviews from critics and audience members from previews? :wtf:
I don't get it.

The on-screen chemistry of Hanks/Tautou was nowhere near as bad as is being regaled. Hanks was surprisingly good in his role as Langdon, wiping out my disappointment of what I thought was a horrible miscast.

The film never seemed to bog down and didn't get over-ambitious.

I saw it with my nephew and his wife and her brother. My nephew's wife hadn't read the book and refused to even hear discussion about it (her step-father is quite the conservative "Christian" and was apparently rubbing off on her) but even she enjoyed the film and wasn't lost or confused.

Personally, I'd give it an 8 out of 10. I definitely recommend going to see it if you were waving it off in the wake of bad reviews.

[wakeme2008]

1. thanks that is the second good review on here

I will see it tomorrow. :)

[Southsideirish]

23. It wasn't perfect but it was a good thriller. I'm beginning to wonder who

is behind all the negative reviews? The Church? Opus Dei? It seems like a media conspiracy to make this film seem ludicrous and I know that that is often a ploy used by opponents to undermine something truthful.

[Roland99]

33. Check this out! 76% fresh from Users, 18% from Critics!

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/da_vinci_code/reviews_users.php

[Warpy]

34. Critics liked Jerry McGuire

What do they know?

I may see it when it comes out on DVD. My own fear was that it would be ponderous, crushed under its own weight. The book was certainly not well written, not from the excerpts I've read.

[Roland99]

35. The pace is too quick to become laden with drama. And, yeah, Dan Brown

won't be winning any awards for literature. If you'd read Angels and Demons, you'd know that for sure. ;) Although, that wasn't too bad just a part near the end was just utterly ridiculous.

[Dudley_DUright]

45. The physics in A&D was just awful,

but I liked the story anyway. I agree the ending was a little over the top.

[Kostafarian]

51. Come on

You mean you don't think every other sentence should end with "he stopped short."

Movie was very good btw imo.

[Roland99]

52. Welcome to DU, Kostafarian!

:hi:


I would have given you a longer greeting but I stopped short.



;)

[Kostafarian]

53. lol

Thanks for the welcome. Any idea where to find the emoticons?

[Roland99]

56. When you're posting a msg, click the "Smilies lookup table" link.

It's right about the Subject textbox.

:D

[Kostafarian]

57. Sweet

:toast:

[newyawker99]

59. Hi Kostafarian!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Rainscents]

2. I don't listen to what other say about the movie...

I am going to see it and I'll be the judge. I do like this types of movie, so it is great interest on my part to see this movie.

[jerry611]

3. People in here don't like it either

I thought for a minute I was on a pro-Catholic message board... The people on this forum are just as negative against this movie as the Catholic Church.

Why there is so much hate for this movie, from every direction, is beyond me.

[leftyladyfrommo]

6. I figured it was probably pretty good.

How could any movie live up to the expectations and the build up.

But I like Ron Howard and Tom Hanks. I want to see it - maybe tomorrow. I just don't like to be in a crowded theater. I like to wait until things settle down a little.

[Roland99]

12. Was only half full at 3:35, but, it was the "Director's Hall"

Couple dollars more.

[Jigarotta]

32. I know it will be good - Opie directed it.

going to see it tonight. :)

edit for spelling

[Jigarotta]

62. I was discussing the movie with my sis this afternoon.

started off with a story about a young mother, unmarried extended family person of mine who had her baby christened a couple weeks ago. Because she and her partner are not 'married', they had to have the ceremony separate from all the 'bona fides' married couples- so the church arranged.

how disgraceful (edit: on the churches part, to make myself clear).

then we leaped into talking about the Code from last night, and things kinda went blue-skying, green-lighting in conversation. And I noted that there sure were a lot of 'Marys' in the bible, huh, Eve (my sis). You think it has anything to do with our word for 'marrying'?

She dropped the turnip she was preparing for dinner. I never thought of That!.
sometimes our everyday simple words have paragraphs and books attached to them in the roots.

[Roland99]

63. Interesting conversation. But, here's the etymology for "marry"

Middle English marien, from Old French marier, from Latin maritare, from maritus married

Maid Marian? ;)

[Jigarotta]

66. I am way out of the loop on this.

always learning but my Personal Ramdom access Memory is getting a bit crowded. if you know what I mean.
I am master of none, just a water spider skimming along surfaces available.

What time frame is this word first heard of, the marrying?
If I'm not mistaken, from the Code movie, 'companion' was ultimately the word for 'married' as we know it now.

could the now term of 'being pwned' (ack I hate to use that example but it's all I have right now) be related in any way to being 'Maryed', from an odd point of view?

blue skying, green lighting, is all.

[Kerrytravelers]

9. I just didn't care for it. My opinion wasn't based on any Catholic beliefs

since I loved loved loved the book. For me, it just wasn't that exciting. Mr. kt liked it better than I did, but he didn't read the book I found the novel more compelling. I don't think it's the worse thing ever, but I just couldn't get into it. I certainly don't think it was too hard on the Catholic chrch or that nutcult opus dei. It was vey clear that it wasn't against religion, just those who would kill in it's name, basically.

But if people enjoyed it, I think that's great. It certainly opens up some very interesting discussions about the politics and history behind religion.

[jerry611]

14. Movie is NEVER as good as the book

Movies made from books are never going to be as good as the book version.

That's the way it is. The author of a book can control the mood, tone, charactors, and the plot more effectively than a director of a movie.

[Roland99]

17. Exactly. Which is why I usually see a movie then read the book.

I read DaVinci Code a couple years ago not knowing there would ever be a movie. I'd read Angels and Demons first and actually liked that more (except for that part near the ending that was just completely fucking stupid).

I was surprised at how well the general plot was followed.

Try reading, say, Silence of the Lambs, and then watching the movie. Much bigger difference there.

[Kerrytravelers]

19. I know that. I went into it with that knowledge.

I have a MA in screenplay from USC. I understand why changes need to be made. My opinion really had nothing to do with the changes in that I jsut couldn't get into it. And I so wanted to love it. I really did.

[Roland99]

21. Maybe it depends on expectations. Mine were pretty low. Wasn't going to go

and then decided to at the last minute. Glad I did.

;)

[mmonk]

48. Because people can't separate fact from fiction

and attribute more to it than a fiction story.

[scarletwoman]

4. My main reason for seeing it was as a political act.

That it was mostly entertaining and intriguing was a bonus.

I haven't read the book, so I'm only judging the movie on its own merits as a mystery/thriller. Not a *great* movie, but still fun and interesting.

sw

[Roland99]

10. No one was protesting on the way in (3:35 showing) but on the way out....

there was a mom with two younger girls with signs that read something like "I love my lord jesus christ" and a picture of a very white Jesus. :)

And, yeah, it wasn't jaw-dropping great or a movie people will be talking about for years (or maybe it will) but I really enjoyed it. I kept waiting to be disappointed but I found myself getting more and more into it. It was like reliving the book again (well, w/the aforementioned character change and a change in Bezou Fache's character, too) and a slightly modified ending.


I hope they do an Angels and Demons but there they DEFINITELY need to change one part of that ending...ooof.

[Kutjara]

26. Your mention of Angels and Demons made me remember...

...an interview with the director of CERN (the Swiss particle accelerator lab) after the book came out. He said he was grateful for the interest A&D had caused in the work of the lab (views of their web page increased a thousandfold overnight), but was a bit concerned about the book's misrepresentation of the work done there. He said that creating the amount of antimatter that the bad guys in A&D stole would take CERN about two billion years with current technology and that, anyway, there's no way it could be stored in portable form.

Even funnier, when he heard about the book and saw that Dan Brown had apparently toured the facility, he asked around and found that nobody had any memory of the author's visit. Then one junior PR officer piped up with, 'Oh, yeah, I think I showed him around for an hour about three years ago.' Never say that Dan's research isn't exhaustive.

I wonder if the A&D film would have guys in white coats protesting outside theaters about the film's 'antimatter bias'?

[Roland99]

28. LOL! See...it's "fiction". he he he

[Kutjara]

29. Damn! I keep forgetting! :) n/t

[smirkymonkey]

20. That's why I'm seeing it tomorrow.

I thought it more an act of defiance against the fundies/right wing - pretty much why I saw Vendetta as well, which I thouroughly enjoyed despite its flaws. However, I guess I would consider it a political act as well, since I refuse to let the mainstream media and the Christian right influence my decision.

I don't expect it to be the best movie I have ever seen, but I do expect that I will be entertained as it contains many of the elements I enjoy in a film.

I can't understand why so many people here are so dead set against it, without seeing for themselves. Seems kind of sheeplike. Maybe there are people here who really support the Christian Patriarchy without really openly admitting it. :shrug:

[Kerrytravelers]

24. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

I'm not anti-Da Vinci Code like some. I am glad that it opens up discussions about religion and the politics and history of Christianity.

[MichiganVote]

5. Saw it. I can only comment that It wasn't great but not bad at all.

I think the negative hoopla is just a lot of MSM noise and oversensitivity on the part of christian groups.

[Kerrytravelers]

22. I completly concur with the hoopla bit.

Mr. kt and I went to dinner before the film. The MSM was playing on mute and all we could see was Da Vinci Code this and Da Vinci Code that. :crazy:

[Minnesota Libra]

7. Wow, an 8 out of 10??? Everyone who has seen Da Vinci Code.........

.....seems to like it.:toast: Thanks for the review. :bounce:

[C_U_L8R]

8. Just got back...

thought it was okay... not controversial at all...
and a bit predicatable if you're used to mysteries (never read the book)
the riddles were kinda obvious and we guessed the outcome 1/4 through..
Overall an okay movie. Entertaining and well crafted... but no raves nor pans from me...
and certainly all the hullabaloo (on all sides) is overblown.


PS .. I'm a huge Audrey Tatou fan.... and as pleased as I was for her.. she was a little flat

[Infomaniac]

11. I don't understand the negative reviews either.

I've definitely seen films much worse that got better reviews than did the DaVinci Code. My husband and I saw it last night. My husband never read the book and he enjoyed it as much as I did. We did get a chuckle out of the demonstrators at our local theater. A few folks were standing around holding "Defend Our Lord" posters and these guys were being heckled by a pack of teenage girls in Catholic school uniforms. We heard the girls say, "It's based on a book of fiction. Get a life!"

[Roland99]

13. Yeah, Mission Impossible 3 is getting like 70% at RottenTomatoes??

:wtf:

[NewJeffCT]

65. I liked MI:3 quite a bit

it's not Gandhi, but it doesn't pretend to be. It's a very good summer action movie. Sure, the star is quite odd off camera... but, I don't really care who Tom Cruise is dating or marrying. It's a lot better than War of the Worlds or the other big action movies from last year.

[Clovis Sangrail]

15. I just saw it too

not great.. not terrible

An entertaining diversion; about what I expected from a big name/ big budget flick.

I can see why the church is all worked up over it though.
It might make people look into some parts of history that make them look less than divinely inspired.

It's had me and my SO looking up lots of church history that we wouldn't have otherwise. :)

[K8-EEE]

16. Haven't Seen It But In General HATE Ron Howard As A Director

After Beautiful Mind, I'm like, CHECK PLEASE....I'll wait for my hub's Academy copy to come in Nov!

[Roland99]

18. That was what my nephew was saying. Couldn't believe Howard was directing

esp. given Ron's love of Hanks but it was a pretty good adaptation.

[Kerrytravelers]

25. Oh! I loved A Beautiful Mind.

But I didn't read the book. Perhaps my mind will change...

[Mr_Spock]

27. Thanks - I was disappointed to hear NPR pooh-poohing it based on reviews

I wonder why the big hurry to give it a thumbs down. I'm sure I'll enjoy it when I see it...

[princehal]

30. Saw it today

Good junkfood for the mind. Not deep, but ok. Paceing was fine. And I LIKE the fact that there is some history given to the masses about how the bible came into being.

[Roland99]

31. Yeah, I wonder how many Christians will debate the Council of Nicea.

[BayCityProgressive]

36. eh

I absolutely loved the book and also loved the book Angels and Demons, but the movie was boring to me. I thought the acting was sort of bad and it really could have been made more suspenseful. When I read the book I couldn't put it down...when I watched the movie towards the end I was just hoping for it to be over. I always like the book better than the movie but I was even more let down than usual here.

[jerry611]

37. Probably because you knew what would happen???

With the book, you didn't know what was going to happen.

When you watch the movie, it's like reading the book all over again.

[NoodleyAppendage]

38. Many are AFRAID that people will actually see it. That's one reason.

Any movie, even fictional, that allows for questioning of Xtian doctrine will be VERY THREATENING to Xtianity's power structure. The christofascists are shitting themselves with worry about losing members and having to answer inconvenient questions about early church history.

J

[jerry611]

39. If the Church really wants to debunk this book...I have an idea

Why doesn't the vatican open up their archives and let us see...

They act as if they are hiding something...

[BayCityProgressive]

41. well

right now on the History Chennel they are showing 3 shows about gnosticism, the knights templar, and da vinci code that are all very good. I am currently studying Judaism to convert and I believe Jesus was probably a rabbi if he existed at all, who was steeped in Mysticism studies such as Gnosticism.

[Roland99]

42. That's actually a key part of Brown's Angel and Demons. **Spoiler**

Well, a small spoiler anyway.


The protagonist, Robert Langdon, gets into the special Vatican library to review some old works to help find clues.

[Roland99]

40. BTW. You get to see the WTC trailer before the movie (Stone's 9/11 film)

*That* will be the movie of the year.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/wtc/
or
http://www.wtcmovie.com/

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

43. The bad reviews are IMHO totally unjustified. I didn't think it a great

film but it was very entertaining and I highly recommend people seeing it.

As to Tautou...her character's grandfather was just killed and the critics think she should be acting like a gamine? And it wasn't a love story, so chemistry between her and Tom Hanks wasn't entirely important.

One of the only problems I had with it, as I mentioned on a different thread, there were times I felt like I was watching a CSI or Numbers episode.

BTW....I went with a dear friend of mine and her daughter. My friend is a Roman Catholic, and she had not one single problem with it on that end.

[Junkdrawer]

44. Why all the negative reviews? Perhaps somebody owes someone?

You know, the new Pope was in on the "Deny Kerry Communion" thing.

You scratch my back, and I'll scratch mine...hard. :evilgrin:

[hyphenate]

46. I saw it yesterday and

was going to write a review, but it was getting long and I didn't have the patience to finish.

I had not read the book, so I had no expectations going in.

As an agnostic/atheist, I found the "revelations" in the film/book to be interesting food for discussion. If a person approaches such material with an open mind, you can actually get a more rounded opinion of Christendom. If you are willing to at least consider other opinions, you will be able to talk about some of these things with no problem.

It is only those who go in with a closed mind, who forget that this movie is fictional, who will end up with no where to turn, who will find their own beliefs challenged with no relief.

While it's little more than a treasure hunt movie, I would put it up next to a film like "National Treasure" though, more than with "Raiders of the Lost Ark" which has yet to meet its match. :)

[Roland99]

47. You should post what you have anyway.. ;-)

[mmonk]

49. I'm not religious but

I don't participate in anything that fuels religious bigotry. Many liberals (I am liberal by the way) don't understand how this relates due in fact they themselves may believe something on the basis of societal and previous familial teachings about someone else but it resides at a level below the surface of consciousness.

[Roland99]

54. Well, the ending (altered from the book) might pleasantly surprise you.

[mmonk]

61. Nice to know

it may have been altered. I have no problem with religious fiction and intrigue. It's just taken from previous work that was produced as some real theory by authors whose intents are questionable and dubious.

[Chimichurri]

50. Saw it yesterday and I like it very much. I was wondering the same

thing as I left the theatre. I'm glad I'm not alone here.

[Paula Sims]

55. We just saw it last night too

and we liked it. Think of it as a "religious" version of National Treasure with Nicholas Cage. It was fun. I don't know if I liked Hanks in that role (perhaps Russell Crow in the "A Beautiful Mind" sense) but it was fine. When it comes to cable I plan on seeing it again.

Paula

[LizW]

58. Hanks was better than I expected

He pulled off a role that I didn't see as being very easy for him. Langdon was really sort of a dry character.

As for chemistry with Tatou, I thought it was just right. He's twenty years older than she is, after all. There was a sort of sweetness to their interactions that I liked.

[Jigarotta]

60. Saw it and liked it.

I have not read the book, but thought it was well done and will probably see it again.

the 'what if' of all of it is very intriguing.

The audience was unusally quiet and attentive throughtout the whole movie (sold out for 4 shows last night), couldn't hear a candy wrapper crinkle or a cough. Almost like I was watching it by myself.

[Jacklyn75]

64. My daughter and I both saw it today!

We really enjoyed it and can't understand what all the fuss is about. My husband wants to see it now and I'm going to go back with him so that I can see it again.

[dflprincess]

67. My niece and I saw it last night and we both liked it

I thought it stuck as close to the book as a movie can do.

[Quixote1818]

68. I thought it was a great movie however I never read the book.

I would give it a 7 on a scale from 1 to 10. Screw the critics!

Well, I did think Tom Hanks was a bad pick for the lead. I think Jeff Bridges would have been better for this role.

[Rainscents]

69. I saw it last night and love it!

I have no idea where all the fuss is about. :shrug:

[flpoljunkie]

70. Da Vinci Code pulled in $224 million worldwide this weekend, $77M in US!

May 21, 2006

'Da Vinci Code' Pulls in $224 Million Worldwide

By ERIC PFANNER
International Herald Tribune

CANNES, France, May 21 — With a strong showing in global markets, "The Da Vinci Code" posted the second highest grossing opening weekend of any film, according to Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Despite the lukewarm reviews and the outcry over its revisionist religious story line, the film took in $224 million at the box office worldwide in its opening weekend, said Jeff Blake, vice chairman of Sony Pictures. That would place the movie behind only "Star Wars: Episode 3 — Revenge of the Sith," which made $253 million in its first days.

"Basically, the people have responded with great enthusiasm and appreciated a provocative story," Mr. Blake said.

Continuing a recent pattern for Hollywood blockbusters, "Da Vinci" appears to have done better in markets outside the United States. The film earned $147 million overseas, the biggest opening weekend ever, and $77 million in the United States, where it placed 13th.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/21/movies/22davincicnd.html?ei=5094&en=202a51c0f389120d&hp=&ex=1148270400&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print

[Roland99]

72. Ha! It's already passed King Kong then!

[jollyreaper2112]

71. riddle me this...

If the Priory of Scion (or was it zion?) is still around, why the hell didn't they step in when the "last" of the line was in mortal danger? Also, why would she be the last? One would think that the Priory would be breeding left and right to make sure they have plenty of the blood to go around. Hell, she peeked in and saw gramps organizing all the black robes for the holy horizontal hula. You can't tell me they were doing that just for shits and giggles, they were trying to get another jesusy bun in the oven. (now would that bun be leven or unleven?)

There were protesters outside the theater. Pretty funny. I have no idea what sect they were but this one dude was in a suit and tie with a big crimson prayer shawl or something, looked like a Jesus cape. I should probably go into business manufacturing them, sell 'em to all the evanjellycals. "Get your very own jesus cape! Just like superman, only with a J!"

[Roland99]

73. Why didn't they? Well, for starters, this is a fiction novel.

Guess Brown didn't feel like heading down that path. Another thing to consider is how the movie differs from the book.