Maybe it was the fact that I just read the book, or that i was expecting to be disappointed, but I, more or less, enjoyed the theatrical version of The Da Vinci Code. It many of the elements of the book (a simple story, some controversy, and a mystery) yet strayed from it enough (and in mostly the right places and ways) to enhance Dan Brown's story.
I did hear that some who had not read the book were feeling a bit left behind and couldn't keep up with the characters and some story lines. While I think that some changes made for the film were for the better (pacing and clarity) I also take some issue with a couple of the more unwarranted changes. From here on out what I am writing could be considered spoilers so if you want to read them please start highlighting now:
For one, there was no need to make Langdon be a skeptic, other than to appease lawyers, Catholics, or both. Many times, Langdon utters similar (though softened) criticisms of certain assertions, by saying things like “that is one theory”, or similar things. This doesn’t really do anything except weaken the cooler parts of the ideas presented in the book. The also didn’t need to have Langdon “find God” as he seems to in the movie and near the end. They also did not need to leave out the part of Sophie’s brother and there was absolutely no need to not have Jacques Sauniere be Sophie’s grandfather. It is much cooler to have the sacrifice made by the grandparents of basically never seeing each other again to protect Sophie.
All in all however, I thought this was a decent movie in the vein of what we have come to expect from the Hollywood blockbuster. It doesn’t push too many limits but it is interesting enough to keep you from concentrating on your bucket of popcorn the whole time.
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