NEWS > ENTERTAINMENT > VATICAN AND TOM HANKS AGREE THAT ANGELS & DEMONS IS MEANINGLESS

VATICAN AND TOM HANKS AGREE THAT ANGELS & DEMONS IS MEANINGLESS

May 8 2009

Rome, Italy – The sales success that has accompanied Dan Brown’s two novels, ‘Angels & Demons’ and ‘The Da Vinci Code’ has long been dwarfed by the controversy that has swirled around them. That controversy was revisited with the 2006 film version of ‘Da Vinci’ and with the upcoming release of ‘Angels & Demons’ it was widely
expected that a fuss would once again accompany the release. Now though that appears to not be the case as both the Vatican and star Tom Hanks have agreed that the upcoming film is mostly meaningless.

Set before the events in ‘The Da Vinci Code’, ‘Angels & Demons’ once again pits star Hanks against the forces of terrestrial and otherworldly evil as he seeks to uncover a massive conspiracy. Both stories utilize the Catholic Church as well as a number of secret largely fictional organizations such as the Illumnati to attempt to take over the world and vex symbologist Robert Langdon, portrayed by Hanks. Its association with the church has long been a sore point but an early review from the Vatican paper has found unusual consensus with Hollywood and film viewers around the world.

“The Catholic Church has been accused for a long time of being out of touch with the rest of the world. While it is true that do seem out of step when it comes to pregnancy, abortion, marriage,
disease, war, nuclear proliferation, economic issues, art, freedom of speech, and a few other things it seems as though they have fallen into line with the average moviegoer,” said Scrape TV Religion analyst Bertram Gas.  “They’ve also fallen in line with Hollywood’s thinking on the series in that it’s really just a piece of entertainment with no real social or ethical commentary. Hanks said it himself, ‘It’s essentially a whodunit. There’s no major theological discussion that goes on.’”

The latest entry in the series is expected to a major box office hit much like the previous entry in the series. While much attention was paid to the religious context in ‘Da Vinci’ much more was paid to its plodding pace, stiff dialogue, and extremely unusual hair.

“Let’s put it this way, ‘Angels & Demons’ isn’t going to win any more Oscars than ‘Da Vinci’ did. Hanks and the church have it more or less right. The only real offence these films really create is amongst film fans. They have all finally realized that Tom Hanks and Ron Howard won’t be bringing down two thousand years of rule by the Catholic Church,” continued Gas. “It looks as though they’ve solved the whole hair thing as well which will help stave the hairstylist advocates off.”

Of greater interest than the release of the film is the fusion of opinions between the church and the common man which has not really happened since Jesus spread his gospel 2000 years ago.

“Whether this has provoked a change or it’s the result of a changed attitude at the Church is up for debate but what can’t be argued is that they have started to pay attention to events outside the borders of Vatican City. It’s unlikely that they will suddenly start allowing abortions or promoting condom use but at least they understand the concept of fiction, and that’s a start,” continued Gas. “There was even feint praise in the review, praising the direction and art direction of the film. Of course this may one of the only films ever shown in or near the Vatican so they probably don’t have a whole lot to compare it to.
Howard is a solid director, but watching the first movie you wouldn’t have guessed that. This could mean good things for the next literary adventure of Robert Langdon. Unfortunately for the Church it reportedly involves the Freemasons so they may not have a chance to redeem themselves.”

It’s not immediately clear if the Vatican will be reviewing other summer blockbusters such as the ‘Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’ or ‘Bruno’. They did give the ‘Fast and Furious three out of four stars.

Samantha Dryden, Entertainment Correspondent

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