The Catholic Church is under attack! There’s a war between science and reason! Quick, lock the Cardinals in the conclave or the Catholic Church is lost! The Pope’s been murdered! Call Dr. Robert Langdon of Harvard! He’ll save us–even though before we said we hated him!
As long as you’re good at suspension of disbelief, you have a sense of humor about the Catholic Church (come on, it’s not too difficult) and author Dan Brown, too (you also know he takes the stuff he writes way too seriously and more like nonfiction than fiction), then “Angels & Demons” will be a thrilling ride. This time, “symbologist” (there’s no such thing) Dr. Langdon (played by Tom Hanks) is invited to the Vatican because the Pope has died and just as the conclave is about to begin, the four Preferiti–the top cardinals favored to be named the new pope–are kidnapped by what looks to be a member of an ancient secret society, the Illuminati, who has a longstanding bone to pick with the Catholic Church. The Illuminati have chosen this particular moment to come-a-calling. As the clock strikes each hour, one of the four cardinals will be murdered in both a public place and one significant to the Illuminati.
Oh, and there’s a bomb! And it’s made of antimatter! And it might take out the entire Vatican and part of Rome, too! Science! Religion! Science and Religion at war! And I almost forgot: Robert Langdon gets into the secret Vatican archives! Woohoo! What more can you ask for? The only bummer: Ewan McGregor plays a priest and not anyone’s love interest (of course, there is zero romance in this movie, but still, I have a thing for Mr. McGregor.)

Honestly, this is the perfect summer thriller–I wasn’t bored for a second. And while some people groaned around me at the bad one-liners and the melodrama–did I mention the nonstop melodrama as well?–and I know that some of the more sensitive Catholic types (who shall remain nameless here) might be all up and shouting on the talk shows, but really: nothing to fear here. The Catholic Church and Robert Langdon both come off looking like roses in the end. Of course, people do die, and it ain’t pretty, so prepare yourself for that–but overall, I give it a thumbs up as a fun action film that doesn’t have a lick of credibility as far as history goes.
So go and enjoy yourself (and have a good laugh afterward about the melodrama and the one-liners), this Friday, May 15th, when “Angels & Demons” releases nationwide.