Really Ron Howard, really?

I ate at the Bluebird Cafe this weekend, courtesy of my aunt and uncle who were visiting Logan with their two youngest kids. After dinner Kathryn asked if I wanted to go see "Angels and Demons" at the Dollar Theatre. I enthusiastically answered yes because I wanted to see this:

and because I'm a fan of this:
and because I really liked this:
However I didn't really like the movie all that much. It started off sort of unfaithful, the CERN scenes were all smashed into one that wasn't in the book, and then it veered off into "what the what" territory. Okay, I realize that movies and books are usually different but I can usually overlook it. I had a hard time this time around. The ending was totally different and the events leading up to it bore little resemblance to the book. It was almost like the writers of the movie only had one book to share and rather than take turns reading the entire book, they decided to designate one writer to read the book. Rather than relay the story to the whole group they whispered the plot to each other one by one like a game of telephone.


I'm sure that's not how it really happened but it seemed like it. It was sort of enjoyable in the sense that an action movie is enjoyable--things blow up, special effects, CGI...that sort of thing. Apparently they were banned from filming in areas of Italy so duplicate sets were built and there was a whole lot of CGI. If you do see the film, pay special attention to the scene where Robert and Vittoria are walking into the Pantheon, there is some wodgey CGI. With all that said, I want to go to Rome and see all the amazing art for myself. There's only so much you can get from books and movies.

It'll happen some day.