Vatican Paper: 'Angels & Demons' Is 'Harmless' And 'Magnificent'

VATICAN CITY — Reviewers at the Vatican's newspaper have passed judgment on "Angels & Demons," finding the religious thriller commercial and inaccurate, but concluding it is "harmless" entertainment and not a danger to the church.

L'Osservatore Romano ran a review and an editorial in Wednesday's edition, critiquing the movie based on the Dan Brown best-selling novel of the same name.

"Angels & Demons" had its world premiere Monday in Rome, after director Ron Howard charged that the Vatican interfered with getting film permits to shoot scenes in the city _ a contention the Vatican said was a publicity stunt.

The newspaper wrote that the movie was "a gigantic and smart commercial operation" filled with "stereotyped characters." The paper suggested moviegoers could make a game out of finding the many historical inaccuracies in the plot.

However, L'Osservatore praised Howard's "dynamic direction" and the "magnificent" reconstruction of locations like St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel. Much of the film was shot on sets that painstakingly recreated church landmarks.

The film offers "more than two hours of harmless entertainment, which hardly affects the genius and mystery of Christianity," L'Osservatore's reviewer wrote. It's "a videogame that first of all sparks curiosity and is also, maybe, a bit of fun."

"Angels & Demons" features Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon of "The Da Vinci Code" fame, played by Tom Hanks. In the film, the Vatican turns to Langdon after an ancient secret brotherhood called the Illuminati kidnap four cardinals considered front-runners to be the next pope, and threaten to kill one an hour and then explode a bomb at the Vatican.

On Sunday, Howard said the Vatican had interfered with his efforts to get permits to shoot some scenes. A Vatican spokesman said the statement was designed purely to drum up publicity for the film.

Top church officials strongly objected to "The Da Vinci Code" because it was based on the idea that Jesus married and fathered children and depicted the conservative Catholic movement, Opus Dei, as a murderous cult.

"The theme is always the same in both novels: a sect versus the church, even though the parts of the good and the bad are distributed differently," L'Osservatore wrote Wednesday. "This time, with 'Angels & Demons,' the church is on the side of the good guys."

The editorial said the novels presented the church's positions in a "simplistic and partial" way. It said the success of Brown's works should push the church to rethink the way it uses the media to present its message.

Comments

[stonelaw]

If the Vatican rates it "G", I'll take a pass. Maybe I'll catch it on HBO or Showtime a couple of years from now.

[66rock]

well, i had a post (somewhere to carla)and said that agentlady was a new poster, big goof on that, sorry, but lets play nice anyway

[dzent1]

Whenever the Vatican sounds like the GOP you know they're in trouble with their thinking and sense of humanity.

I'm WAY past the point where I think those cardinals have a clue about picking the earthly successor to Christ.

And I went to catholic schools my whole life.

[Zen0469]

At last. Someone willing to take an intelligent approach.

[BlueBoomer]

I read the book in the summer of 2001, before anyone had heard of Dan Brown...(I remember because we were living in interim living while our house was being restored after a major fire)...I loved it, and ever since have wanted to have the ambigram as a tattoo...I just couldn't figure out a place that would beattractive, appropriate for a middle-aged professional woman(optician) and also visible enough to be "demonstrated" in a mirror.

[Steve Sanders]

Must be a mediocre movie.

[marlovian]

Thanks for clearing that up. God was getting worried.

[VirginiaJeff]

Now that Ron Howard has taken on the Catholic Church -- twice -- will he move on to Islam, and film "The Satanic Verses"? (I'm thinking no.)

[macbabe]

You do realize Ron and Hanks are both Catholic right???

[GRobit625]

I'm not so sure about Ron, but Mr.Hanks WAS Catholic. He converted to Eastern Orthodox.

[PresidentRobertBooth]

If Christianity was based on the "Da Vinci Code" idea that Jesus fell in love with Mary Magdelene and had a child, and men and women are equally important to the world and each other, and Jesus was a normal human male who had thoughts and feelings and emotions like the rest of us, yet also preached compassion, tolerance and the concept of everyone looking after each other, then Christianity would be a considerably better religion.

[mjb5406]

Well put... unfortunately, doing so would dislodge many of the prelates who have been ensconced in power for millennia. The Catholic Church in particular has always embraced the concept that Jesus was first God, then human secondly, rather than treat them as equal parts of the same person. Jesus was put on Earth to not only die for our sins, but, even as the Bible puts it, "embrace humanity", which means all of our human frailties, shortcomings and benefits. To believe that Jesus experienced only a limited subset of human emotions and feelings is, I believe, disingenuous.

[Manny Tuazon]

Ah, yes, Jesus no less embraced, too, the human frailties, shortcomings and benefits of these so-called "prelates who have been ensconced in power for millenia".

[VirginiaJeff]

Actually, except for the part about having a wife and child, all of the other stuff you'd like Jesus to have done He actually did. It's all in the Gospels.

[freethink]

Actually, like everything else in the Bible, there's absolutely no proof whatsoever that Jesus ever existed. Like religion, he's all myth and superstition.

[CitizenT]

I like Ron Howard and the DaVinci Code movie was OK, but the books just plain stink. The ending in A&D is particularly weak IMO. I think Ron might have had a few too many vodka and wheat grass juices when he agreed to direct them.

If you want to watch a great movie that could be construed as anti-Catholic check out "Goya's Ghosts" which involves the activities of the inquisition in 1800s Spain.

[ElPerro]

I'm sure he'll keep that in mind as he cashes the multi-million dollar checks

[mjb5406]

You are one of the few people I know who rate the movie higher than the book. By his own admission, Howard watered down The DaVinci Code for the movie to remove some of the more controversial subjects discussed in the book. Personally, while I enjoyed the movie, I felt the book had far more substance.

[ellawensmom]

Yep, the book was far better, and infinitely more interesting.

[ElPerro]

When does the 24/7 Bill Donohue whine-fest begin on Fox?

[z78pb45]

A reminder: If you like movies like this then you'll be anxious to know that Ron comes out with the Sasquatch-starring thriller where Moses is discovered to have covered up a plot by Martians to invade planet earth this summer. Area 51 is involved and Vegas will be ground zero for the dramatic ending and the mob is somehow all tied into it. It's all written in the Old Testament if you read every other 5th word, divide 7, and add 2.

[ElPerro]

Methinks the lady doth protest too much

[mjb5406]

Or is smoking some really BAD reefer!

[TheImpaler]

I think they just killed this movie.

[hottingers]

Why, who listens to the Vatican anymore? Maybe Italy and South America. American catholics take what they want from the religion and disregard the ridiculous, as well they should.

[tomasedison]

Watch out for the goon from the Catholic League, he will banish you to he// for seeing this movie.

[WarSkeptic]

The first movie was also quite kind to Christians
It took the position that jesus was infact holy and the son of the god. Giving his distant blood relatives healing powers.

It in no way took on the horrible legacy of the church. Instead the church are not the bad guys at all but instead there is a small evil subset who hide "the truth" from the world. Quite the inverse of reality

[jlab]

You know who that movie was cruel to? People who enjoy a good movie.

[hanksf]

Amen!