W E D N E S D AY, M AY 1 7 , 2 0 0 6The Da Vinci Code: The Popsurfing ReviewThe Da Vinci Code -- *World PremiereCannes Film FestivalDebussy TheatreI've just seen the godless "Da Vinci Code" and you'd think the Devilwould have made a more entertaining movie.</p><p> As fellow Cannes-goerMike D'Angelo put it, the book is such a phenomenon that the moviecan't help but be a big hit.</p><p> Everyone's either read the book or heard of itso everyone will see it.</p><p> No one will like it -- not the people who read thebook and certainly not the people who haven't read the book.</p><p> But it willall happen too fast for word of mouth to have any effect. (No wonderthey're opening it on 11,600 screens around the world.)Here are my first notes: Badly done and very silly.</p><p> People enjoy thenovel because it's silly and a page-turner and they get to pretendthey've learned something...like reading James Michener. ("Did youknow Hawaii...?") But the movie is confusing and flits by so quicklyyou're just lost.</p><p> They don't even explain what the Fibonacci Sequenceis. (That's the sequence where each number is the product of the twoprevious numbers -- hence 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89 and so on.)And obviously Ron Howard and Akiva were petrified by the idea ofpeople standing around and talking.</p><p> Never mind that the book includesa lot of fun talk (wild conspiracy theories, salacious historical tidbits,etc.).</p><p> Never mind that the book is also a country-spanning adventurewith multiple murders, an albino assassin who self-flagellates himself,guns, poison, narrow escapes and so on.</p><p> Despite all of that, theypanicked over the thought of Hanks delivering a lecture, so every timehe makes any historical reference, we get a black and white flashback tothat event.</p><p> If Hanks mentions the Crusades, we get a glimpse of knightslaying seige to castles, with blood flowing and swords flying.</p><p> If hementions the slaughter of the Templar Knights by the Pope, we see theblade go in.</p><p> In fact, the movie is filled with unnecessary flashbacks.</p><p> Didwe really need to see the backstory of the albino assassin? (Mind you,Paul Bettany could bring a lot of new members to Opus Dei.) And I defyanyone who hasn't read the book to explain what the albino'sflashbacks were about.</p><p> If most viewers are gonna be puzzled, whyNext Blog»sal1mineo@hotmail.comSEARCH BLOG FLAG BLOGFOLLOW BLOGP O P S U R F I N G .</p><p> C O MS U R F I N G T H E WAV E S O F P O P U L A R C U LT U R EB Y M I C H A E L G I LT Z & F R I E N D SPOPSURFING.COM: The Da Vinci Code: The Popsurfing Reviewhttp://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/05/da-vinci-code-popsurfin... 1 of 37/29/09 12:52 AMFAV O R I T E L I N K SAmericablogFive O'Clock Lightning baseball blogDeep Pop -- Lori Lakin's BlogThe Back Page -- Jason Page on ESPNRadioCine-Blog -- George Robinson's BlogDocuments On Art & Cinema - DarylChin's BlogBrucie G's Wondrous Blog OfAdventure and Mystery -- BruceGreenspan's BlogB L O G A R C H I V E▼ 2009 (17)▼ July (3)1939 -- The Greatest Year ForMoviesSwimming Bans Those Hi-TechSuits!Best Movies Of The Year -- TheMaster List► June (3)► May (1)► March (2)► February (1)► January (7)► 2008 (86)► 2007 (781)► 2006 (2412)► 2005 (5)C O N T R I B U TO R SAaronBiboyMichael in New York POPSURFING.COM: The Da Vinci Code: The Popsurfing Reviewhttp://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/05/da-vinci-code-popsurfin... 2 of 37/29/09 12:52 AMPOPSURFING.COM: The Da Vinci Code: The Popsurfing Reviewhttp://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/05/da-vinci-code-popsurfin... 3 of 37/29/09 12:52 AM
