ANGELS AND DEMONS - Review

The Da Vinci Code, directed by Ron Howard, based on a book by Dan Brown and starring Tom Hanks as Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon, was the 27th highest grosser in film history. Naturally then, there must be a sequel.

Howard, Brown and Hanks reunite for Angels and Demons, which has Langdon racing around Rome, attempting to save Vatican City from vaporizing into smoke. A highly explosive substance known as anti-matter has been stolen from a laboratory and placed somewhere in the Vatican. It will detonate in five hours.

Four cardinals have been kidnapped and are being brutally murdered-one per hour . Meanwhile, a globally televised papal election is underway. This dastardly plot might be the handiwork of an ancient secret society called the Illuminati.

Or someone within the Vatican might be plotting the downfall of the Catholic Church. Only Langdon, the agnostic interpreter of arcane symbols, clues and languages can save the day.Angels and Demons moves at a bristling pace. It is a vast improvement on the mind-numbingly plodding Da Vinci Code.

The action-murders, brandings, ticking bomb, hidden clues-is breathless. And in between the frantic twists and turns, there is lots of chatter.

Everyone talks a lot. Langdon and his side-kick, an attractive Italian scientist, are constantly explaning things. So much of the dialogue sounds like this: An obelisk! A kind of pyramid adopted by the Illuminati! Of course Angels and Demons wants to be more than just a thriller.

The film has pretensions to profundity. It wants to make lofty statements on science, religion, faith. The hitch is that the plot is nonsensical. Several twists and turns will have you asking: what just happened? If you look for logic, Angels and Demons will collapse like a pack of cards.

So, my advice is do what you do for most Bollywood films: suspend disbelief and don't ask too many questions. Just sit back and take in the fabulous sights and sounds of Rome; the stellar star cast; the high-end production values.

For undemanding viewers who have been starved of big-screen entertainment for two months now, Angels and Demons can be a serviceable thriller. Check it out.