How to Watch: “Angels and Demons”

Step 1: Before seeing the movie, go to Wikipedia and read up on the Vatican, so you’ll have some understanding how that place operates, especially after a Pope has died. Trust me, it’ll make it less complicated.

Step 2: Then sit back and enjoy another wild but highly informative ride as Tom Hanks, Ron Howard and all The Da Vinci Code gang takes us through another intricate maze of religious symbolism, this time in order to save the Vatican from being destroyed.

Step 3: Pay attention and you might learn something. As he did in The Da Vinci Code, our favorite symbologist Robert Langdon (Hanks) once again enlightens us. This time it’s about the “Enlighten Ones” or the Illuminati, which was a secret society formed centuries and centuries ago and comprised of scientists, artists and freethinkers who rebelled against the Catholic Church –  and were persecuted for it in the 1500s. Some believe the Illuminati still exists today. And they might still be out for revenge.

Step 4: Get sucked into the ticking bomb scenario with Langdon. During the Conclave – or the choosing of the next Pope – Langdon is searching for the four kidnapped cardinals, or preferiti – the next in line after the Pope dies – before they are killed by what seems to be a radical group of Illuminati, culminating in the explosion of a bomb hidden in the Vatican. Armed with some secret clues stored deep within the Vatican Archive, Langdon and his sidekick Vittoria Vetra (Ayelet Zurer), an Italian scientist, race along the 400-year-old Path of Illumination to catch the killer(s).

Step 5: Realize you now know what the Path of Illumination, Conclave, preferiti, Illuminati all mean (sorry, I had no idea).

Step 6: Be thankful Hanks as Langdon doesn’t have to give long-winded speeches about Jesus’ ancestry. A lot less controversy that way. No, the lectures are much shorter in Angels and Demons (but just as fascinating) because the guy has a lot of running around to do. Perhaps not one of Hanks’ most memorable character, his Langdon is still a studied portrayal of a fervent academic looking for more knowledge, who also has respect for where that knowledge comes from. Zurer (Vantage Point) is a better match for Langdon than Audrey Tautou was in The Da Vinci Code, while A&D‘s cold-blooded assassin, played by Danish actor Nicolai Lie Kaas, is a better bad guy than Code’s Paul Bettany as the albino Silas.  A&D also has Ewan McGregor as the Cameriengo, the priest who certifies the Pope’s death and acts as pseudo head of state until a new Pope is picked; Stellan Skarsgard as the Captain of the Swiss Guard, sworn to protect the Pope and the college of Cardinals; and Armin Mueller-Stahl as the head of the college of Cardinals.

Step 7: You now also know who the Cameriengo, Swiss Guard and college of Cardinals do within the Vatican. Aren’t you glad you went to Wikipedia first?

Step 8: Perhaps marvel at the ancient rituals of the Vatican. Even though director Howard wasn’t exactly allowed to film in the revered Italian city, he nonetheless fully captures its architecture and splendor with meticulously designed sets. The coolest sequence is in the recreated Vatican Archive, with its hermetically sealed chambers, holding a fathomless library of ancient artifacts, treasures, painting, scripts and writings. I want go there.

Level of difficulty in watching Angels and Demons: Easy to moderate. Although definitely more thrilling than The Da Vinci Code – and slightly less religiously controversial – A&D will appeal mostly to the History Channel set.