Cult of Dan Brown: Da Vinci Code Movie Discussion

Terribly disappointed...

So much time WASTED on added scenes including magical powers (sophie healing tom hanks with her aura?? Langdon's "photographic memory" illustrated in CG?? These were not in the book - for a reason!) Unfortunately the filmmakers rushed through the real gold that is the Da Vinci Code - the audience's own participation in trying to solve the riddles. Practically every single one was explained within 1-2 minutes of its introduction, and sometimes immediately after, leaving no time to even ponder what it could mean. Then the ideal proportions left out completely, no explanation of the vitruvian man or why a dying man would position himself naked like that with the fibonacci sequence, or why sophie chose the sequence for the bank code in order. And for all the 3 minutes spent watching "A Beautiful Mind" computer generated rearranging of letters in Langdon's mind, there is no visual or other hint that the 'missing orb' is an apple -- yes computer generated planets are nice, floating rearranging letters are nice, but what a waste.

I saw the movie with a friend who had never read the book and I resented that I had to explain all the 'best parts' that were left out (like this) or explain that the reason why its a bestseller is because in the book the puzzle solution is not handed out immediately so there is some thought process involved. Furthermore, after seeing it the grail as Mary Magdalene idea was to her a totally fictitious yet decent plot element, along the lines of indiana jones and the sankara stones, and was shocked when I said there might be some truth in it and by the number of tv specials trying to 'debunk' such a silly and melodramatic plot in the first place.

Tom Hanks was so wrong for the role. Sophie's overly dramatic lines and new supernatural abilities - so wrong. Some changes were necessary for film, like the key falling out from behind the Madonna of the Rocks rather than being pried out, and the Sony product placement was, I suppose, to be expected. But the ENDING....

Unfortunately, as a fan who has read the book several times I was distracted and then angered by so many completely unnecessary changes to the story during the movie, and the generally incoherent message which was the result. The adaptation by the screenwriters was obnoxious and very poor, and my friend, who has never read the book, will probably have forgotten DVC in a week.

The good news is that the movie is so forgettable that maybe religious fanatics will stop accusing DVC of being a huge threat to religion and stop the Dan Brown The Antichrist protest shenanigans, not pour goat's blood in his driveway and leave the poor man alone.

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