As we were leaving the theatre, the guy behind me asked his girlfriend “So, did it live up to the book?” since he clearly hadn’t read it himself. I didn’t hear her response, but my thought was “Does it matter?” It’s not like it’s a great book to begin with; what’s there to live up to? I guess in a way it did live up to the book, because while some parts were enjoyable it was overall “meh”.
01. Tom Hanks — I usually really like Tom Hanks in just about anything, but he was just sort of there, you know? The dialogue he had to deliver was kind of trite in places, and I think someone else could have pulled it off better. My friend Teija has been saying that Jeff Goldblum is her perfect Robert Langdon, and I have to say that I would agree in this instance. Every time there was a vaguely sarcastic line or facial gesture, Hanks managed to deliver it okay, but at the same time I kept picturing Goldblum delivering the exact same line but in an infinitely better way. Meh.
02. Audrey Tatou — Is pretty much the cutest thing ever.
03. Alfred Molina — Will live out the rest of his days playing men of the cloth. Actually, I thought he was pretty good in this; the fervent, insistent dedication came across really well.
05. Paul Bettany — If having a crush on albino monk with a limp is wrong, I don’t want to be right. I didn’t think they could make that man more pale than he already was, but they succeeded admirably. He looked like he was going to lapse into a diabetic coma through the entire film, of course, but you still felt for the guy. Which is odd, considering I didn’t have any particular sense of empathy towards Silas in the book, but his servitude and subsequent betrayal on film worked a lot better for me.
06. Ian McKellan — TOTALLY PWNED THE FREAKING FILM, OMG. For the first part of the film I kept thinking “Ho hum, nothing is really happening” despite the fact that they were progressing through the plot at breakneck speed (especially since in the book it seemed like they were in the Louvre FOREVER). But the second Teabing graced the screen, everything fell into place. Suddenly there was a point to the story. Likewise, when he was finally arrested in London and dragged off, never to be seen again, the film started to drag again. He was so, so awesome. Loved him shouting like a madman from the police car, especially when the sirens took over for his voice.
07. Jean Reno — Was he Opus Dei in the book? For some reason I don’t remember that. Either way, with his on-screen allegiance to the Bishop and protecting Church doctrine, I couldn’t help thinking that the Church’s version of Jesus is the same as Leon’s approach to assassination: no women, no kids. 
09. I thought it was a fairly good adaptation from book to film. They cut out a bunch of things that weren’t entirely necessary and streamlined others, i.e. cutting out that whole stupid library scene in England and instead being able to access the information through some guy’s cell phone. They left in some fun bits that I liked, such as the dude at the bank pretending to be a delivery trunk driver; his lines killed me in the book, so it was nice to see them on screen.
10. David’s “Oath of the Horatii” made a nice guest appearance at the start of the film; I wished they had panned to the other side of the room and shown Delacroix’s “Death of Sardanapalus”, but alas they did not.
Wasn’t spectacular, wasn’t great, wasn’t even particularly good. Merely okay. The only reason to see it on the big screen would be for the scenery, but even Paris and London mostly go by in a blur so you’re not missing much. Oh, and most of the overhead shots of stand alone buildings looked like models for some reason, so that was weird.