Director Ron Howard, along with the guidance of Dan Brown as producer, decided to give his cinematic vision a dark, almost joyless disposition that mirrors the shady recesses of his Academy Award-winning film A Beautiful Mind. More importantly, the time spent blitzing through the two-pages-per-chapter whodunit can best be antiquated with one word. The Da Vinci Code, as a narrative, is a tremendously satisfying mystery with a whopper of a twist at its core, a spin on Renaissance art and Biblical theory that has sparked more than a handful of documentaries, discussions, and protests around its nature. As Langdon and Sophie scramble to piece together the clues behind Sauniere's killers, religious fanatics in search of the Holy Grail in order to destroy it, they begin to learn an array of "truths" behind Leonardo Da Vinci, symbolism behind the "chalice", and hypothetical rumors about Jesus Christ himself. He, in turn, is following the guiding hand of a man known only as "The Teacher". Sauniere was, in actuality, killed by an albino monk named Silas (Paul Bettany), a misguided and devout Opus Dei pawn working under the power of Bishop Aringarosa (Alfred Molina). More specifically, they're on the run from the law in connection with the murder of the Louvre's curator, Jacques Sauniere, who is also Sophie's grandfather. The Da Vinci Code's twenty-eight (28) minutes of extensions push it along by answering minor questions and concentrating on blurry elements from before, resulting in a more cohesive version of the same story.įor those unversed, The Da Vinci Code follows Robert Langdon (Hanks) and Sophie Neveu (Tautou) as they trot the globe - first in Paris, then to London and beyond - to solve the riddle of the Holy Grail. Somehow, the added material helps, but in more indirect, discreet ways that won't change one's overall outlook on the picture itself. Sony's answer to the film's lackluster reaction is a little odd: to release an even longer cut on Blu-ray, the presupposed international "Extended" version of the brooding, difficult-to-enjoy thriller that claws along for nearly three hours (174 minutes, to be exact). Though still enjoyable in this reviewer's eyes ( click here for my initial thoughts on the Theatrical Cut), the stumbling blocks are blatantly obvious. Never mind the oddness of Ton Hanks' hair of Audrey Tautou's now-visible awkwardness as Sophie Neveu, the paramount point is that The Da Vinci Code's two-and-a-half hours failed to mix together tone and pacing into an event as likable as the breakneck, page-flipping novel. Whether they supported or bashed the film, there was one common takeaway: Ron Howard's adaptation of Dan Brown's religion-bending thriller was simply too long. Opinions varied wildly on The Da Vinci Code during its release in 2006, from merely polite clapping at its Cannes' debut to the vile snipping from protesters and unimpressed critics.
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