Though billed as the sequel to THE DA VINCI CODE, ANGELS AND DEMONS, Ron Howard’s second foray into the religious mystery thriller genre exists on its own.  American symbolist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) returns to solve the mystery of a murder and other impending ones, believed to be masterminded by the Illuminati, an underground enemy organization of the Catholic Church.

The script by David Koepp and Akiva Goldman (who wrote the DA VINCI CODE) deals with two issues – the solution of the murders and the theft of a nuclear bomb involving antimatter.  The assassin (Denmark’s Nikolaj Lie Kaas) leaves clues that take Langdon and his Italian help, Vittoria Vetra (Ayelet Zurer) all around Vatican.  This leaves lots of grand scale excitement, the impact of which is lessened by the obvious implausible fact that Langdon solves the most complicated of puzzles as he determines where the next killing might take place.

In a novel, an investigator is expected to possess an uncanny skill to solve intricate puzzles but when the same occurs in a film, the audience’s credibility is tested.  It does not help when the script calls for Langdon to continually discover clue after clue fourfold.  If Langdon hesitates, the character next to him has the answer.  With too many coincidences, close calls and plot twists, the film slowly loses its audience.  New characters are introduced midway (Armin Mueller-Stahl as Cardinal Strauss and Ewan McGregor as Patrick McKenna) and no background is provided of the main principals (Langdon and Vetra).  The film goes on with lots of monotonous pyrotechnics segments for an overlong 138 minutes.  There are 4 cardinals nominated for the new papal position, which means that there are 4 murders to prevent. 

What director Howard’s film has going for it is its excellent production values and special effects that include an impressive parachute drop amidst a huge explosion.  If all plausibility put aside, ANGELS AND DEMONS is passable blockbuster entertainment.