In 2006, the suspenseful thriller film "The Da Vinci Code", based on the novel of the same name by American best-selling author Dan Brown, achieved a huge sensation, grossing $760 million worldwide, the runner-up of the annual box office that year. After the success of "The Da Vinci Code", the related sequel movie was immediately added to the line, and finally in 2009, another suspense thriller film based on the novel of the same name by American writer Dan Brown was released.
Angels and Devils continues to be directed by Ron Howard, with co-stars to Tom Hanks, Ayelet Zurier, Ivan McGregor and Strand Skarsgard. Tom Hanks, the male protagonist of The Da Vinci Code, went on to star as Professor Robert Langdon, who focused on religious symbols at Harvard University, this time using his comprehensive expertise in deciphering codes to smash a huge conspiracy to blow up Vatican City during the Papal Council. ["The Da Vinci Code" was filmed earlier than "Angels and Devils", but in fact, the story of "Angels and Devils" occurred earlier, so "Angels and Devils" should be a prequel to "The Da Vinci Code".] 】
The story of "The Da Vinci Code" mainly revolves around a core topic of mainstream European religions - the Holy Grail, and then various clues point to the inheritance of Jesus and other sacred and mysterious stories, and also involves the literary giant Leonardo da Vinci and the physicist Newton, the story and suspense effect are excellent, so that all viewers feel that this should be the real truth. At the same time, it also involves the most sensitive religious themes, and is the most sacred and core part, "The Da Vinci Code" has been in turmoil since the beginning of filming, and countless protests and opposition letters from religious groups such as the Catholic League have made "The Da Vinci Code" the most controversial film in 2005-2006.
"Angels and Devils" follows the creative lineup of "The Da Vinci Code", and Oscar-level director Ron Howard joined the first male film star Tom Hanks to win an Oscar for two consecutive years, which is the top match in Hollywood. Ron Howard won the 74th Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Film in 2001 for "A Beautiful Mind", representative works include "Mermaid", "Christmas Monster", "Apollo 13", "Iron Fist Man", "Foster Talks nixon", etc.; Tom Hanks is Hollywood's premier cultural film actor, representative works include "Seattle Sleepless", "Mermaid", "Philadelphia Story", "Forrest Gump", "Saving Private Ryan", "Road to Destruction", "Apollo 13" and so on. Among them, "Philadelphia Story" and "Forrest Gump" in 1994 and 1995 made him the first Oscar winner in history. [The two have collaborated many times in films such as "The Mermaid" and "Apollo 13".] 】
In order to truly restore the scene in the original novel, "The Da Vinci Code" has obtained the right to shoot in the Louvre Museum in France for a week, as well as the Lincoln Cathedral in the United Kingdom, the 15th-century Rosslyn Cathedral near Edinburgh, and winchester Cathedral in the south of England. Among them, the Louvre in France can only be filmed in the evening and every Tuesday when the museum is closed; a large number of important works of art in the film, such as the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper, are made of replicas.
The story of "Angels and Devils" takes place in the Holy Land of European religions, Vatican City, but the Vatican Church absolutely does not allow violent scenes such as murder and explosion, and the Vatican is full of ancient and precious cultural relics of the old church, so it can only be copied in the United States. The Vatican is a city within the city of Rome, there are no houses in the city, except for a few large squares, all are churches of all ages; so the crew also had to copy St. Peter's Square and Nafona Square in the Hollywood Park Racecourse, and the vatican city in the center was disguised by the Los Angeles Stadium. A large part of the film's $150 million production cost was spent on the construction of these core scenes.
Although "Angels and Devils" took so much effort and money to create, it is essentially a suspense thriller, the villain kills people for evil purposes, and the people he kills are in the Vatican, and they are all directly related to the heir of the pope, so it has a deep religious color. Therefore, it becomes more mysterious and eerie. However, too much attachment to religious elements makes its story reasoning not deep and smooth, but the spirit of such a movie is worthy of recognition.