I've been tempted to watch this movie, because of the surrounding hype. I finally watched it with my friends. I have read the book, and it was time to watch the film. The question which would linger; how controversial is this movie? The answer is...hardly controversial at all, in my humble opinion.

A curator named Jacques Sauniere (Jean-Pierre Marielle) is murdered inside the Louvre museum in Paris by an albino monk named Silas (Paul Bethany). He left some cryptic messages for Dr. Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) and his grand-daughter, Sofie Neveu (Audrey Tautou) which lead them to Leonardo Da Vinci's works. They are being chased by the secret society of Opus Dei, whose leader Bishop Aringrarosa (Alfred Molina) and a French Police named Captain Fache (Jean Reno) wants whatever secret is there to be hidden forever. They need an expert to solve the Da Vinci Code, and seek help from Sir Leigh Teabing (Sir Ian McKellen). Their discovery of religious mystery could shake the foundations of Christianity. Directed by Ron Howard.

While the movie is different from the book, this is still an entertaining murder mystery that requires an open mind and a will to receive a plethora of background information that will be revealed throughout the lengthy movie. Anyone expecting an accurate description of the book will be disappointed, even though some of the differences are actually pretty minor. This film seems frays away from shocking and controversy in order to avoid criticsm. The point is, this movie is FICTION -- don't take it as a real deal, although it really makes me think and ponder about the accuracy depicted in this movie. In some point, I guess it makes sense from what I read and watch about this storyline. I remember when Dogma first came, everyone was so shocked, they blasted the movie. I thought the movie was funny. Same with this movie, I think the movie is pretty entertaining. Just be open-minded about it, and consider it as a pure thriller fiction which loaded with sorts of hooey and Indiana Jones-Tomb Raider-National Treasure nonsense.

That being said, I think the weakest part of the movie is the pacing. I deemed it was too long and dragging, with so many confusing dialogue and flashbacks from the characters, instead from the main storylines. It's unnecessary, and I prefer if they just get on with it! My friend was dozed off a couple of times, and everytime she woke up, she asked me what happened and I had to explained to her what was going on, heheh. The first chapter is built up too slow with too much dialogue and pointless trivia, until the second chapter where everything becomes more juicy. I'm not a big fan of Tom Hanks, but in this film, he looks young and handsome! Maybe because of the hair, or he just lost a weight. But I have to say that the acting is mediocre, especially between the main characters. They are boring, the dialogue is boring between them, and I didn't feel their chemistry at all. Maybe if the characters were played by different actors, it might feel different also. Overall; risky, but not risky enough. Decent, but not decent enough. I encourage everyone to at least take the ride, and keep an open mind.

Ratings: 6/10