OK, after my emotional ramblings, I think I am quite ready for a less emotional review.
From a non-expert point of view, the movie for me is still excellent. It has a good pacing. Not too fast that you cannot fathom what you are watching anymore, and yet not too dragging that you are already eager to get out even if you haven't reached the middle part yet. As for the usual movies which the beginning do not quite spark interest, this one has managed to go past that stage successfully. I mean, the beginning did spark my interest. What with eyeballs and bloods.
Next part where Robert Langdon is being introduced to the movie, the excitement begins. And from that point on, the roar kept on going louder and louder. The excitement, the suspense, the thrill, the curiosity all swells up right to the brink. You wouldn't want to get up even to take a bathroom break. It is really that good.
Angels and Demons also served as my ticket to Rome. It has toured me to the Vatican City. Given me the idea of how it looks like inside the structure. The book has always up my interest of how does the place where the Pope resides look like. Of what kind of interiors they have. Is it simplicity that prevails or grandness that won over. And yes, it is grand. It is such a huge place, so huge that anyone could disappear inside it without anyone knowing anything.
And of course, the process of choosing for the new Pope. That is really satisfying. By this, I got a real picture of how the voting is done. The book did described the process quite exactly the same as how it is shown in the film. But of course, it is still very much different when you have "actually" see it unfold with your own eyes.
Outside the Vatican, of each place where the main characters search for any clue on the Cardinals or the killer himself, it is like joining a tour. With Robert Langdon as the tour guide not only of the physical place but also on the symbolisms. You just won't get tired and uninterested on their "journey". Sculptures of magnificence, of Angels, of churches, and of many infrastructures... You would be filled with so much appreciation of these things. Of the attractive words written on the book, still is nothing to the actual beauty showcased in the movie. Each scene is breathtaking not only of the scene itself, but of the equally breathtaking picturesque works of art.
In spite of the heart pounding chases, the movie tugged at my heart, and summoned tears from my eyes. The part where the camerlengo made a sacrifice, where the good has finally, took over the bad, my heart felt pierced. And just because of this tear jerking part, the movie, I can say has nothing to do with "people withdrawing their faith once they saw the movie".
Opposite the statement that this movie would test the faith of people, I believe that it has, in turn, strengthen the faith of those who watched the film. And, in relation to this, those who are saying that watching this movie might make you doubt Christianity, I am sorry to say, that you are wrong. From what I heard, some people from the church are encouraging people not to watch the film so as not to interfere with their beliefs. I say, if the person really is faithful, no amount of movies, of statements, of fictions, will make him doubt whatever he holds on to. And truly anything can destroy man's faith if he himself has not wholeheartedly accepted God in his heart. If these church people are afraid of mankind losing their faith, their belief, then maybe they should be asked if they have done their duties and responsibilities well. Because I can only see the reason that they are stopping people to watch the film is because they are afraid that these people would lose faith due to these people's negligence.
