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invited film critic: Brother Bird CAGE, the behind-the-scenes worker.
"The Dante Code" is the third part of the "Robert Langdon" series jointly created by Ron Howard and Tom Hanks. are relatively independent.
"The Dante Code" is based on Dan Brown's novel "Inferno", but has made major changes to the storyline, especially the ending.
Brother Bird talks about movies here, and does not discuss the differences between movies and the original.
Langdon's image is fuller
Robert Langdon is the protagonist of the entire series, but in "The Dante Code", he really meets the film's demanding requirements for the main character of the story.
In "The Da Vinci Code" and "Angels and Demons," Langdon is a guide, leading audiences through a series of adventures. But both films focus on "solving the puzzle," rather than characterization of Langdon. We know Langdon is knowledgeable, we know he's good at semiotics, we know he's claustrophobic, but that's about it, the story doesn't dig deep into his character. We enjoyed watching this adventure not because of the appeal of Langdon's character, but because of the adventure itself and the familiar and unfamiliar culture that captured our hearts. Think Raiders of the Lost Ark, think Pirates of the Caribbean, think Mission: Impossible, think Bourne, we love these characters and follow them on their adventures willingly.
In other words, "The Da Vinci Code" and "Angels and Demons" captured our hearts with story and suspense, not Langdon's character.
And in "The Dante Code", Langdon's image is finally full, and we are finally willing to go through this adventure because of Langdon. Langdon was unfairly hurt as soon as he appeared on the scene. He was eager to retrieve his lost memory, took the initiative to explore the truth of the matter, and revealed a relationship history. With goals (looking for a virus), emotions (with Elizabeth), injuries (injected drugs, loss of memory), and skills (knowledgeable), Langdon fits the bill for the film's leading role.
The story design is more like a movie
novel. The story design of the novel is very different from the story design of the movie. Ron Howard has said that Inferno is the most suitable for a film of Dan Brown's four novels starring Robert Langdon. Judging from the presentation of the film, the structure of the three acts is clear, the stimulating events, crises and climaxes are clear, the second act is layered on the ground, the rhythm is reasonable, the conflict is gradually strengthened, and the adventure is gradually escalated.
Although the film has revised the ending, from the overall layout, "Dante Code" is indeed more like a commercial film than "The Da Vinci Code" and "Angels and Demons" in terms of plot and rhythm.
The topic is not attractive enough
. "The Da Vinci Code" is based on Da Vinci and his famous paintings, the Priory of Suan, and the legend of Jesus and the Holy Grail. "Angels and Demons" is based on religion vs science, the mysterious Illuminati, and antimatter. The Dante Code is based on the Italian poet Dante and his Divine Comedy. For Chinese audiences, Dante's The Divine Comedy may be less appealing than Leonardo da Vinci, the Holy Grail, the Illuminati, and the eternal war between religion and science.
No matter what channel we come from, we have seen Da Vinci's paintings, and we have also seen many stories about the Holy Grail (such as "Raiders of the Lost Ark") from past movies and books. Mysterious organizations like the Priory of Suanshan are also full of curiosity, but how many of us know Dante and have read The Divine Comedy? We may know the seven deadly sins in The Divine Comedy better than Dante's description of hell—thanks to David Fincher's "The Seven Deadly Sins."
This means that The Dante Code isn't quite as engaging as The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons from the start - unless you're really into Italian literature or Dante's poetry.
Like solving puzzles but not solving puzzles, like suspense but not suspense
Where is the plague virus that can wipe out half of humanity? All clues are hidden in The Divine Comedy and Dante's Mask. Sounds suspenseful, doesn't it? It looks like a puzzle game about all mankind, doesn't it?
But The Dante Code screwed up the puzzle game and the suspense. Both "The Da Vinci Code" and "Angels and Demons" focus on puzzle-solving games, while "Dante Code" focuses on chasing games, and "puzzle-solving" becomes the embellishment. There are very few puzzles in the whole film, and every time it is like a dragonfly.
For example, Botticelli's "Map of Hell":
Langdon solved the puzzle in a few words, and the melon eaters were dumbfounded. After all, this is not "Mona Lisa", not to mention Chinese audiences, many Western audiences do not know much about this picture.
The chasing scenes did enhance the commercial entertainment of the film, but "Dante Code" also weakened the biggest feature of the series, "wisdom solving puzzles". As a result, the wits are not exciting enough, and the scenes are more like action movies.
In addition to the whereabouts of the plague virus, another suspense point in the film is Sienna (played by Felicity Jones).
The audience should have suddenly realized at the end of the second act: It turned out that Langdon had been with the villain all the time, and then recalled the previous things, and felt that this setting was followed, so as to achieve the effect of "unexpected and reasonable". But the film's portrayal of Sienna dilutes this sense of suspense. Every movie character must have a reasonable motivation for action. Langdon told Sienna to leave at least twice, and not to swim in the muddy water, but she stayed without hesitation. Why? If not because she has feelings for Langdon, it is because she has a lot to do with Langdon's goals. So from the outset, seasoned viewers were aware of Sienna's oddity and deduced that she was taking advantage of Langdon.
Ron Howard may have wanted to set the stage for Sienna's reversal, but his approach instead makes audiences question Sienna's motives, and thus downplays the film's suspense. The film should give her an absolutely reasonable reason, like she and Langdon are wanted, and they are on the same boat (see The Bourneau).
The plot is shriveled
The story volume of a movie can never match that of a novel. It is true that "Dante Code" is more suitable for commercial movies in terms of plot, and the overall rhythm is better than "Angels and Demons", but it tries to simplify the complicated characters and plots while retaining the suspense and tense rhythm of the original work. The result of this is: the structure and rhythm of the story are reasonable, but each plot is a bit anticlimactic, and it is immediately discouraged as soon as the foreshadowing heats up to a higher point. For example, the scene in Venice can be described in one stroke. In other words, "The Dante Code" has lost the balance between pursuing suspense and simplifying the plot. It patronizes the exciting chase and escape, but neglects to set up a plot that is full enough to support the structure of the whole movie, resulting in the plot. shriveled.
Deja Vu,
after waking up with no energy, I found myself amnesia, and scattered and vague memory fragments flashed back to my mind from time to time. Does it sound familiar?
From Cambridge (Cambridge in the film refers to the location of Harvard University, not the University of Cambridge) to Florence, and then from Venice to Istanbul, many people chase each other without stopping. Langdon is exhausted trying to find out the truth, but the audience seems to be watching a European movie. Tourist attractions promotional video. One target, several opponents, multiple locations, chasing all the way, does it sound familiar?
Genius scientists create plague viruses (or other weapons) to save the earth and the human race at the cost of wiping out half of the human race. Interested parties try to cut them off and sell them for a high price, while our protagonist, after being involved, has no hesitation to take back the virus and save the entire human race. Humanity. Have we seen many similar movie main lines?
"The Dante Code" lacks freshness, and many of the scenes are familiar, and the "Da Vinci Code" and "Angels and Demons" are no longer stunning. "The Da Vinci Code" boldly introduced the Priory of Suanshan, made up the truth of the Holy Grail, and talked nonsense in earnest, but the audience applauded when they saw it; "Angels and Demons" talked about the war between religion and science, launched the Illuminati, and also Anti-material weapons were created, and the audience was hooked. But what about The Dante Code? A "Divine Comedy", a "Map of Hell" by Botticelli, a Dante mask, all of them are historical facts, without imagination. The only fictional thing in the entire film is the plague virus, but for discerning audiences, viruses have long been nothing new.
Because of the lack of novelty, "Dante Code" seems a little boring. Langdon and the others had a lot of fun chasing around the screen, but the audience just couldn't get excited. This can be seen from the soundtrack by Hans Zimmer. Uncle Lonely's soundtrack this time has completely lost the style of "The Da Vinci Code" and "Angels and Demons", which is simply a matter of haste.
Having experienced "The Da Vinci Code" and "Angels and Demons", and seeing Tom Hanks' aging face, we may have lost our original interest in Robert Langdon and his adventures.
All in all, "The Dante Code" is a more commercial film than "The Da Vinci Code" and "Angels and Demons" in terms of character building and plot structure, but the theme lacks new ideas, the series features are not preserved, and the plot swings to retain suspense and simplification Movies with bland plots and suspense are better than the others. They are worth watching, but don't expect too much.
Invited film critic: Brother Bird CAGE, a film worker, engaged in pre-production work such as screenwriting, film planning, and script evaluation. Pay attention to film creation and create Chinese stories.
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