The DaVinci Flop....errr Code, I mean

[Hanover_Fist]

I was kinda wanting to see this but about a few weeks ago they started trotting out some AE type specials on Tom Hanks and Opie and all about their careers and whatnot....then some shots of them walking around together in the louvre and then the whole 'most anticipated' stuff and I started thinking k' this one's a flop.

Anyone else get that when a movie is too hyped it's generally a flop and hollywood knows it.

Prove me wrong....

 

[sid]

As long as Uwe Bolls got nothing to do with it I cant just say itll go a flop.

 

[namu]

Da-Vinci what ?

 

[MrSmiles]

All i've heard about it is it's name

 

[Airmoran]

What's interesting that, despite the insane amount of big-names attached to the movie, the ads paint it as a a summer flick ala National Treasure.

It's got the director of Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind, Audrey Tautou, the friggin' legendary Tom Hanks, Ian McKellen, and so forth. You'd expect an ensemble like that to do a remake of Cascablanca or something significant.

But nope, instead you've got what looks to be a summer cash-in on a popular novel. It might as well be the next Harry Potter flick. Kinda scary when you think about it.

 

[SirYawnalot]

Well, if you define a flop as poor box office, then that's wishful thinking. Critically though, you could be on to a point. Personally I wouldn't be able to see far enough past Tom Hanks and the dwarf silverback gorilla he wears on his head to give it a verdict.

I have to say though, I'm not the least bit interested in the film. I read the book believing the hype that it was a look into the shadowy world of secret societies -it says right in the prologue that Opus Dei does exist- only to see a Tony Robinson documentary shortly after which not only denounced just about everything in the book as bull**** (including Opus Dei, which in fact doesn't exist and was a prank by a bunch of Frenchmen, debunked many years ago) but as being ripped straight from Holy Blood, Holy Grail. This was a *long* time before the lawsuit, I might add.
Anyway, take away the gimmick and you have an incredibly average thriller. Any bestselling paperback thriller you can pick up at an airport has better-quality storytelling in that regard.

Lastly, Tom Hanks is probably the last person I'd envisage in the main role. Not insulting his acting skill (though I do think he's a tad overrated), but the book describes a slightly more bookish Indiana Jones, which The Forehead plainly isn't.

 

[DeeperShade]

@Namu - This is the film based on the book. It's freaking the christians out something rotten, and that's why I love it.

 

[Sirius]

@Namu - This is the film based on the book. It's freaking the christians out something rotten, and that's why I love it.

I read the book and liked it but I'm on par with you there. Anything that pisses off the religious right is OK by me.

And the fact that christan groups all over the world are trying to get it banned just goes to show their own insecurities.

 

[_Lynx]

Well, I read the book when I had some free time recently. It's written well, but there's nothing particularly interesting in it. I even guessed who's the main bad guy somwhere in the middle of the book.

 

[ilkman]

I, even as a Christian, was sorta intrigued at watching the movie. In the end, I dont think I will.

You know how you have some movies that you see and think "Oh, that looks cool. Maybe I'll go see it", but then you never do? Thats how I feel about this movie. I'll forget, and already have, about this movie and just let time slip by and before I know it this movie is long gone. Its a "when you get around to it" film, and I dont think I'll ever get around to it.

Just like Airmoran said, I got the feeling it was more a Summer fun movie and not a big epic or anything significant.

 

[DaBeatard]

Anyway, take away the gimmick and you have an incredibly average thriller. Any bestselling paperback thriller you can pick up at an airport has better-quality storytelling in that regard.

I agree 100% with this statement. I was really let down by the book.

The movie isn't getting much positive feedback at Cannes. I'll probably end up seeing though, because my wife loved the book.

 

[Israphel]

I have to say though, I'm not the least bit interested in the film. I read the book believing the hype that it was a look into the shadowy world of secret societies -it says right in the prologue that Opus Dei does exist- only to see a Tony Robinson documentary shortly after which not only denounced just about everything in the book as bull**** (including Opus Dei, which in fact doesn't exist and was a prank by a bunch of Frenchmen, debunked many years ago) but as being ripped straight from Holy Blood, Holy Grail. This was a *long* time before the lawsuit, I might add.
Anyway, take away the gimmick and you have an incredibly average thriller. Any bestselling paperback thriller you can pick up at an airport has better-quality storytelling in that regard.

You've got that mixed up there. Opus dei does exist sadly...you'll find them in most Southern European countries...and particularly in S. America. They have a church here in Lisbon and they are VERY popular...and also a bunch of bloodsucking parasites. http://www.opusdei.org/

It's the Priory Of Sion that was the French hoax and doesn't actually exist.

What you said about the book though I totally agree with. It's garbage. Sure, there are a couple of interesting ideas regarding art history and iconography, but the actual story is embarrassing and predictable, the characterisation is beyond poor and the overall standard of writing makes J K Rowling look like Shakespeare.

 

[Slainchild]

I'll probably go and see it. Y'know, just because I'm curious about it. I haven't read the book, and I have very little idea of what it's about, other than the basic storyline/plot, which is a good thing with movies like this, I think.

 

[SirYawnalot]

You've got that mixed up there. Opus dei does exist sadly...you'll find them in most Southern European countries...and particularly in S. America. They have a church here in Lisbon and they are VERY popular...and also a bunch of bloodsucking parasites. http://www.opusdei.org/

It's the Priory Of Sion that was the French hoax and doesn't actually exist.

Boh. Oh yeah, Priory of Sion was what I meant. All the publicity about Opus Dei had confuzzled my poor brain.

 

[Sir_Brizz]

@Namu - This is the film based on the book. It's freaking the christians out something rotten, and that's why I love it.

I'm a Christian and I don't care about it

I liked the book just fine. It's a good story. I'll go see the movie, although I'm not too keen on Hanks playing the lead and would have much rather seen a Harrison Ford/George Clooney with their more distinguished older, yet adventurous look.

 

[Otej]

add another christian to the list who's read the book and doesn't care

 

[togmkn]

Well, I really liked the book, so I can't not see the movie. And I totally agree with SirYawnalot; it will sell out at the box office, but it could die down after that because it's likely it won't compare with the book. Still, the whole idea behind it (and by that I mean religion) will probably hold it at the top of the box office.

 

[[IsP]KaRnAgE]

I can't wait until this movie is over with so the History channel and its siblings can go back to regular programming instead of documentaries based on DA VINCI'S CODE OMG 4 REALZ LOL!

 

[Renegade Retard]

For what it's worth...

http://movies.msn.com/movies/cannes06/davincicode_critics

Appearantly, the critics weren't impressed with the movie, even laughing during the supposedly most dramatic part of the film.

Oh well, it's just another movie where the hype has raised to level of expectations higher than the movie can achieve appearantly.

Oh, and mark me down as another professing Christian who could care less about the viewership of a known fictional story. It's the extreme ultra conservative Christians (those who require their women to wear full-length dresses and think TV is evil) that are concerned about it.

Sorry to disappoint you DeeperShade.

 

[Evil_Cope]

For what it's worth...

http://movies.msn.com/movies/cannes06/davincicode_critics

Appearantly, the critics weren't impressed with the movie, even laughing during the supposedly most dramatic part of the film.

Oh well, it's just another movie where the hype has raised to level of expectations higher than the movie can achieve appearantly.

Oh, and mark me down as another professing Christian who could care less about the viewership of a known fictional story. It's the extreme ultra conservative Christians (those who require their women to wear full-length dresses and think TV is evil) that are concerned about it.

Sorry to disappoint you DeeperShade.

I get the personal impression that after the Mohammed cartoon debacle, a lot of more hard-line christians, (especially, from the tiny amout of attention i'm paying to current affairs, re:this, Christian groups in less western countries. I recall the bbc pointing in the general direction of india, further east, and maaybe africa? Don't quote me on that.), well, they're seeing if mass protesting and general hissy-fit-throwing can work for them like it worked for hard-line muslims, and that frankly outrageously teen-age temper tantrum over those frankly mediocre cartoons.

They'd not have tried this as vehemently a year or two ago.

Anyway, it's not so much that the film is stupidly overhyped, it's that the book has been impossibly over-hyped, and by the sounds of it, isn't very good anyway.

The literary word is just as full of bull**** as the film world, i think.