Angels & Demons (spoilers!)
Alright, so I've been reading Angels & Demons for the past week and a half, trying to finish it before the movie was released tonight and I almost succeeded. I was only 155 pages shy of finishing, but decided not to bother and let the ending stay a surprised.
And let's just say "surprised" was an understatement.
I didn't think so much could possibly be left to happen in only a hundred and fifty pages, but like assuming the same with only twenty minutes left of House on Monday, I was so wrong.I still haven't finished the book yet, but I just got back from seeing the movie and ...Holy Crap. What a freaking twist!
I guess I'll start from the beginning and work my way through.
First of all, the changes. I'll need to see the movie again so I can just sit there and actually watch it, as most of the time I spent chatting with oddestoneout about the differences between the movie and the book. Truthfully, they weren't too many, and it was a pretty good adaptation, minus a few small things. The most confusing thing about the changes were the name changes. I mean, what was wrong with Leonardo Vetra? They didn't even keep the father/daughter relationship the same! (I mean, they can keep the number of the camera that was stolen the same, but they can't keep an important relationship the same? Really.) Suddenly he was her partner? And they didn't even brand him, just sent a fax of the Illuminati symbol to some random Vatican police guy to give to Langdon. That was odd. I didn't really see the reasoning behind that. And the pointless change of the Camerlengo's name from Carlo to Patrick? His irish/scotish accent was kind of out-of-place, too. And then, they changed around everyone's posts. All of a sudden Rocher is promoted to Commander and Olivetti was...I don't even know what he was supposed to be in the movie, but I remembered Langdon asking him if he was with the Swiss Guard and him saying "No, but I control his area." or something along those lines.
The other thing that threw me off was the way everyone was introduced. First it was just one or two and then all of a sudden everyone's showing up and quickly stating their names and then I just lost track of them all, because none of them (minus the Camerlengo, but we'll get to him later) looked how I pictured them. Actually, the only people who looked at all as I pictured were Langdon (obviously. I've seen Da Vinci Code quite a few times, so Tom Hanks was already Langdon in my mind), Vittoria and the Camerlengo. The rest of them...what? Olivetti wasn't how I pictured him at all. First off, I always pictured him as blond (which was why I kept confusing him and ...Richter? Rocher? Stellan Skesgard all the time), but he grew on me. I still felt bad when he was killed. Truthfully though, I thought Olivetti looked more like the Hassassian. The Hassassian wasn't even Middle Eastern! That was kind of important in the book, too, since he was all "revenge for science and killing my people!" But...whatever. Hassassian obviously didn't look like I pictured. At all. I thought Hassassian looked more like Gunther Glick (who they kind of cut out completely, but he wasn't really important.)
Rocher or Richter or whoever he was...well, I didn't actually have a clear picture of him in my head, so that didn't matter much. Hm, they cut out Maximilian Kohler completely, though I don't know why. And who was that er, priest? whoever he was in the sash and hat? I can't recall his name.
I thought they did extremely well with the brandings and everything, they seemed how I pictured them. Especially Earth and Fire. Air not so much. I didn't expect so many people in the square. And the carving? I could've sworn it was supposed to be on the wall. It also didn't look the way I pictured, but then, I belueve that was the real thing in the movie, so my image was just wrong. Water was alright, but what was with the ...gurney thing? Why not just keep the chains? Safety reasons, maybe? And the whole Fountain Battle never happened. And then, during the Fire part, Hassassian never kidnapped Vittoria. But other than that, I liked the way those played out.
As for the end, well. I only had read up to the bit where Langdon found the Church and Hassassian and saw the brands. So the ending after that was a complete surprise. Once I found out that Baggio had died*, I had guessed they would make the Camerlengo the Pope (Moritati never crossed my mind) but I didn't expect ....everything. I had a Moment of Revelation when they mentioned where the Antimatter was, but I didn't guess that. And I kept thinking "Janus" was the previously mentioned "nameless priest with the hat" and I kept thinking he was the guy in Da Vinci Code because ...wasn't Silas' mentor friend's name Janus? Anyway, was wrong about that since he got shot and killed.
So, the Ending. I have to say, the whole "the Camerlengo killed the Pope and was really Janus" bit completely threw me. I did not see that one coming at all. (though thinking back, the review in my Newspaper said it was similar to Da Vinci Code and I kind of see that, since it was like, there's this guy who you think is a friend but is really Public enemy Number 1 and all.) My friend and I were screaming for him not to die when he went all Kamikaze (which I totally called. I knew he was gonna take it and go up in the helicopter.) Didn't think he was going to jump out though. And when he did I didn't think he'd survive. But then he did, and then I called that they were going to make him Pope and it was considered and then didn't happen since the Twist showed up. I liked him! I couldn't even hate him when he went and burned himself alive, even though he was technically Evil. I actually was most likely making whimpering sounds and sad faces at that part. My other friend was incredulous that we didn't see it all coming, since she figured it all out before it happened (she's weird like that). Though maybe the fact that she didn't read the book helped. Somehow.
Overall, it was amazing. And I hope to see it again.
Also, I want the soundtrack. (there is a soundtrack, right?)
Oh, and they kept Mickey! That was cool. And the "locked in the archives" scene was exactly how I pictured it. At least, before the whole Random Swiss Guard Guy and the gun. But otherwise, yeah.
Great movie. Go see it.
Now, I need to finish the book and get some sleep. Unfortunately, I have to get up and go to a Math Regents review tomorrow at nine. in the morning. Insanity, I swear.
* odd. I'm pretty sure he was dead in the book, since Langdon tried to save him and then realized he had died. They even had the death bit from the Cardinal's prospective. And then he left the body there to go after Vittoria, so he's probably dead in the book. That confused me, since he was alive to become Pope in the movie, which was my thought for the book before he died. Then again, I haven't finished the book yet, so maybe he makes a miraculous recovery, or maybe the book doesn't end like the movie, but that'd be a stretch. Somehow, I don't doubt that the Camerlengo is still "Janus" in the book. That seems to big a role to change up for the movie, though adaptations have done weirder things.
And let's just say "surprised" was an understatement.
I didn't think so much could possibly be left to happen in only a hundred and fifty pages, but like assuming the same with only twenty minutes left of House on Monday, I was so wrong.I still haven't finished the book yet, but I just got back from seeing the movie and ...Holy Crap. What a freaking twist!
I guess I'll start from the beginning and work my way through.
First of all, the changes. I'll need to see the movie again so I can just sit there and actually watch it, as most of the time I spent chatting with oddestoneout about the differences between the movie and the book. Truthfully, they weren't too many, and it was a pretty good adaptation, minus a few small things. The most confusing thing about the changes were the name changes. I mean, what was wrong with Leonardo Vetra? They didn't even keep the father/daughter relationship the same! (I mean, they can keep the number of the camera that was stolen the same, but they can't keep an important relationship the same? Really.) Suddenly he was her partner? And they didn't even brand him, just sent a fax of the Illuminati symbol to some random Vatican police guy to give to Langdon. That was odd. I didn't really see the reasoning behind that. And the pointless change of the Camerlengo's name from Carlo to Patrick? His irish/scotish accent was kind of out-of-place, too. And then, they changed around everyone's posts. All of a sudden Rocher is promoted to Commander and Olivetti was...I don't even know what he was supposed to be in the movie, but I remembered Langdon asking him if he was with the Swiss Guard and him saying "No, but I control his area." or something along those lines.
The other thing that threw me off was the way everyone was introduced. First it was just one or two and then all of a sudden everyone's showing up and quickly stating their names and then I just lost track of them all, because none of them (minus the Camerlengo, but we'll get to him later) looked how I pictured them. Actually, the only people who looked at all as I pictured were Langdon (obviously. I've seen Da Vinci Code quite a few times, so Tom Hanks was already Langdon in my mind), Vittoria and the Camerlengo. The rest of them...what? Olivetti wasn't how I pictured him at all. First off, I always pictured him as blond (which was why I kept confusing him and ...Richter? Rocher? Stellan Skesgard all the time), but he grew on me. I still felt bad when he was killed. Truthfully though, I thought Olivetti looked more like the Hassassian. The Hassassian wasn't even Middle Eastern! That was kind of important in the book, too, since he was all "revenge for science and killing my people!" But...whatever. Hassassian obviously didn't look like I pictured. At all. I thought Hassassian looked more like Gunther Glick (who they kind of cut out completely, but he wasn't really important.)
Rocher or Richter or whoever he was...well, I didn't actually have a clear picture of him in my head, so that didn't matter much. Hm, they cut out Maximilian Kohler completely, though I don't know why. And who was that er, priest? whoever he was in the sash and hat? I can't recall his name.
I thought they did extremely well with the brandings and everything, they seemed how I pictured them. Especially Earth and Fire. Air not so much. I didn't expect so many people in the square. And the carving? I could've sworn it was supposed to be on the wall. It also didn't look the way I pictured, but then, I belueve that was the real thing in the movie, so my image was just wrong. Water was alright, but what was with the ...gurney thing? Why not just keep the chains? Safety reasons, maybe? And the whole Fountain Battle never happened. And then, during the Fire part, Hassassian never kidnapped Vittoria. But other than that, I liked the way those played out.
As for the end, well. I only had read up to the bit where Langdon found the Church and Hassassian and saw the brands. So the ending after that was a complete surprise. Once I found out that Baggio had died*, I had guessed they would make the Camerlengo the Pope (Moritati never crossed my mind) but I didn't expect ....everything. I had a Moment of Revelation when they mentioned where the Antimatter was, but I didn't guess that. And I kept thinking "Janus" was the previously mentioned "nameless priest with the hat" and I kept thinking he was the guy in Da Vinci Code because ...wasn't Silas' mentor friend's name Janus? Anyway, was wrong about that since he got shot and killed.
So, the Ending. I have to say, the whole "the Camerlengo killed the Pope and was really Janus" bit completely threw me. I did not see that one coming at all. (though thinking back, the review in my Newspaper said it was similar to Da Vinci Code and I kind of see that, since it was like, there's this guy who you think is a friend but is really Public enemy Number 1 and all.) My friend and I were screaming for him not to die when he went all Kamikaze (which I totally called. I knew he was gonna take it and go up in the helicopter.) Didn't think he was going to jump out though. And when he did I didn't think he'd survive. But then he did, and then I called that they were going to make him Pope and it was considered and then didn't happen since the Twist showed up. I liked him! I couldn't even hate him when he went and burned himself alive, even though he was technically Evil. I actually was most likely making whimpering sounds and sad faces at that part. My other friend was incredulous that we didn't see it all coming, since she figured it all out before it happened (she's weird like that). Though maybe the fact that she didn't read the book helped. Somehow.
Overall, it was amazing. And I hope to see it again.
Also, I want the soundtrack. (there is a soundtrack, right?)
Oh, and they kept Mickey! That was cool. And the "locked in the archives" scene was exactly how I pictured it. At least, before the whole Random Swiss Guard Guy and the gun. But otherwise, yeah.
Great movie. Go see it.
Now, I need to finish the book and get some sleep. Unfortunately, I have to get up and go to a Math Regents review tomorrow at nine. in the morning. Insanity, I swear.
* odd. I'm pretty sure he was dead in the book, since Langdon tried to save him and then realized he had died. They even had the death bit from the Cardinal's prospective. And then he left the body there to go after Vittoria, so he's probably dead in the book. That confused me, since he was alive to become Pope in the movie, which was my thought for the book before he died. Then again, I haven't finished the book yet, so maybe he makes a miraculous recovery, or maybe the book doesn't end like the movie, but that'd be a stretch. Somehow, I don't doubt that the Camerlengo is still "Janus" in the book. That seems to big a role to change up for the movie, though adaptations have done weirder things.