Inferno

I am not the biggest fan of reading books. I read some of them, depending on if i find something in my taste, but don´t read all the big best sellers. So i try and look around, before i find a book that could be interesting. I have decided to read a book i bought a couple of years ago, called Stolen Innocence by author Elissa Wall. She tells the story of her life inside a polygamous sect, and from what i read about this book, it is supposed to tell us some really horrible memories of her life within those walls. There are many really good authors out there, and it can be hard what to pick, or if you want to try something different. I remember how popular one author became, after he released his book The Da Vinci Code, back in 2003. This book have sold an amazing number of over 80 million copies, and climbed to the top on best sellers lists worldwide The Da Vinci Code is basically the story of Symbologist Robert Langdon and cryptologist Sophie Neveu Abraham, investigating a murder at the Louvre Museum in Paris. But they become involved between the Priory Of Sion and Opus Dei. The naked body seems to be connected to the famous Leonardo Da Vinci´s drawing Vitruian Man. A film was of course made in 2006, by legendary director Ron Howard. I remember back in 2006, i was excited to see if this movie adaptation could be good, since Tom Hanks was cast in the lead role. The film turned out to be ok, but nothing else. In fact it was a bit boring in some moments, and that was not what you would expect. 3 years later, director Ron Howard returned with another film, based on Dan Brown´s book Angels & Demons. This time he actually managed to make a better sequel, than the first film. Of course the film had flaws, but still better than The Da Vinci Code. Director Ron Howard and Tom Hanks went to do other film projects after this, where a sequel did not see to be coming our way. And it would take 7 years until we finally saw a sequel coming our way, again with director Ron Howard and Tom Hanks on board. Since we all know sequels are always hard to make them great, i did not know what to expect a third time. As the film finally got released in theatres, i started hearing some reviews, and they were not very positive. Since i always try and give my own personal opinion on every film i see, i decided to see if Inferno would be worth a watch. With a great director and a great actor back on track, does this sequel win over the previous films, or is this a disaster that you should avoid ?

Harvard Professor Robert Langdon ( Tom Hanks ) wakes up in a hospital room in Florence, Italy. He have no memories of what happened, or why he is in Florence. Dr. Sienna Brooks ( Felicity Jones ) reveals that he is suffering from Amnesia. Suddenly a dressed female police shows up, kills one of the hospital staff, and seems to be out to kill Robert. Sienna helps Robert escape to her appartment, and he have no idea why someone would want him dead. The fake police officer turns out to be an assassin called Vayentha ( Ana Ularu ). In Sienna´s appartment, they find a " Faraday Pointer " among Roberts personal belongings. A miniature image projector with a modified version of Sandro Botticelli´s Map Of Hell. Robert find strange letters on different locations this map, as he tries to figure out what these letters means. Robert and Sienna realise that this is the first clue, left by billionaire Bertrand Zobrist ( Ben Foster ), who committed suicide after being chased by government agents. It turns out that Zobrist have created a virus he have dubbed " Inferno ", a virus that could wipe out human civilization. With this information, Robert and Sienna knows they are in danger, and they have to make sure that no one will release this virus, out in public.

It took a long time for director Ron Howard to return with a third film, based on the book of Dan Brown. If you have seen the previous films The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, you pretty much know what Inferno might look like. It is basically the same concept of the other films, and of course we get to see Tom Hanks back as Robert Langdon. Now, the first film was ok, but nothing i could highly recommend. When Angels & Demons came out in 2009, we finally got a better film, with better action scenes, more speed, and a more focused story on secrets within the Vatican. When i heard a third film was coming, bringing director Ron Howard and Tom Hanks back together, i can´t say i was really excited. Perhaps because it has been a while since Angels & Demons came out, so i had no high expectations. I was of course hoping i would be surprised, and that they might have tried to make this the best film in the series, but no. Inferno is not what you would call a sequel that will be remembered for breaking new grounds. This is pretty much a chase between buildings, and some action scenes, all baked together like a pretzel, But without the good taste, and just made to look like a decoration. Tom Hanks looks tired, and he is not really very effective this time around, it is almost like he goes on to auto pilot as Robert Langdon. Considering he did a solid performance in Sully this autumn, you would expect him to deliver at least something. Felicity Jones is also here, teamed up with Tom Hanks. I loved her performance in The Theory Of Everything, and i also enjoyed her performance in True Story. In Inferno, she does not seem to be enjoying herself. Her acting level from The Theory Of Everything is not even close in Inferno, almost as she only took this role just to be a part of the trilogy. And this is such a shame, because she could have been the strongest character in this film. Ron Howard is of course a legendary director, and he have given us some really wonderful films in the past. I can understand that he is interested in making the Dan Brown books into films, because of the mysterious content, full of secrets. He did manage to do it right in Angels & Demons, but this third time around he simply don´t get the right pieces together. Inferno could have been interesting, since there is a story here of Dante´s Inferno, a place you don´t want to celebrate New Years Eve at. We are left with a pretty boring adaptation of the book, and i can understand why this film failed at the box office in America. If you want people who love the books of Dan Brown to see these films, make sure you have the right material. I have no idea if Ron Howard is planning to make another film, but i would suggest to him to find a more interesting project. How about the next Green Lantern film with Corey Feldman in the lead role ? Now that sounds perfect indeed.

Rating: DD