Angels and Demons

First things first, it’s too late to be reviewing this movie. In spite of the “blessed” strikes, Angels and demons has come far from it’s release.It maybe late for a review but it’s never too late for a perspective.

I never managed reading both the Dan Brown sellers. I saw both the movies. The first one made less sense to me. Maybe it was horrid or maybe it was ignorance. I don’t plan on talking or blaming it. Dan Brown has been often regarded as a “beach read” author – the kinds who churns out a higher concept, slightish adventures that could help you pass a 7 hour flight. Take for example, Angels and Demons the film has everything from the plot, to the the writing, to the history, to the direction, to the performances – executed to utter competence.

The plot : Angels and Demons has the returning Tom Hanks as the symbologist Robert Langdon. He is called upon by the Vatican to investigate the kidnapping of four roman cardinals who turned missing during the vote in of a new pope. A bomb well not exactly a bomb but antimatter with a standard battery life has been planted somewhere in the Vatican city and it is up to Langdon, a female scientist Vittoria and the priest Camerlengo Patrick McKenna to figure out clues and find the bomb in order to save the cardinals and Vatican city. It is a race against time and orthodox tradition. The plot points towards the ancient sect Illuminati, a group of academics and intellectuals who has an age old feud with the Catholic church.

That’s what I want to talk about more than the movie, the age old fight between science and religion. Have they started to co-exist? There are a few theories and few answers to everything. There is no proof although. It is true that majority of people now embrace both science and religion. They seem to use different parts of their minds for each of these, with no or hardly any interconnection between these parts. At least we no more associate bad weather, illness to curses; or earthquakes, storms and eclipses to angry gods.

The conflict has been there right from the 16th century. Both theologians and scientists presume different things and continue to think the way they do. Laplace, dedicated his entire life to finding answers and died exclaiming : “What we know is nothing, what we don’t is immense!”

The truths hidden are greater than our being, generations have passed by and the answers are still not clear. What I have learnt over the years is wisdom in this sentence : “God helps those who help themselves.” I remember my sister praying for 2 hours before every exam…she was never helping herself that day. But till day, she claims that the prayers were answered. My mom is a strong believer in the almighty, the puja in my house has every idol right from all the Hindu gods to Gurunanak and also Jesus. I have wondered if her prayers have any significance, but then who am I to question her faith. My husband dwindles in his belief, I see him praying but never in a temple, but then faith continues to govern our lives.

There has always been a divide and the two groups never saw eye to eye. In the seventeenth century, Galileo stood trial, was found guilty and spent the last eight years of his life in house arrest over the issue of geo centrism. When Darwin's Origin of Species was published, people were divided among those who supported evolution and those who opposed it. Heated and sometimes hostile debates were commonplace. Even today the controversy continues. A Brief History of time is an attempt to explain a range of subjects in Cosmology, including the Big bang, black holes, and light cones to the non specialist leader. Its main goal is to give an overview of the subject but, unusual for a popular science book, it also attempts to explain some complex mathematics. There are no conclusions but it comes very close to answering the so called questions.

I have seen one miracle in my life which is probably to personal to pen down. But that made me realize that if nothing else, we got to keep the faith. If nothing else, we need to bow are head and if nothing else there is no point in the arrogance since there is so much we don’t even know.

I have no ways of structuring this article. It seems as confused as my mind is and as strong as my faith is.

Coming back to the movie, it’s definitely something worth seeing. It is a treasure hunt that takes place in the Vatican and that’s what makes it so enthralling. The performances are strong and the actors remain true to their characters. Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and disturbing images, Angels and demons has surpassed it’s prequel. A must watch, I say.