Angels & Demons: from Book to Film

Miranda Lows
Mrs. Crowell
Humanities pd. 2
4/24/11
Senior Analytical Paper
Angels & Demons

In life there are good and evil forces, sometimes they are one and the same. The novel Angels & Demons, by Dan Brown has little good forces and many evil forces bent on destruction. This novel performed well enough to merit a theatrical adaption, Angels & Demons directed by Ron Howard. While the film version includes the same basic elements as the novel such as setting and theme, key differences in the narrative’s characters, plot and conflict are evident, despite the high expectations of the film, the theatrical adaption remains infinitely inferior to the original novel. The analytical process to discover these missing key elements was uncovered by comparing and contrasting the novel and the film in great lengths. The underlying conflicts and intriguing characters lose much of their pertinence in the transition to film, leaving the novel as the superior narrative. This novel is superior for it tells a story about a man, racing against time to save a holy city.
Section 1- Summary
While the novel Angels & Demons has been hailed as “A breathless, real-time adventure…” (San Francisco Chronicle), “Dan Brown… has created another frantic paced, pulse pounding thriller…” (Midwest Book Review), and “Well plotted and explosively paced.” (Publishers Weekly), the theatrical version lacks the critical praise garnered by its literary counterpart, recounting it as “Not all trash is art, but there’s an art to making trash. So, father, forgive the makers of ‘Angels & Demons’, for they know not what they do.” (The Boston Globe), and “Mr. Howard’s direction combines the visual charm of mass-produced postcards with the mental stimulation of an easy Monday crossword puzzle.” (New York Times).The summary of any story is vital to the analysis, so without further ado; Angels & Demons is a story about an intelligent and caring Harvard professor of religious... [continues]

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