Inferno - directed by Ron Howard
"Inferno" is the third movie of a series I had written off with the first movie.
I disliked "The Da Vinci Code" so much that it was only recently that I decided to have another look at it courtesy of a good deal on the blu-ray.
Upon second viewing my dislike eased up - but not by much.
I was not at all confident as I put "Angels and Demons" in the blu-ray player but much to my surprise I enjoyed it a lot.
Surprisingly violent, stylishly shot and with surprises that while hokey still worked I had a blast with it.
And so my excitement was rejuvenated just in time for "Inferno".
In truth I was pretty keen on "Inferno" from the first trailer which showed some truly nutty stuff.
Visions of hell, plagues, genocide..... and Felicity Jones.
Not that the latter is nutty but more that ever since "Like Crazy" (review) I have been a fan.
So with Jones in play and the second movie doing much to redeem the franchise for me it was with some delight that the opening moments revealed it to be more of the "Angels and Demons" madcap chase flick ilk than the convoluted boredom of "The Da Vinci Code".
I think, in fact that it is fair to say that "Inferno" is basically one big, long two hour chase flick.
Beginning with a scene in which Ben Foster is pursued by Omar Sy and some colleagues then moving to a hospital bed in which Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) is suffering a head wound and a dose of short term amnesia this thing does not stop for any substantial amount of time for all of its duration.
It is in the hospital that Langdon meets Sienna (Jones) who is the attending doctor.
They have barely introduced themselves when a woman police officer arrives and purposefully strides towards them Beretta blazing.
And so we are well and truly (and literally) off and running.
Plot is revealed as Langdon and Sienna dart across Florence pursuing clues revealed in a mysterious tube that Langdon had with him.
The nuts and bolts is that an eccentric and controversial billionaire (Foster) has designed a virus that will wipe out vast chunks of the population in order to save the species from its overpopulated self.
For me it is an idea not without merit particularly when the population growth projections are laid out.
I cannot recall the exact details as the movie tells us but in truth we hit one billion in 1804, two billion 123 years later in 1927 and a mere 33 years in 1960 later we got to three billion.
But of course Langdon and Sienna are the heroes so will be trying their level best to prevent the virus releasing.
Other than Omar Sy who it emerges is a World Health Organisation operative there are a number of other interested parties.
There is a high tech ship full of people commanded by Irrfan Khan's articulate, sarcastic Harry Sims, the psychotic police woman and another woman named Elizabeth who Langdon may or not know.
She is also with the World Health Organisation - a group who behave (at least in this movie) like a division of MI:6!
If you think that this all sounds like hokey nonsense you are not wrong.
The concept, while fascinating and topical is poorly served by the nonsensical goings on in this film.
Even though the motivations of several characters are left hazy or in some cases completely obscured whatever surprises result are visible about an hour out.
Some of the dialogue that these characters spout is out and out awful.
Here is an exchange between Langdon and Sienna....
Langdon:
'I need a copy of the book'
Sienna:
'The book? How quaint... let me Google it'
Ugh.
And that is merely the beginning.
There are some true howlers in this movie and many are delivered so flatly that it is easy to forget that the fate of most of the world's population is what is at stake.
And on the subject - I was never clear how much of the world's population the virus was created to wipe out.
Was it half as was mentioned several times or was it 95% as was suggested by one of my fellow viewers.
Whichever it is it deviates wildly from the source novel in ways that I will not reveal.
What I can divulge is that many characters apart from being required to deliver appalling lines of dialogue also have incredible talents.
Sienna upon a momentary glance at the ornate white tube that Langdon discovers announces that it is not ivory but bone - human bone.
This despite the tube being shaped, carved, decorated and polished.
Clearly screenwriter David Koepp is more interested in kinetically driving the plot forward than he is in realism or sense.
So, some awful dialogue, ridiculous characterisation and an unbelievable plot might seem to be killer punches but I really did enjoy this movie.
It rollicks along at a hell of a lick.
The action is well shot and as it is set in some of the most beautiful and interesting cities of the world it looks great.
If I had to praise a performance reluctantly I would tap Irrfan Khan's turn as the cool and calm but highly amoral and sarcastic Harry who gets the single F Bomb and a couple of admittedly funny quips.
I'm not calling it a great performance but it is the best on offer - possibly pipping SidseBabett Knudsen's turn as Elizabeth.
Hanks has little to do and Jones is required to do not much more than look lovely.
To be fair she does show some of the action chops that will no doubt be put to far better use in December's "Star Wars: Rogue One"
On that note - interesting to learn that "Inferno" was delayed from December 2015 to avoid "Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens"
So as bad as this movie frequently is its list of faults doesn't include being boring.
I had fun with it but its the kind of guilty, begrudging fun that I imagine one would feel attending a party at Kanye West's house.
Expensive and flashy for sure but empty headed and forgettable at the same time.
RATING: 68 / 100
CONCLUSION: Sure- it isn't boring but some awful dialogue, a nonsensical plot tweaked drastically from the source novel and flat performances stop this from being anything more than a decent diversion.
Starring: Tom Hanks, Felicity Jones, Ben Foster, OMar Sy, Irffan Khan, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Ana Ularu, Wolfgang Stegemann, Jon Donahue, Xavier Laurent, Christian Stelluti, Attila Arpa, Ida Darvish, Bjorn Freiberg, Simone Mariani, Mirjam Novak
Screenplay: David Koepp
Music Score by: Hans Zimmer
Cinematography: Salvatore Totino
Cinematography: Salvatore Totino
Edited by: Tom Elkins & Daniel P Hanley
Running Time: 107 minutes
Language: English
Rated: M - Violence (not as violent as Angels & Demons) and mild profanity (one f and some s's)
Running Time: 107 minutes
Language: English
Rated: M - Violence (not as violent as Angels & Demons) and mild profanity (one f and some s's)
I disliked "The Da Vinci Code" so much that it was only recently that I decided to have another look at it courtesy of a good deal on the blu-ray.
Upon second viewing my dislike eased up - but not by much.
I was not at all confident as I put "Angels and Demons" in the blu-ray player but much to my surprise I enjoyed it a lot.
Surprisingly violent, stylishly shot and with surprises that while hokey still worked I had a blast with it.
And so my excitement was rejuvenated just in time for "Inferno".
In truth I was pretty keen on "Inferno" from the first trailer which showed some truly nutty stuff.
Visions of hell, plagues, genocide..... and Felicity Jones.
Not that the latter is nutty but more that ever since "Like Crazy" (review) I have been a fan.
So with Jones in play and the second movie doing much to redeem the franchise for me it was with some delight that the opening moments revealed it to be more of the "Angels and Demons" madcap chase flick ilk than the convoluted boredom of "The Da Vinci Code".
I think, in fact that it is fair to say that "Inferno" is basically one big, long two hour chase flick.
Beginning with a scene in which Ben Foster is pursued by Omar Sy and some colleagues then moving to a hospital bed in which Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) is suffering a head wound and a dose of short term amnesia this thing does not stop for any substantial amount of time for all of its duration.
It is in the hospital that Langdon meets Sienna (Jones) who is the attending doctor.
They have barely introduced themselves when a woman police officer arrives and purposefully strides towards them Beretta blazing.
And so we are well and truly (and literally) off and running.
 |
| Tom and Felicity race through the world's tourist spots |
The nuts and bolts is that an eccentric and controversial billionaire (Foster) has designed a virus that will wipe out vast chunks of the population in order to save the species from its overpopulated self.
For me it is an idea not without merit particularly when the population growth projections are laid out.
I cannot recall the exact details as the movie tells us but in truth we hit one billion in 1804, two billion 123 years later in 1927 and a mere 33 years in 1960 later we got to three billion.
But of course Langdon and Sienna are the heroes so will be trying their level best to prevent the virus releasing.
Other than Omar Sy who it emerges is a World Health Organisation operative there are a number of other interested parties.
There is a high tech ship full of people commanded by Irrfan Khan's articulate, sarcastic Harry Sims, the psychotic police woman and another woman named Elizabeth who Langdon may or not know.
She is also with the World Health Organisation - a group who behave (at least in this movie) like a division of MI:6!
If you think that this all sounds like hokey nonsense you are not wrong.
The concept, while fascinating and topical is poorly served by the nonsensical goings on in this film.
Even though the motivations of several characters are left hazy or in some cases completely obscured whatever surprises result are visible about an hour out.
Some of the dialogue that these characters spout is out and out awful.
Here is an exchange between Langdon and Sienna....
Langdon:
'I need a copy of the book'
Sienna:
'The book? How quaint... let me Google it'
Ugh.
And that is merely the beginning.
There are some true howlers in this movie and many are delivered so flatly that it is easy to forget that the fate of most of the world's population is what is at stake.
And on the subject - I was never clear how much of the world's population the virus was created to wipe out.
Was it half as was mentioned several times or was it 95% as was suggested by one of my fellow viewers.
Whichever it is it deviates wildly from the source novel in ways that I will not reveal.
What I can divulge is that many characters apart from being required to deliver appalling lines of dialogue also have incredible talents.
Sienna upon a momentary glance at the ornate white tube that Langdon discovers announces that it is not ivory but bone - human bone.
This despite the tube being shaped, carved, decorated and polished.
Clearly screenwriter David Koepp is more interested in kinetically driving the plot forward than he is in realism or sense.
 |
| Support... Hanks with Irrfan Khan, Sidse Babett Knudsen and far right- Omar Sy |
It rollicks along at a hell of a lick.
The action is well shot and as it is set in some of the most beautiful and interesting cities of the world it looks great.
If I had to praise a performance reluctantly I would tap Irrfan Khan's turn as the cool and calm but highly amoral and sarcastic Harry who gets the single F Bomb and a couple of admittedly funny quips.
I'm not calling it a great performance but it is the best on offer - possibly pipping SidseBabett Knudsen's turn as Elizabeth.
Hanks has little to do and Jones is required to do not much more than look lovely.
To be fair she does show some of the action chops that will no doubt be put to far better use in December's "Star Wars: Rogue One"
On that note - interesting to learn that "Inferno" was delayed from December 2015 to avoid "Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens"
So as bad as this movie frequently is its list of faults doesn't include being boring.
I had fun with it but its the kind of guilty, begrudging fun that I imagine one would feel attending a party at Kanye West's house.
Expensive and flashy for sure but empty headed and forgettable at the same time.
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