Angels & Demons

PG-13 for sequences of violence, disturbing images and thematic material

reviewed by Christopher Lyon

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The Story

The Pope has died, four cardinals in line for the vacancy have been kidnapped, and the bad guys have left a clue. It’s an ancient symbol of the Illuminati, a super-secret organization of powerful “scientists” formed and driven underground in the middle ages by the Catholic Church. Now they’ve risen again to take their revenge.

That includes a threat to blow up Vatican City and half of Rome with a little, newly created vile of “antimatter.” One of the scientists who helped to create it, Vittoria Vetra (Ayelet Zurer), arrives at the Vatican just as Professor Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) shows up, as well.

Yes, in spite of the whole deal in the last movie of uncovering evidence that proves Christianity is basically a big, fat lie, the Vatican still needs the world-renown expert in symbols and Christian history to help them figure out who the Illuminati are before they kill the four missing cardinals (one each hour) and blow up the Vatican (at the stroke of midnight).

Content Issues

Lots of brutal violence punctuates this PG-13 rated film. It includes images of dead, dying, and mutilated bodies, including more than one in flames, and multiple onscreen and offscreen murders. God’s names is also used for swearing, along with several profanities.

Worldview Talking Points

The movie sequel to “The Da Vinci Code”  arrived with a fraction of the controversy generated by that book and film. For one thing, Ron Howard’s take on Dan Brown’s novel is careful to avoid directly attacking the heart of Christian theology this time around. Instead, he offers a more straightforward and grisly little thriller built around solving some ancient clues to find secret locations in the heart of Rome.

The worldview issues that remain have to do with Robert Langdon’s stated lack of faith in God, the science/religion debate, and the tendency for power to become corrupt even in religious settings. After an official Vatican paper called the film “harmless entertainment,” any remaining heat about the film was mostly media-fueled or generated by Christians pointing out obvious factual problems with Dan Brown’s body of fictionalized theology.

More information about the film’s historical and scientific factual errors can be found in this quick ChrstianPost story. For a thorough exploration of the book and film from a Christian perspective, click over to The Truth About Angels & Demons. (And if interested in Brown’s other work: The Truth About The Da Vinci Code.)

Is it worth discussing with your teen? Perhaps, if they see the film or are drawn to it, talking about it may provide a teachable moment or two about truth and fiction, the deity of Jesus, and the history of the Catholic church. One or two of the following questions may help.

• Have you read either “The Da Vinci Code” or “Angels & Demons”? What did you think of them? Are you looking forward to his new book coming out in the fall?
• If you read the book, how did this film compare? Do you think the filmmakers and actors did a good job bringing it to life?
• Do you remember what “The Da Vinci Code” said about Jesus, God, and the Bible? Were you surprised how many people took seriously a fiction story about finding evidence that Jesus was not really the Son of God? Do you think a novel like that is really hurtful to what people believe about truth?
• Does it really matter if we believe that Jesus was the Son of God, that He was crucified, that He was resurrected, that faith in Him is the only path to being in heaven forever with God?
• Do you have any friends that read and believed either of these books to be true, even though they were fiction?
• According to surveys, many people who read these books did believe them to some extent. Why do you think some people may be eager to believe that Jesus is not the Son of God, that Christianity is essentially a lie?
• Does it bother you that Dan Brown’s books and films seem to enjoy attacking Christianity and the Catholic Church?
• Did you enjoy the shots in and around Rome? Would you ever want to go there and explore the city, especially to discover some of the roots of biblical Christianity?
• The movie tries to make a big deal about the disputes between science and religion, eventually saying the two should not be opposed to each other. Do you think science and biblical faith have to be opposed to each other? Why or why not?
• How do you think Paul’s words in Romans 1:20 should influence how we think about science from a biblical point of view?

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