Yesterday I went to see The Da Vinci Code. Mark Berry points to a very negative review by fellow Australian and well known apologist Phil Johnson, but I have to say that my own reaction was quite different as was that of the two mates I went with. We all thought the film was quite enjoyable and the acting was good. It was a thoroughly enjoyable couple of hours and we didn't begrudge the $9.50 it cost.
Phil Johnson rightly points out that none of the film's (or books) central themes are particularly new, but my own question then is, 'Why, given the relative lack of historical backing for these ideas do they still have such enormous traction within the general community?' And my own answer is that there is something pointed to in these books, films etc which has been missing from the 'run-of-the-mill' portrayal of the Christian faith. I'll be interested in exploring what that missing something might be with some of my friends who aren't 'heavy-duty church-goers'.
One thing I found particularly interesting was the way in which the Tom Hanks character (Langdon) is 'softened' in the movie. This was particularly obvious in the scene where Teabing is filling in Sophie on the grail legend. In the book both Langdon and Teabing are singing from the same hymnsheet - almost tag-teaming to destroy Sophie's presuppositions about Jesus, the Bible and Christianity. However in the film version Langdon is seen more as a moderating influence - regularly challenging Teabing's view - bringing up (more traditional) alternatives etc. There was a similar subtle change in the dialogue leading up to meeting Teabing, with Langdon being much more cautious and suspicious about grail 'lore'. I wonder was this change in Langdon's character meant to make him more likeable or the film less offensive to those of Christian sensibilities? For me it actually robbed the film of some of its power.
All in all I thought it was worth seeing and the gorgeous architectural scenes made it a big-screen event in a way which (sorry Mark!) won't be captured by the video.