Over the weekend Firda and I saw The Da Vinci Code at our local movie theater. Since I’m sensitive to those of you who haven’t seen the movie, or read the book I will post this entry in the “extended entry”.

Typically with movies based on books I like to read the book beforehand so I have something to compare. With The Da Vinci Code I wish I had seen the movie first.
The book in my opinion was nothing special. The story was interesting, but as I heard someone say “I’ve read Hardy Boys novels with a more complex story line”. I was especially put off by the last chapter where Sophie discovered that not only was her grandmother and brother still alive, but that she was an heir of Jesus. Sure you likely questioned if that would occur, but to casually throw it out there at the end of the book just seemed like a messy way to tie up “loose ends”.
The film was a wee bit better, though I think if I walked into it without reading the book there would have been parts where I’d have no clue why things were happening. There were many glaring omissions, some of them big (i.e. the real reason and deeper explanation of why Sophie and her grandfather were estranged) and small (i.e. the fact that the codex in the book had two puzzles they need to solve). I also disliked that they made almost all of the characters meaner than they appeared in the book. Fache in the book was portrayed as a “all bark” but in the movie he beats the crap out of the air traffic controller. In the movie Jacques Sauniere is portrayed as a controlling overbearing person to Sophie (who ends up not being her real Grandfather), while in the book he is a caring loving person who would never harm her (and is he real grandfather). In the movie Silas is a cold-blooded killer with no compassion, in the book Silas is still a killer but you feel for the character because he is so driven by his faith.
For more differences in between the book and the movie check out the Wikipedia entry for the movie.
The one part I do approve of (in theory) is the ending where they find the explanation that Sophie is an heir of Jesus. They also talk about the “blood line” and the attempts by certain factions to eradicate it throughout history. That part of the story was handled a little better in the movie.
In conclusion. If you want to see what all the fuss is about go and see the movie, but keep your expectations low. If you can wait rent it, or watch it on the Movie Network (or HBO or one of those movie channels).
Have you seen it yet? What did you like and dislike about it? Let me know.