Inside Hollywood

Tom Hanks and director Ron Howard have topped 'The Da Vinci Code' in every way imaginable in this follow-up, delivering a hefty dose of pure summer movie entertainment Langdon. He might as well have worn running shoes, because the action is ramped up to the max in Angels & Demons, turning this colorful drama into something that could have been called The Pope Ultimatum. It’s THAT intense. This is Hanks’ most vivid turn as an action star, and he delivers, proving movies don’t get much more exciting than this. As his pretty cohort Vetra, Aylet Zurer is every bit his equal, a much more effective female lead than the miscast Audrey Tautou was in the critically reviled 2006 blockbuster Da Vinci Code. Ewan McGregor offers a complex turn as the Camerlengo, the Pope’s number two and acting head of the Vatican during this period, while Stellan Skarsgard brings authority to his role as head of the Swiss Guard. And veteran Armin Mueller-Stahl is simply terrific as a wise and dignified Cardinal at the center of the papal conflict.