Movie Review and Rant: Inferno... and personal taste!

Generally I would preface any post that I put up after a long time with a stupid reason as to why I haven’t posted for such a long time. But I think I should just restrict it to random thoughts, because that will just make me seem that much more professional. That being said this review is going to be so far from professional, it will almost appear to be a rant.

I watched Inferno last night. The movie was really good and I liked it a lot. Let’s just make one thing clear, if I say the sentence above in front of anybody who likes to say that they watch good movies, they will laugh in my face and call me an idiot. I mean, come on, how is it even remotely possible that a guy who watches movies which people consider art, think Inferno is awesome?

Before I get into that part of the post, let me tell you my history with Robert Langdon. The Da-Vinci Code was probably the first novel I read. And this was back when I was in fourth grade. Yes, I was too young to read it, and I did know a lot of stuff that I wasn’t supposed to know at that age, but let’s forget about that for a moment. The Da-Vinci Code had a profound effect on me, and it was almost in a state of trance that I hunted down and read Angels and Demons. As soon as I finished it I realized that there weren’t any other stories with Langdon in them, and I turned my attention to the movies.

The Da-Vinci Code was my first introduction to two people who I have come to fall in love with in Hollywood. The first being Sir Ian Mckellen and the second is none other than Tom Hanks himself. This movie led me to start following their careers in films very closely and if you really think about it, they have never given, what I would term, a bad performance. Irrespective of whether the movies they starred in were good or bad, their performances would always be flawless, and this is something that I have come to admire in them, especially in Hanks. It was also the movie which introduced me to Alfred Molina, Paul Bettany and Audrey Tatou (especially her French films)

So, before I get derailed, I also want to talk about the guy who directed the, now complete, “Robert Langdon Trilogy”; Ron Howard. Ron Howard has directed some of my favorite films such as Rush, Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind. I do not, for the life of me, understand why he gets such a bad rep form critics.

Moving on to Angels and Demons, I have to hand it to Howard for his excellent direction and Salvatore Totino for his breathtaking cinematography. I think that while the movie wasn’t as engaging as the Da-Vinci Code was, the cinematography kept me that much more invested in the film.

And finally, here we are at Inferno. Like I mentioned earlier, I really liked Inferno and while it isn’t as well directed as Angels and Demons or The Da-Vinci Code is, it is still a really good film. I also do have to confess that I wasn’t a huge fan of the shaky cam and the quick cuts, but fortunately it had a proper reason to exist and it wasn’t overused. To be honest, while I do get why lot of people were saying that Langdon took a back seat to Sienna when it came to figuring stuff out, I think that it was a really good decision because we get to see the movies develop Langdon as a character. We get to see some of his quirks and characteristics, and, although mot present in the novels, a really sweet what-if side to his past.

The story was handled really well and even with the altered ending it tied things up neatly. The ending was also a lot more relatable than the ending of the book was and maybe that’s why I seem to prefer the movie to the book, as sacrilegious as that sounds.

The acting in the movie ranges from fantastic to good enough and; let’s just say I liked Irfan Khan a lot. This is also another movie that proves that Tom Hanks can never, even if he tried, give a bad performance. I also happened to like Felicity Jones a lot on screen, but that could have been more due to my excitement for Rogue One rather than her actual performance because, come on, she is a good actress.

One of the greatest surprises for me was the fact that, in spite of it being a night show, the theater was full. And not full like in almost full; full as in house-full. And even amazing was that they were all extremely polite and decent as opposed to just guys who came to sit and waste time and talk in the theater. Wow.

Is the movie perfect? No.

Does the movie have flaws? Yes.

Did I enjoy every moment of it? Yes.

Do I recommend it? If you like watching movies which are a step above pure fun, entertainment and fight scenes; definitely.

I give Inferno 7.5 out of 10

Finally I want to share something that happened to me, or rather a friend of mine. This guy does not watch English films and one day he walked up to me and asked me to suggest some movies. In this situation, I usually suggest some action flicks with a really good plot which will help someone to transition to films which are more drama heavy than action heavy. So sticking with that rule, I asked him to watch The Equalizer, just as a Segway into better. He looked at me and said that it wasn’t a critically acclaimed film as started asking me about The Godfather and Dr. Strangelove. When I asked him who told you these were really good movies, he said that that was what most people on the internet and critics called great films.

My response to him was simple. Everyone has different tastes, and you may not like a film that someone else does. I warned him saying that watching Dr. Strangelove without some experience with cinema would leave you bored. He refused to listen and he called it boring. I was outraged and I said a lot of stuff about taste and also about not rushing to get to the deep end of films. I said that you need to watch films and if you really like them, stand by them and defend them because you like them even if some critic, me too for that matter, says it is garbage. Because film is art and I have no right to dictate what everyone has to like or does not like.

Sometimes your opinion may not align with the majority and that is when critics are questioned. And that is when we begin to see new and different things begin to grow. At the end of the day, what I am trying to say is that I really liked Inferno and so did ninety nine percent of the people in my theater, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to like it too. So, go out there and watch the movies that you want to watch and form opinions of your own, because what else are we humans good for than forming opinions.

On a completely different note, I really want to be like Langdon when I grow up; a brilliant, sharp, witty, SINGLE gentleman. Until next time;

Peace!!!