Few novels have met the accomplishment experienced by Dan Brown’s the Da Vinci Code.  With an interesting premise and an offering of a thriller – which isn’t that new to start with – in an exciting new light, booklovers have been engrossed with the fictional work.  The movie, presenting Tom Hanks in the starring role of Robert Langdon, likewise faced huge victory given the status of the book it was based on.

But majority of Dan Brown’s patrons are of the opinion that Angels & Demons, the volume that came prior to the Da Vinci Code which also featured Robert Langdon as the lead persona, is a far superior work in contrast to the more illustrious follow-up.

Whereas the Da Vinci Code tackled an ages-old mystery guarded by the Catholic Church, that is, Mary Magdalene being the spouse of Jesus Christ and the Holy Grail being a reference to the sacred lineage of God’s only begotten son, Angels & Demons contends with anything more secular – how the Vatican runs.

Angels & Demons, in fact, is one of only a handful of legendary works that offers us a glance at the selection of a new Pope.

This is what the volume is all about, amidst the setting of a plot to hold the Vatican captive with threats of unleashing an anti-matter tool that can instantly eliminate a part of the world.  It’s a battle against time, with Robert Langdon guiding the group by craking puzzles and deciphering symbols in an attempt to find out the location of the anti-matter bomb.

It’s a thrilling novel, certainly.  And all indications point to the truth that it’s going to be an exciting movie.  Early on, critics are by now declaring that Angels & Demons is more custom-made for the big screen compared to its successor, the Da Vinci Code. The latter, after all, is chatter, its conflict sequences are more stationary, and its core point is the intellectual sorting out of its mysteries.  Angels & Demons, on the other hand, is a chase account – one which will convert well as an action mystery flick.

Apart from Tom Hanks, Ayelet Zurer acts in the film, playing the part of Vittoria Vetra, a CERN scientist and a logical and loving match for Robert Langdon.  Ewan Macgregor plays the persona of Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca, who is a fundamental character in the story.