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Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Inferno (2016) in Movies

Jul 15, 2019

Inferno (2016)

2016 | Action, Adventure, Crime

6.3

(40 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Inferno is the latest thriller based on the novels of Dan Brown that follow the fictional character of Robert Langdon who is a world renowned symbologist (study of symbols). Like The DaVinci Code and Angels & Demons before them, Inferno follows mostly the same story arch and structure.

Tom Hanks has reprised his role as Robert Langdon (this time with an appropriate haircut) and once again he travels around to beautiful locations of European art and architecture with a young woman by his side, trying to solve a series of clues in order to stop a billionaire madman who believes humanity is a parasite and his plague inferno is the cure. If this sounds like a film you have seen before, it is because you have. In the other two movies that have come before it

Once again, audiences will enjoy being whisked around to see beautiful cities, art, and architecture to solve historical literary clues as the film plays out like a late middle ages travel lesson. These are all good things.

The bad is that during the first half of the film, Robert Langdon has amnesia due to a blow to the head. He cannot remember much which of what he was doing, which makes him a less compelling character. Throughout the series of films, Langdon has used his “dizzying intellect” to solve clues the brightest minds could not solve. In Inferno, that “super power” is taken away and we are left with an average, middle aged man, who is somehow able to solve impossible puzzles and clues while being chased by seedy underground characters and the world health organization. Who for the purposes of this film, seem to have become the FBI/CIA in one. This setup does not work and makes for a boring first half of the film Eventually Langdon regains his memory and the film picks up a bit from there, but for some it might be too late.

As far as the performances go, Tom Hanks delivers a watchable, likable performance, much to his credit considering that the character of Robert Langdon is a relatively boring protagonist. Meanwhile Ben Foster plays the somewhat forgettable billionaire madman (Bertrand Zobrist) in a somewhat forgettable way. It is a shame because perhaps if we had a chance to understand the nuance of his character, like I assume can be done in the books, he would have felt like a more compelling character and caused us to think if he was to be on the right side of history. Unfortunately, any nuance from the book does not translate well to the film adaptation. But not all is lost. For me, the bright spot of the film was Felicity Jones who plays the gifted doctor Sienna Brooks. Brooks, who in helping Langdon with his injury, gets swept up into game for the fate of the world. In her performance, Felicity Jones shows a transition of her emotional resonance throughout the film as her character develops and we get to understand her more, for better or worse. I am excited to see Jones continue to grow in her career and look forward to seeing her this holiday’s Star Wars Story: Rouge One. She has the ability to carry a film, let’s hope she is given the opportunity to do so.

In the end, Inferno is not a terrible film, but it is not very memorable either. Unlike the two films before it, Robert Langdon is handcuffed by an injury that doesn’t allow him to use his intellect that made him compelling before Couple that with what seems like an inspector gadget plot, where the bad guy leave a series of clues to foil his own master plan, and you end up with a “Meh” film.

Kudos

Night Reader Reviews (683 KP) rated The Sparrows of Unity in Books

Jan 9, 2020

The Sparrows of Unity

Sen Jayaprakasam | 2019 | History & Politics, Young Adult (YA)

6.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

What I liked best was the basic idea of two groups who wanted to better the world. (0 more)

What I didn't like was the fact that I kept questioning exactly how the Unity was planning on achieving their goal (at least I think it was the Unity) (0 more)

Honest Review for Free Copy of Book

The Sparrows of Unity by Sen Jayaprakasam was an interesting book to say the least. The first chapter was very interesting and grabbed my attention right away. I wanted to keep reading it, and was instantly hooked. Each chapter was titled with the character's name who was going to be telling that section of the story. I understand the need to change the point of view in a story like this but it is still a little jarring, so the titles helped a lot amd was considerate of the author. It says that this is only the first in the series and I hope the following books offer more explanation and detals.

The book opers with Lacy meeting her father who is Current in jail. She has believed her father to be a murderer her whole life and that her and her mother have been running from what he did. Now she is visiting him because of a message she found in her mother's journal that she read after her mother died in a car crash. Before he mysteriously disappears her father tells Lucy the truth about him and her mother.

Lucy ends up warking with Rit, Si, and Anna after they all see one of their teachers attacked and killed. The four teens all follow clues to race acros Britain while trying to stay one step ahead of the attackers, who are now trying to kidnap them. Along the journey they discover it is the Unity who are follawing them and trying to prevent them from reaching the other Sparrows. The four teens believe that once they get to the end of the Sparow's Path they will be safe from the Unity. Once they reach the end they can't help but to wonder if they just accidentally lead the Unity to the Sparrow's safe-house?

What I liked best was the basic idea of two groups who wanted to better the world. The idea that they were going to make the world better by eliminating racism, homophobia, and other foms of prejudice was interesting because this is not usually the goal of such groups in books. I liked that people were indirectly trying to make things better for everyone. It also helps that the puzzles where interesting and well thought out. What I didn't like was the fact that I kept questioning exactly how the Unity was planning on achieving their goal (at least I think it was the Unity). It talked about using fear and scare tactics but other than that it wasn't well explained. The ending was also very confusing with so many people either pretending or thinking that they were something they actually were not.

The target readers for this book would be teens and young adults. Anyone older may still enjoy this book for a quick read but it lacks the depth that I believe many adults would probably enjoy in a book. However, the following books in the series may make up for that and as a whole hold the attention of adults as well. I rate this book 2 out of 4. I found it to be a little dull frequently, with the teens just avoiding capture. Also it got very confusing towards the end and started to lose me. While the first chapter did get me hooked it did not last. After finishing the book I am still unsure as to the belonged to which group.

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