Dan Brown's novels The Da Vinci Code and its prequel Angels & Demons are literary hits by any measure. Yet the movie version of the former was universally derided by critics and now, Hollywood's sequel based on the prequel is suffering a similar fate. This begs the question: Which adaptations is the least likable?
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The irony of both adaptations is that they bring out the innate hokiness of Brown's stories. Don't get me wrong. I enjoy the ride both novels gave. And I thought "Angels and Demons" became a pretty good flick. But the first order of any film adaptation is to strip a plot down to its bare essentials. And when you strip a Dan Brown story of its oodles of research, you are left with a hackneyed plot and 2-D characters. Problem is, there is only so much you can strip from a Dan Brown plotline. The end result is an overly-chatty script by action film standards, and overly-academic characters who can't hope to be as hip as the cast of "National Treasure."