Book vs. Movie: Angels and Demons

Almost five years ago, I read Dan Brown’s four books and I really loved them. But my favorites were the controversial The Da Vinci Code and its prequel, Angels and Demons. It was indeed beautifully written by Dan Brown, so beautiful that the powerful Catholic Church despise his finest works of literature. On the 17th of May 2006, The Da Vinci Code was released in cinemas worldwide but it was restricted for mature viewers only. I was only fifteen at that time and there’s no way to watch that on the movie house. I only had the chance to watch it six months later on DVD. Unfortunately, I was NOT happy with the movie version and like what all Dan Brown fanatics have claimed, the book is always better than the movie (except for Stardust).

Three years later, its prequel, Angels and Demons was released and I was waiting for it for almost a year already. Finally, the long wait has come to an end. I just watched it on the movie house this afternoon and today, I’m watching it online, again. I have even downloaded its OST!




So, what’s the fuss of this movie by the way?


First of all, people are somewhat curious of what’s really happening inside the Sistine Chapel during one of the Catholic Church’s rarest events to occur, the Conclave. The ceilings and the four corners of the historical Sistine Chapel was the only witness of this religious event for the past thousand years aside from the Cardinals who will cast their votes for the next Vicar of God, the next leader of the Catholic Church. We all have this notion that cardinals are clean, not materialistic and do not practice vices. Apparently, Cardinals smoking pipes, talking to their high-end phones and recording videos using their state-of-the-art video camera were portrayed in the movie. It’s just an eye-opener, to see that Cardinals are just human beings though they are one of the leaders of the most powerful religion, the Catholic Church.


Another thing is this. Aside from people’s curiosity on religion, they are also nosy with the antimatter. As what the novel had described, antimatter is a new generation matter which can generate great amounts of energy in just an infinitesimal amount. Antimatter is made through the gigantic particle accelerator which ran the entire complex of CERN in Zurich, Switzerland. A cataclysmic event or annihilation shall occur if antimatter is in contact with matter, the things that we see everyday. This study is primary concerned with the creation of the universe, to see whether the idea in the Holy Bible would be coherent with science.


The idea of having science as the mortal enemy of the Catholic Church stretches as early as 1000 AD. The Catholic Church before thought that scientists were heretics and those who will not follow their beliefs shall be excommunicated by the pope or worse executed by grotesque means. The novel portrays a different story, some sort of the revenge by a secret society called the Illuminati.


The novel was indeed powerful that it drew media attentions worldwide. Such upheavals of it claimed both praises and criticisms. The movie was almost called off due to the protest made by the Catholic Church. But fortunately, the production continued this project.



What I really liked in this movie were the cinematography, the original sound track and the visual effects, most especially when the antimatter exploded into the midnight sky of Vatican. All were great. The script was surprisingly simplified though and as what I had expected, scenes from the book weren’t included in the movie. Here are some:

• The movie didn’t portray the state-of-the-art Boeing X-33, the plane use to transport Robert Langdon from USA to Switzerland in just three hours (normal flight duration on this route usually takes a good 8 hours from a jumbo jet).

• Robert Langdon was asleep and he wasn’t swimming when Vatican called him.

• Robert Langdon and Vittoria Vetra didn’t meet at the Vatican. On the book, they met at CERN.

• The mischievous BBC reporter Chinita Macri (or was she a camerawoman?) wasn’t in the movie.

• In the book, Robert Langdon had caught in the helicopter and flew together with the Carmelengo and the antimatter. The Carmelengo escaped by using his parachute and Robert Langdon had a majestic dive in the Tiber River. In the movie, only the Carmlengo rode the helicopter and Robert Langdon only watched him in horror as the helicopter rose before the grandiose explosion.

• In the book, the Assassin died when he fell from his secret hiding place. In the movie, he escaped without the terrifying fight scene from the book, but eventually killed when his car exploded.

• The movie and book had different beginnings. In the former, it was just a narrative story about the demise of the pope while the latter explains the death of Vittoria’s father and that was the time when the canister went missing.

• The Carmelengo’s life story wasn’t emphasized in the movie.

• The head scientist of the CERN didn’t visit Vatican.

I think this is already enough because I might get killed by someone due to these spoilers. Haha!


But yeah, the movie was at least depicted in a straight-forward manner and likewise, this is better than The Da Vinci Code. Whether you have read the book or not, this is going to be one of the greatest movies of this year. I’m looking forward to watch this flick on DVD again.

Losing My Religion

For almost thirteen years, I studied in a Catholic School here in Davao City ran by the notorious (este) caring sisters or nuns. They have taught us through the help of the competitive faculty to pray and learn how to thank God for all the wonderful blessings that He had bestowed upon us. Every hour, we pray before the official lecture starts. If it’s our Chinese subject, we pray in Mandarin, one of the main languages in Mainland China (I can still speak and write a few Mandarin characters). I can even recite the Lord’s Prayer in Mandarin.


Well, that’s not the whole point.


Ideally, every first Friday of the month, we always have this Friday ritual, the First Friday Mass. Once a month, our batch will sponsor a Eucharistic celebration in our Parish Church, just meters away from school.

For thirteen years, they all have taught the same values, philosophies and teachings of Christ and have also interpreted the Holy Bible as well. Okay, I have nothing against with these since I have studied in a private and sectarian school; as if I have a choice. But sometimes, I do not understand some things regarding their teachings which somehow changed a little bit of my beliefs.

Apparently, they have taught us how to be simple, to reach out for the poor and needy and most of all, be the nicest-man-on-the-planet-to-have-a-deportment-award-in-graduation. I hate it when some of us will be graded according to our donations. The more donations, the more incentive points you’ll get. I just loathed that scheme. Where’s the essence of “reaching out to the poor”? I mean, this shouldn’t be practiced at all. Because young as we are, we already have this mentality that if we give something to the less fortunate, we must have an equal blessing and should be received ASAP. Now that’s not cool. This is also similar during the Mission Month, on October, where the mission boxes are distributed to all sections from preschool to high school. Now here comes this unhealthy competition. Since the teachers really wanted to help those poor people, some of them relate the heart-warming activity to our grades. The same practice goes on and on and on.


And then, we now go to the nuns. Like what I’ve written earlier, they have taught us to be simple in all aspects of life. I think they should reconsider on practicing that too on their own selves aside from practicing the vow of Chastity. While walking in a plush mall a few years back, I saw this gang-of-sistahs, headbanging on an expensive sandals store. Nah, I’m just kidding with the headbangin’ thing, but the thing is the cheapest pair of sandals on that shop ranges from a thousand to five thousand bucks! And yeah, who would have thought that they were the first users of the N-series. Even the richest kid in school didn’t have an N-series phone, not until two months after the sisters had started using it.


Speaking of my belief, yes, I still believe in God, the only God who had saved us from the fires of hell, the ever forgiving God who always treat us equally as His sons and daughters of the heavens above. I didn’t doubt on God’s existence. I always believe that He is just there. But sometimes, the ones that preach the word of God had some serious trouble. I think all of you have heard certain issues regarding priests as well as popes that have sons and daughters or worse one of the church leaders convicted to rape and sexual abuse/harassment to innocent people. If we review the history of church, we might have noticed that there are some provisions that were indeed barbaric and satanic.


Another good example is this. I have a friend who had a neighbor that goes to church everyday, and chants different prayers on different saints every hour. She also has numerous statues of saints in her house. But she is famous for her crappy attitude. I mean, she easily gets mad when things aren’t on smooth pace. Wow, now that’s… ugh… appalling.

Here's the thing. I believe that I don’t need to confess my sins to the priest. Why not communicate to God directly and ask for forgiveness? It doesn’t matter if you need to pray the Act of Contrition or whatever chants or prayers they demand to us after confession.

These scenarios have made me upset; I was thwarted by these, actually. I mean what’s the essence of practicing good moral values if the mentors didn’t do those things in the first place? Change starts within us - and the process is gradual.

Don’t get me wrong. I do NOT detest them because of their behavior. No, I can’t blame the institution, the people or the congregation for having these flaws. I mean, we are all human beings, prone to mistakes and mishaps. We are all bound to experience such mistakes. Indeed, mistakes in life make us grow stronger and more mature. Now that’s the nature of life.

So for those who have doubted my religion, wherein I’m gradually changing to an Atheist, the answer is no. I still believe in the subsistence of God.


I know doing good things to others isn’t enough.
It is NOT enough.



I’m still searching for an answer in this profound world. It’s like finding a needle in a one-hectare grassy field.