The Da Vinci Code Critic Reviews

Dan Brown's novel is utterly preposterous; Ron Howard's movie is preposterously entertaining.Read the full review

Individual scenes are entertaining in their own right, but the production as a whole is a lumbering mess.Read the full review

While the story plays better on the page than the screen and some of the film's elements work better than others, a proficient Ron Howard version of things is certainly competent if only occasionally thrilling.Read the full review

The Da Vinci Code isn't terrible. Brown's novel presented its concepts seriously, as food for thought; Howard's glossy version is more of a snack, designed to be taken only slightly more seriously than "National Treasure," and with the much the same sense of a puzzle-based thrill ride.Read the full review

The surprise, and disappointment, of The Da Vinci Code is how slipshod and hokey the religious detective story now seems.Read the full review

An acceptable but uninspired simulacrum: an overly faithful multiplex translation of a very, very popular airport novel.Read the full review

The most controversial thriller of the year turns out to be about as exciting as watching your parents play Sudoku.Read the full review

Ron Howard has taken an intriguing page-turner of a story and re-shaped it into a bloated wannabe epic.Read the full review

I certainly can't support any calls for boycotting or protesting this busy, trivial, inoffensive film. Which is not to say I'm recommending you go see it.Read the full review