Reviews in Da Vinci Code A Stinker
Critics panned "The Da Vinci Code" on Wednesday ahead of the world premiere of the year's most eagerly awaited movie.
Opening the annual Cannes film festival the adaptation of the Dan Brown bestseller was described variously as "grim," "unwieldy" and "plodding."
The novel has enraged religious groups because one of its characters argues that Jesus Christ married Mary Magdalene and had a child by her, and that elements within the Catholic Church resorted to murder to hide the truth.
In Thailand on Wednesday, a police-run censorship board overturned an earlier decision to cut the last 10 minutes of the film, but insisted the distributor added disclaimers stating it was fiction.
And in addition to Vatican calls to boycott the picture, the Indian government said it would show the movie to Christian groups before clearing it for release. In the mainly Catholic Philippines the censors have given it an "adult only" rating.
At a screening late on Tuesday in Cannes, members of the audience laughed at the thriller's pivotal moment, and the end of the $125 million picture was greeted with stony silence.
Trade publication Variety had barely a nice word to say.
"A pulpy page-turner in its original incarnation as a huge international bestseller has become a stodgy, grim thing in the exceedingly literal-minded film version of The Da Vinci Code," wrote Todd McCarthy.
Lee Marshall of Screen International agreed.
"I haven't read the book, but I just thought there was a ridiculous amount of exposition," he told Reuters.
"I thought it was plodding and there was a complete lack of chemistry between Audrey Tautou and Tom Hanks."
While critics argue the controversy surrounding the film, and the fact that more than 40 million people have bought the book, will ensure a strong box office performance, word-of-mouth is likely to hit sales later on.
The movie industry will be watching The Da Vinci Code particularly closely after the first two summer blockbusters -- "Mission: Impossible III" and "Poseidon" -- failed to find the Hollywood Grail of box office success.
When you look at how heavy the marketing campaign has been, everything but Tom Cruise hired to jump up and down on couches, you might have guessed that the movie would be bad.
Anytime you throw the kitchen sink at an advertising campaign there is a hint the movie is not going to be a critical hit.
Whether are not it will do well with the public will be determined by how well X-Men Three does.
