Inferno : Movie Review

If you have read the novel by Dan Brown, of which this film is an adaptation, do NOT watch this movie, it is not worth the ticket price. While the novel itself may not have been well-received amongst the readers, fans of Dan Brown included, Ron Howard has not been able to give this story any saving face with technical story-telling that lacked finesse.

Tom Hanks once again bears the role of Professor Robert Langdon as he dashes around Europe, solving half-baked puzzles to try and stop a threat that is posed to cull humanity itself. A deranged biotech billionaire by the name of Bertrand Zorbist (Ben Foster) is obsessed with what is debated to be the end of humanity that will be brought upon by overpopulation. He plans to save humanity from that fate by thinning the herd with a new kind of plague to usher in a new era for humans like he claims The Black Death did. He believes he must exterminate half of humanity to save the rest of it, or let all of it die in the next 100 years. Zorbist prepared a bio-bomb to be set off in an unknown place, and dies without telling anyone its exact location but leaves a trail of clues hidden in the works of Dante Alighieri, in particular, Dante's description of hell with its many levels, Dante's Inferno as the poem is known.

It is up to Langdon and the sharp-eyed genius and stunner Dr.Sienna ( Felicity Jones ) to follow the clues and find the bio-bomb before it's too late. Their efforts are hindered by corrupt government officers in agencies and shadow organisations who are trying their best to stop Langdon or to capture him to determine the location of the bio-bomb for their own gains.

The plot was well set, but the way it was played out was more of a low-grade action movie with sequences that did not match the traits of the characters of the story. The science of this Dan Brown thriller was always ridiculed for being far from reality without even attempting to give it a justification that was more than a few vague statements with heavy words that still made little sense. That combined with the unsatisfactory execution of the direction of the film, a mismatch between the styles of the writer and director, leave you holding your head just as often as Professor Langdon does in the movie. It would be irresponsible not to mention the part of Mr.Sims, who on some instances did bring some life into the story, who was portrayed decently enough by Irrfan Khan, but the character could have been further developed and tailored for the talented actor who was playing him.

This film is a huge disappointment, and I would rate it 2 out of 11 bruschettas. Thanks for reading, feel free to comment, share and subscribe.