Review: 'Da Vinci Code' Breaks Down Thriller Genre

'The Da Vinci Code' (PG-13) (out of four)

OK, everybody. Take a deep breath and repeat after me -- "The Da Vinci Code" is only a movie.

Many popular books and movies are spun from the basic question "What if?"

Nobody, including the author Dan Brown, is insisting that the premise of "The Da Vinci Code" is gospel truth -- it is just a big "What if?" query.

Do you need to read the book to enjoy "The Da Vinci Code"? It might help you keep the layers upon layers of conspiracy groups straight, but it also will probably distract you when the movie strays from the book's path.

Amazingly, though, much of the movie adheres very closely to the book's scenes and characters. There are even times when a scene seemed familiar, but I realized it was just how I pictured it when I read the book.

Due to the constraints of time, a lot of the book has had to be condensed and some plot lines have been combined, lost or deferred to later in the story. Especially frustrating to lovers of the book are several distinct changes from the book's story, but they don't crop up until late in the movie.

If you have managed to avoid all the fuss surrounding the book and the movie, here is a snapshot:

The curator of the Louvre Museum, Jacques Sauniere, is found murdered near Leonardo Da Vinci's masterpiece -- the "Mona Lisa." When he is found, Sauniere has stripped off his clothes and used his blood and a black-light pen to leave behind cryptic clues and position himself as Da Vinci's "The Vitruvian Man."

Police call in world-famous symbologist Professor Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) to help them decipher the clues, and also because he was the last person Langdon was scheduled to meet before his demise.

As Captain Bezu Fache (Jean Reno) and Langdon examine the scene, French cryptographer Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou) bursts in, insisting she has solved the number puzzle Sauniere left behind. Her real mission, however, is to get Langdon away from police so he can help her track down who killed the curator and why he was killed.

Their desperate flight leads them to uncover the Priory of Sion, which has guarded the secret of the Holy Grail for centuries. They also discover the reasons for the power and downfall of the Knights Templar and a cover-up by the Catholic Church that could bury a secret that would rock the beliefs of Christians around the world and change Neveu's life forever.

In their quest, they are pursued by a murderous albino monk who is working for Opus Dei -- a deeply devout Catholic sect -- and a mysterious puppet master known only as Teacher.

Director Ron Howard has cast "The Da Vinci Code" perfectly, although the performances are rather restrained. The big exceptions are Paul Bettany as the monk and Ian McKellen as Sir Leigh Teabing, a disabled millionaire Grail scholar.

Bettany is haunting and menacing as the monk who practices self-mortification to make himself worthy of God.

Even though he doesn’t fit the physical description in the book, McKellan gleefully inhabits the duality of Teabing's nature and can turn scary at the drop of a hat.

Where Howard shines is in the way he blends the history and modern worlds that are so critical to the story. At times ancient civilizations seem to live in the same space as the modern world with a ghostly presence. At other times, flashbacks are clearly delineated with a grainy film and desaturated colors tinged with blue.

The necessity of explaining history in "The Da Vinci Code" can easily bog down the action and bore some viewers, but Howard does a good job of keeping things moving with flashbacks to ancient times and the sheer excitement of Teabing's obsession.

"The Da Vinci Code" may not be entirely accurate, but it is a heart-pounding, intelligent thriller that challenges you and takes you for a intriguing ride through the world of "What if?"