INFERNO (Novel by Dan Brown and Movie)

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Like the previous Dan Brown novels and previous movies starring Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon, intrepid Harvard professor, Inferno presents a number of puzzles that lead to more puzzles. Tom Hanks wakes up in a hospital with amnesia. Before too long, Hanks is being shot at and hunted. Following the template of the previous hit movies and best selling books, Inferno resembles a series of chase scenes. I love Sidse Babett Knudsen as Director of the World Health Organization. She starred in the Danish political drama, BORGON. Irrfan Khan steals every scene he’s in. And, who doesn’t like Felicity Jones? Sure, the plot doesn’t make a lot of sense and one reviewer has written “In one month Tom Hanks has gone from Sully to silly.” But if you’re in the mood to look at great Italian artwork and watch people running around, Inferno has plenty of that. GRADE: B-
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20 thoughts on “INFERNO (Novel by Dan Brown and Movie)

  1. Deb

    Yesterday, I was surprised to read Entertainment Weekly’s review which gave the movie a B and essentially said it was a solid thriller. Everything else I’ve read has given it failing grades and has implied this is just a “for the money” role for Hanks. One review even noted that an appearance by Nicholas Cage would not have come (any further) amiss!

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Deb, INFERNO consists of one chase scene after another. If you like that kind of thing (and I do from time to time) INFERNO entertains.

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    1. george Post author

      Jeff, it drives Diane crazy that Hanks and Ron Howard are making these movies out of sequence. The Dan Brown novels start with ANGELS & DEMONS and then THE DI VINCI CODE, THE LOST SYMBOL, and INFERNO.

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    1. george Post author

      Bill, puzzles and chase scenes are the prime ingredients in the novels and the movies. I have to be in the mood to enjoy these books and movies.

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  2. Jeff Meyerson

    Bill, we turned it off after the self-flagellation scene. (Again, had Nicolas Cage played the insane monk, maybe.) The book, I quit in the first, badly-written chapter.

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  3. Jerry House

    I gave up on Dan Brown after the abysmally bad THE LOST SYMBOL. Now if Nic Cage started writing the books, maybe…

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    1. george Post author

      Jerry, it always amazes me when a writer stumbles on a formula that turns poorly written books into best sellers. Dan Brown struck gold with THE DI VINCI CODE and has been using that formula in the successive books.

      Reply
  4. Patti Abbott

    I am done with Tom Hanks period. He has to play heroes and I find that easy and dull acting. I wouldn’t have expected it all to be about the money for him but apparently it is.

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    1. george Post author

      Patti, these three Dan Brown inspired movies–ANGELS & DEMONS, THE DI VINCI CODE, and INFERNO–have grossed over a billion dollars. I agree with you: it is about the money.

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  5. maggie mason

    I”m with you, George. I like these types of movies (as well as my sword and sandal sub genre) I’ll see it, but not in the theater. I don’t mind Hanks doing it at his age, it makes it more realistic for me, the hero can be someone of any age, as long as he’s not shown to be able to out run a Usain Bolt type of runner.

    The review in our paper gave it 2 stars, but I didn’t read it.

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    1. george Post author

      Maggie, I only read movie reviews AFTER I see the movie. I’ve been burned too many times by reviews with SPOILERS littered through them.

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  6. R. Robinson

    Why all the comparing of Nicholas Cage to Tom Hanks? In what way are / would / should they be connected?

    I enjoyed the movies of Da Vinci and Angels & Demons, so will probably see this eventually. It’s just a puzzle and chase, but that’s much better than a pure car-exploding chase, or a mad max thing.

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  7. Steve Oerkfitz

    I don’t find Howard a particularly good director when it comes to action films. Nor Brown a very good writer. Bailed on Da Vinci Code after about twenty pages and his ridiculous overuse of exclamation points.

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    1. george Post author

      Steve, the market for Dan Brown books are people who only read one or two books a year. They don’t object to Bad Writing like you and I do.

      Reply

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