In 2003, authorDan BrownpublishedThe Da Vinci Codeand wound up creating a bestselling phenomenon. Brown’s story, which re-examined the very bedrock upon which Christianity rests, would later be turned into a movie starring America’s Dad,Tom Hanks, and under the direction of one of our greatest living filmmakers,Ron Howard. Despite raising a fair bit of controversy,The Da Vinci Codeturned out to be a massive success,raking in over $700 millionat the box office. But looking back on it, it’s hard to see what holds up aboutThe Da Vinci Code.It’s a convoluted mess, held together by Hanks’s dogged performance, and it approaches history & religion with all the tact of a monkey holding a chainsaw.
What Is ‘The Da Vinci Code’ About?
The Da Vinci Codebegins when Hanks' Robert Langdon, an American symbologist, is called to the Lourve in Paris after its curator is murdered. After suspicion falls on Langdon, he escapes with the help of Sophie Neveau (Audrey Tautou), the curator’s granddaughter. Langdon and Sophie flee to the estate of Langdon’s old friend, Sir Leigh Teabing (Ian McKellen),where they learn the true story of the Holy Grail; rather than being an actual cup, it refersto Mary Magdalene herself, who was married to Jesus Christ. Two secret societies have come into conflict over this truth; the Priory of Sion dedicated their lives to protecting the bloodline of Christ, while Opus Dei is a segment of the Catholic Church that wants the truth buried, To that end,Opus Dei deploys one of its agents, Silas (Paul Bettany), to silence anyone who finds out the truth — including Sophie’s grandfather.
Ironically,The Da Vinci Codewasn’t meant to be a movie at first. Howard andBrian Grazer’s production company Imagine Entertainmentwanted to use the novel as the plot for a season of24;Brown nixed that idea, but when he sold the film rights to Sony, Howard would wind up directingThe Da Vinci Codeafter all. Hanks wasn’t the first choice to play Langdon, as Howard originally eyedBill Paxton.
But in the jump from page to screen,The Da Vinci Codestirred up a fair bit of controversy with its plot,leading to boycottsand the film beingoutright bannedin certain countries. The Christian Church’s backlashwas swift. Opus Dei made a request thatSony Pictures add a disclaimerthat the events depicted in the film were fictional,but the Vatican considered legal action. The movie was “full of calumnies, offenses, and historical and theological errors,” ArchbishopAngelo Amatoargued. But the Church wasn’t the only organization to find fault withThe Da Vinci Code. Protests were heldin Greeceand Pittsburgh, while other nations banned it entirely. And even putting aside the religious controversy, the National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation condemned the portrayal of Silas as a stereotype, given that he suffers from albinism. It seems thatThe Da Vinci Codeis one of the rare movies that managed to tick off everyone.
Two Key Factors Contributed to The Success of ‘The Da Vinci Code’
Despite its controversial plot,The Da Vinci Codemanaged to prevaildue to two key factors. Back in the early 2000s, the sure bet at a movie theater wasn’t superheroes or musicals… it was book adaptations. The Harry Potter film franchise was hitting its stride withHarry Potter & the Goblet of Fire, the Lord of the Rings trilogyswept the OscarswithThe Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, and thoughTwilightwas only a few years away from conquering the big screen, its first novel eventually landed on theNew York TimesBestsellers List.
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“My mama always said…”
The Da Vinci Codebenefitted from this success; the novel was structured in a way that it could impart historical facts to readers without overwhelming them, not to mention its pacing, which made it a quick read.Those elements translated well to the screen, hooking audiences with a fast-paced mystery — and not letting them stop to think about how ridiculous the entire premise is. The other factor concerns the Catholic Church itself. In 2002, the Boston Globepublished a series of piecesthat uncovered a history of sexual abuse in the Church.This was a huge shock and might have explained whyThe Da Vinci Codegathered such a huge audience. If the Church was keeping its priests' dark secrets under wraps, what else were they hiding?
‘The Da Vinci Code’ Isn’t Just Controversial – It’s a Convoluted Mess
The Da Vinci Codemight have taken the nation by storm, but it alsohas one of the most outlandish narratives ever put on screen or page.I re-read the book and re-watched the movie, and the more I revisit it the less sense it makes. Despite being presented as a major threat, Silas is constantly outwitted or outmatched at every turn. Speaking of Teabing,The Da Vinci Codethrows a massive twist in its back half by revealing that he is the mysterious “Teacher” who’s been manipulating Silas, which doesn’t make sense.
Since Teabing is friends with Langdon, wouldn’t it have made sense to just contact him and trick Langdon into solving the puzzle concerning the Holy Grail? Why go to all that trouble if he could just trick Langdon and Sophie into doing his work for him? But the biggest twist — and the one that sendsThe Da Vinci Codeflying right off the rails —is the revelation that Sophie is the great-great-great-granddaughter of Jesus Christ.
All this absurdity couldn’t even make it past one of its stars,with McKellen saying: “While I was reading the book, I believed it entirely. Clever Dan Brown twisted my mind convincingly. But when I put it down, I thought, ‘What a load of [pause] potential codswallop. “Hanks also doesn’t hold a fond opinion ofThe Da Vinci Code. In an interview with theNew York Times,he gave his honest thoughts on the film, in a truly Tom Hanks matter: “God, that was a commercial enterprise. ‘The Da Vinci Code’ was hooey … Those are delightful scavenger hunts that are about as accurate to history as the James Bond movies are to espionage.”
Somehow ‘The Da Vinci Code’ Got Two Sequels – and They Were Even More Ridiculous
The success ofThe Da Vinci Codeled Howard to direct two more sequels:Angels & Demonsin 2009, andInfernoin 2016. Believe it or not,both of these films are even more preposterousthanThe Da Vinci Code.Angels & Demonskicks off with the death of the Pope, eventually spiraling into a conspiracy involving antimatter. Again, this film that takes a religious conspiracy veers straight into hard sci-fi without any warning. But that was nothing compared toInferno, which not only hada maniac billionaire with a superweapon primed to kill all of humanity, but a subplot where Langdon was suffering from amnesia. What started as a mere conspiracy/history-based series went full tilt into a plot from spy fiction; the more ridiculous it got, the more impossible it became to suspend disbelief, and the diminishing returns of bothAngels & DemonsandInfernoshow thatThe Da Vinci Codeis a strange, strange film that only blew up like it did thanks to a combination of timing, luck, and Tom Hanks.
