Inferno (2016)

“Inferno” stars Tom Hanks, Felicity Jones, Omar Sy, Irrfan Khan, and Ben Foster.  Released on October 28, 2016, the film has Robert Langdon racing against the clock to prevent a virus outbreak on the world’s population.

The film is directed by Ron Howard, who also directed films such as Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, Cinderella Man, and Rush.  It is based on the 2013 novel of the same name by Dan Brown, and it is the third installment in the Robert Langdon film series.  Technically, this isn’t a scary film that opened on Halloween weekend, but since it’s been seven years since the last installment, Angels & Demons, and ten years since the release of The Da Vinci Code, I guess this will have to do.  Like “Inferno”, The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons were both directed by Ron Howard.  Both of these films managed to be successful at the box office despite their negative critical reception and some controversy surrounding their concepts, mostly for The Da Vinci Code.  I happened to watch The Da Vinci Code yesterday before seeing this film and I thought it was pretty good.  Sure, it’s overlong, but it kept me engaged from beginning to end.  I haven’t seen Angels & Demons yet, but I thought seeing the first film in the series would be enough for me to know what I’m getting myself into.

This latest installment in the mystery thriller film series has Tom Hanks reprising his role as Robert Langdon, a professor who wakes up in a hospital in Florence, Italy, with amnesia and couldn’t remember a single thing that happened over the last few days.  He then teams up with a doctor, played by Felicity Jones, to not only figure out what he’s involved with, but to stop a virus known as “Inferno”.  It is created by a billionaire geneticist, played by Ben Foster, to reduce the world’s growing population by killing millions of innocent lives.  Seriously dude, that’s the best way to prevent overpopulation?  By killing innocent people?  I know it’s just a movie, but come on, that’s just harsh.  If you watched The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, then you’ll know what to expect from this film.  A plot that you really got to pay attention to, some thrilling moments, plot twists, and more importantly, Tom Hanks himself.  I didn’t find the story that hard to follow.  In fact, it was actually quite interesting and pretty intense at times, but it is something that you got to pay attention to.  Otherwise, you might get lost.  It’s not designed for everybody, especially for those who want a simple story without having a bunch of details thrown at their faces.  Tom Hanks did a nice job portraying Langdon.   As for Felicity Jones, however, well...  I wouldn’t say she’s bad because that’s just mean.  I would say that her character didn’t really make me care about her that much.  While the mystery in the film got me engaged, the plot twists didn’t really have that much ‘wow‘ factor for me.  It was more like a “Oh, jeez” rather than a “Wow, I did not see that coming”.  However, I would give Howard some credit for trying, along with having some heart-pounding moments.

Overall, Ron Howard’s “Inferno” didn’t quite live up to what The Da Vinci Code offered, but Hanks‘ portrayal as Langdon and its heart-pounding sequences managed to save itself from being engulfed in flames.  Not great, but far from terrible.  If you like the Robert Langdon book series and/or have seen the last two installments, you might like this one, but not that much.

C