It was the surprise of the movie. The "good guy" turns out to be the "bad guy." The cardinals got to see the video where he brands himself. When he enters the room of the cardinals they all demonstrate by their posture their knowledge of his crime. They know and he knows that they know. They ask the Swiss guards to be gentle with him, but he takes matters into his own hands.
The assassin of the cardinals is also assassinated. We assume, although it was not clear in the movie, by the "bad guy."
The new pope was the Cardinal who was saved from the water: "Science and Religion are not enemies." He was also a man of science.
I was amused by this movie's plot line: a scavenger hunt to prevent the murders of the Cardinals and a "ticking bomb" which will destroy the entire Vatican.
But what was most impressive for me was the set design and the recreation of the Vatican. The special effects were so subtle, that they were not noticed during the movie. The extras on the DVD's were better than the movie, itself.
This violent thriller collared $133 million in U.S. theaters but cost $150 million to make. Maybe they will make it up in foreign sales or DVD sales. Show business is tough!
I thought I had heard that Ron Howard got a lot of Vatican shots while filming The DaVinci Code because he was afraid he wouldn't be too welcome once that movie came out.
One thing I liked about the movie that was much better and so much more believable than the book -- in the book the Tom Hanks character goes up in the helicopter with the guy and grabs a tarp like thing, then jumps out of the helicopter holding all 4 corners of the tarp so it was like a parachute, so he landed safely on the ground. Puh-lease. I'm so glad they didn't put that part in the movie.
Otherwise, I really liked it. Without getting into the religious aspect of the film, and I don't want to offend anyone, but Dan Brown's books have opened a lot of people's eyes to the ways of the Catholic Church.
"Dan Brown's books have opened a lot of people's eyes to the ways of the Catholic Church."
Some of the historical part is true, but the recent history of the Catholic Church, (anything less than 100 years), is pure fiction. While the Catholic Church does still have problems, the negative portrayal of the Church in Dan Brown's books is over the top!
I didn't enjoy this movie as much as the first. I still go to anything Tom Hanks is in. Dan Brown is becoming to predicable. He's jus one step above Nicholas Sparks. Sparks is the same story told over and over. Boring.
