Inferno burns in a good way with a mach 3-paced plot, wasting no screen time to scintillate your senses in a deadly global stakes race that explores the disturbingly real question of our increasing world population.
I loosen my grip on the arm of my cinema chair only two minutes before the credits role. My audial and visual senses have been taken for a ride, and my body has only just caught up. The word thriller doesn’t nearly seem sufficient.
Inferno marks the 3rd screen adaptation of Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon series and with Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind, Da Vinci Code) directing, Happy Days are long gone.
After enigmatic and distressing visions, famous symbologist, Langdon (Tom Hanks) comes to on a hospital bed with a head wound, short-term memory loss and many highly motivated and well funded parties eager to either kill or talk to him – he can’t remember which. A clue to the whereabouts of a deadly human virus that will be released in a matter of days is his only lead. The plot gets fired out of a canon from there with Sienna Brooks (Felicity Jones) – a high achieving doctor and also a childhood fan of his work – helping Langdon piece together the clues that will help save the human race from extinction.
We follow our main protagonists as they race through beautifully shot European cities in search of clues to the whereabouts of radical thinking billionaire and bioengineer Bertrand Zobrist’s (Ben Foster) human killing virus. This is no Da Vinci code; there is much less time given to the romantic puzzle lore prevalent in the previous two films. However there is still well written dialogue and screen time that delves into the work of medieval poet, Dante that enticingly links the clues together.
The plot evolves fast and leaves little time to ponder before moving swiftly on. As the credits role I find I’m happy with the decision to focus less on Langdon’s skill as a symbologist, and more on the pace of the thriller. It adds weight to well-timed twists and feeds my expectation for suspense. It will genuinely keep you captivated, and keen to keep up.
Howard cleverly interplays the use of iconic landmarks with tense chase scenes. In particular, watch out for Dr Brooks’ attempt to cross a high and narrow beam in heels.
The sinister question of global over population is portrayed through Ben Foster’s antagonist, Zobrist with zeal and presence, which certainly threatens to invest you into the suspenseful climax of events.
Tom Hanks confidently executes the transformation back from frustrated amnesiac to loveable genius puzzle-solver, Robert Langdon. However, Jones’ Dr Brooks and Foster’s Zobrist add the nerve tingling drama that makes this a great movie to watch.
Possibly the best of the three, Inferno definitely stays at boiling point from beginning to end. My advice: go feel the heat.
INFERNO at cinemas near you this Frieday 14th October 2016
Written By Adam Lewis
chuckievision.com 