Ron Howard (“Rush”, “Parenthood”) and Tom Hanks (“Big”, “The Green Mile”) are back with “Angels & Demons”, the sequel to “The Da Vinci Code”. I found “The Da Vinci Code” to be a boring film covered in ridiculous theology and equally ridiculous history as well as a strong anti-Catholic sentiment. “Angels & Demons” is far superior to its predecessor as it won’t put you to sleep and it meddles less in the theology department.

In this movie, symbologist Robert Langdon (Hanks) is taken to Vatican City to help foil a terrorist plot. The election of the new Pope is approaching but the ‘Illuminati’ (expecting something less preposterous?) have kidnapped four cardinals and have planted an explosive device somewhere within the grounds of the Vatican City. Get ready for a twisty plot that seems like pure nonsense by the time the credits roll.

The Robert Langdon character just doesn’t work. He spends the film running across Rome trying to locate the cardinals and the bomb but by the end of the movie, he feels almost inconsequential. It’s such a shame to see such a talented actor as Hanks waste his time with something as boring as this. Ewan McGregor (“The Island”) and Stellan Skarsgård (“Thor”) play their parts well. Most of the other characters are fairly dull.

“Angels & Demons” is so far-fetched and inaccurate in its depiction of the Vatican that you feel as though the author of the original novel must have exclusively consulted disgruntled ex-employees of the Vatican and conspiracy theorists. The movie is thankfully nowhere near as slow as “The Da Vinci Code” and there are some impressive moments but I doubt that many people are going to enjoy this. For the devotees of the first film, I’m sure you’ll love it but pretty much everybody else will probably leave scratching their heads.