The Da Vinci Code 'Does Not Meet Hype'

The glamour and buzz surrounding Ron Howard's celluloid adaptation of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, it appears, is going to be short-lived. Following its opening screening at the Cannes Film Festival on 17 May [the film releases in India tomorrow], the critics have given their verdicts - the film fails to live up to the hype that surrounded Brown's novel!

The online edition of BBC News today carried a round-up of critics' views. All of whom are unanimous in almost entirely writing off the movie. You can click on the headline of today's post to go to the BBC page.

Most often than not, film adaptations of novels never really do justice to the book. Take for instance, Robert Ludlum's Bourne Identity / Supremacy . My pulse raced while I read Ludlum's books and I couldn't put the books down till I reached the last page. However, the films just didn't do it for me. I, for one, felt Matt Damon was not fit to play the role of Jason Bourne. Then the scriptwriters went on to streamline the plot of the novel. And then they left out the final plot twist!

Another good example [I guess] is the film adaptation of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Although I admit not to have read LOTR [oh, blasphemy! LOL!] and yet loved the movie series, The Madman from Aizwal tells me the films are no where near the book.

But then, there are always exceptions. Anthony Hopkins' portrayal of Dr. Hannibal Lecter as an ingenious, cultured psychiatrist and resourceful serial killer in the Hannibal triology, adapted from Thomas Harris' novels, is awesome, making Dr. Lecter the number one film villain of all time and winning the film and actors a good number of Academy Awards for SiIence of the Lambs. Though the scriptwriters have changed the controversial ending of Dr. Lecter and Agent Sterling becoming lovers and escaping to Argentina in Hannibal, it hardly does any damage to the plot.

And, before it slips off my mind, I'd recently read somewhere that the fourth in the Hannibal series, titled Behind the Mask, is to be published this year and filmed as Young Hannibal. 2006 is going to be a great year it seems, books and movie-wise. I can barely wait to watch X-3: The Last Stand scheduled for a 26 May release in India.

Another film adaptation of a book I absolutely love is Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting, hailed as "The voice of punk, grown up, grown wiser and grown eloquent" by Sunday Times.

Oh, gawd! I've been going on and on and on, haven't I? What''s wrong with me!!!