Family Home Theater

Grade: B-
Entire family: No
2016, 122 min., Color
Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures
Rated PG-13 for sequences of action and violence, disturbing images, some language, thematic elements, and some sexuality
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Featured audio: DTS-HDMA 5.1
Bonus features: B-
Includes: Blu-ray, Digital HD
Trailer
Amazon link

Harvard professor Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) is confused for the bulk of this action-thriller, and as a result, so are viewers. As he was in The Da Vinci Code (2006) and Angels & Demons (2009), Langdon is on the run—chased by people who want to get what he has, or kill him, or both. And once again he is accompanied/assisted by a beautiful woman (Sienna Brooks).

In other words, there’s a formula at work here, so those who liked the first two films based on novels by Dan Brown and directed by Ron Howard ought to enjoy this one as well. You know who you are, and you know the drill. Along the way you’ll learn more about Langford’s area of specialization—Dante and medieval symbols—and your confusions will eventually be resolved by explanations presented almost as rapid-fire as the action . . . so pay attention!

In Inferno, Langdon awakens in a hospital in Florence, Italy. He is having major hallucinations of disturbing medieval images—graphic images that are mostly responsible for the PG-13 rating—and he has amnesia. He has no idea how he got from Boston to Florence. But there isn’t much time for reflection. The plot kick-starts when an Italian motorcycle policewoman comes to the hospital, shoots an orderly, and tries to kill Langdon. The nurse, Felicity (Brooks), helps him escape, and from that moment the chases are on. Langdon is pursued by three separate groups of people (who ARE they, and who’s telling the truth?), and on-the-run he’s racing to piece clues together to try to remember how he became involved in all of this, and how big it is.

What’s at stake is the future of humanity, so this high-stakes action-thriller is as intense and non-stop as it gets. There are very few moments when something frenetic isn’t happening. Even in “down time” we get those flashbacks or hallucinations and medieval terrors that torment us almost as much as they haunt Langdon. In other words, Inferno is a tense film that’s unrelenting in its images and action, making it every bit the PG-13 movie. If you know the rating system you know that filmmakers are allowed one F-bomb in a film of this kind, and Howard takes full advantage. That F-bomb is SHOUTED. Then again, when you find out a bio-engineered plague is about to be unleashed on the world—a plague that will reduce the world’s population by one half—such an outburst is probably justified.

Is it as good as the first two films? No. The Da Vinci Code is still the best of the bunch (a B+, in my gradebook), with Angels & Demons (B) coming in second and this one (B-) third. Because of the formula there are still pleasures to be had, and director Howard does a good job of integrating the medieval images and keeping viewers off-balance. Those who aren’t enamored with the series complain that too much confusion is followed by too much exposition to explain that confusion, and that’s certainly the way that the Brown books work. Some will be just fine with this method of exposition, while others will be annoyed to sit in confusion and then suddenly have a monologue clarify a few things. But that’s the style of the series.

I’m not giving away anything by saying that the villain is a billionaire (Ben Foster) who wants to “save” the world by killing half the people, as that’s revealed pretty early in the film. But I do wonder if the World Health Organization is as heavily armed and tactical as they appear in this action-thriller. If so, they’re some pretty bad asses, as is Hanks-as-Langdon.

Language: One shouted F-bomb, plus a handful of lesser swearwords
Sex: Nothing except a couple briefly kissing, fully clothed
Violence: Lots of gunfire, graphic stabbing, attempted drowning, etc., with wounds shown and violence one main reason for the PG-13 rating
Adult situations: The medieval images are pretty intense, and the entire film is an adult situation: people running for their lives as they race to save lives
Takeaway: Amnesia plots always seem like low-hanging fruit, but this Dan Brown story unfolds in interesting-enough fashion