INFERNO

Starring: Tom Hanks, Felicity Jones, Irrfan Khan, Omar Sy, Ben Foster, Sidse Babett Knudsen

Director: Ron Howard

Screenplay: David Koepp (based on ‘Inferno’ by Dan Brown)
Music: Hans Zimmer
Cinematography: Salvatore Totino
Editing: Dan Hanley, Tom Elkins

Running time: 121 minutes

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Story: 1.5
Screenplay: 2
Direction: 3
Performances: 3
Music/BGM: 2.5
Technical Aspects: 3.5

Overall:

2.5

 

Critical Analysis

Script & Screenplay 

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Inferno is the third and the latest entry into the Robert Langdon movie franchise and even though David Koepp manages to capture the essence of Inferno, the script does differ in major plot points from the novels and the racy pace and 120 minutes of runtime are no justice to the actual material.

On top of that, the source material itself isn’t that impressive  or sensational as the previous Brown novels and it gets only worse when the proceedings are generally preposterous and pseudo-intellectual.

Dan Brown novels are heavily criticised for following the same basic structure over and over again and this only adds to a poor cinematic experience.It seems to me that the Robert Langdon film series might not see a fourth film from here.

Direction 

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 Ron Howard yet again treats the film with utmost sincerity with color grading reminiscent of the 90s as he embarks on a romance with Florence amidst a turbulent plot.The film is shot brilliantly and never loses pace at all however direction falls flat in the (anti)climax and the blame also goes to the script which differs from the original (and surprising) climax in the book.

The threat isn’t threatening enough, the assassins are not intimidating enough and even the thrills aren’t just thrilling enough (which is where Angels and Demons excelled for me).

Performances 

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Tom Hanks’ Langdon looks the least expressive this time around with amnesia and has very less to do as compared to the previous films and even the changes made to the characters of Sienna , The Provost and Zobrist and their respective fates make the film look rushed and one-dimensional.

Felicity Jones looks confused and it is only because her character is written poorly.Same is the case Irrfan Khan who delivers a solid performance but the his character fails to bring out his best.Rest of the cast is just filler.

Irrfan Khan as ‘The Provost’

Music & Technical Aspects 

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Hans Zimmer sleepwalks his role here and the background music while it isn’t bad, it ain’t original either.It sounds like a recycled amalgam of the Da-Vinci Code and Angels and Demons and does not offer anything new.Nevertheless it suits the film just fine.

Salvatore Totino is a winner with his impressive cinematography and this only increases the anticipation for his other work ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’.The production values are high and the action and VFX is apt.

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Final Verdict:

Ron Howard’s Inferno isn’t an improvement on the Dan Brown’s Inferno and considering that the novel itself wasn’t that great … you can follow my drift.For those who haven’t read the book and have interest in the esoteric are in for a forgettable decent action film.