‘Inferno’ Review Roundup: Third Time’s Not The Charm From Tom Hanks Film

The third in author Dan Brown‘s Robert Langdon series, Inferno, did not fare well with critics this week. Directed by veteran director Ron Howard, the film scored a measly 27% on Rottentomatoes. Usually a ray of hope, not even star Tom Hanks could bring out enough spark in his character to save this film, as Langdon is described as “a stiff” – “even with the fate of humanity at stake, it’s hard to work up much emotional investment in this humorless human composite of mansplaining and flannel.”

Much of this film saw Langdon jumping from city to city quoting Dante, trying to stop a psychopath from releasing a deadly plague-like virus in order to lower the human population and conserve natural resources. The solution to this problem is found in a perplexing series of puzzles and riddles that our main characters must solve before it is too late.

‘INFERNO’ REVIEW ROUNDUP

“In the long and spotty history of movie taglines, there have been few quite as noncommittal as the one dreamed up for “Inferno,” the third in director Ron Howard’s series of schlockbusters drawn from the nominal literary oeuvre of Dan Brown. “The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons were just the beginning,” proclaim the posters — pretty inarguably, since “Inferno” is nothing if not a continuation of what they started. But there’s a hint of threat in those words too: If you found the first two films soulless and joyless, they imply, prepare for things to have gotten a little bit worse this time.”
–Guy Lodge, Variety

“Inferno proves that the filmmaking duo [Howard and Hanks] still know how to string together art, mystery, and the occasional plot contrivance…. Bourne it is not, but the twists come with enough regularity to keep the squishier parts of the plot from mucking up the works. Inferno may not have the zeitgeisty draw of its predecessors, but for those who haven’t read the book, it’s a diverting caper with a familiar face.”
–Simon Perry, EW

“Handsome Italian and Turkish locations aside, it looks cheap, rushed, edited to get this over with, not to untangle the book’s convoluted plot…. Stripped bare, Inferno is a morass of inexplicable escapes, juiceless chases and world-dominating schemes that would perplex a Bond villain. The thrills are confusing and low-energy — a blur of herky-jerk camerawork and motivation-free POV shots. A cadre of fine international actors pop up to do little but mirthlessly spout nonsense. Brown’s putrid tomes deserve to be TV movies, not Hollywood A-pictures peopled with great actors and Oscar-winners. Thing is, it feels like a TV movie anyway, an IMAX screen filled with pure garbage, but not the fun kind.”
–Matt Prigge, Metro

“Howard’s film, particularly early on, ends up being too fast, too dense and too smart for its own good. Keeping moviegoers guessing is one thing. Keeping them confused is quite another… Howard keeps the pedal pressed firmly to the metal. If only he had taken time to glance in his rearview mirror, he might have noticed he’s left much of his audience behind.”

–Mike Scott, Times-Picayune

See the trailer below.