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"Brown's thrillers are packed with so much exposition that it should come as no surprise that this prequel, like The Da Vinci Code, is overlong and way too talky. It's a bit preposterous to imagine that a priest -- much less a cardinal or the head of the Swiss Guard (Stellan Skarsgard) -- would need a lecture on major milestones in church history. But it's all for the audience's benefit, since few people understand the minutiae about how a pope is elected, what the Illuminati stood for, or even what anti-matter is supposed to achieve.\nWhile director Ron Howard scores some extra points for downplaying the role of the hired assassin and including several high-speed car chases, there's just no saving Angels &amp;amp; Demons from getting mired in all of Brown's ridiculous, conspiracy-theory details. At least Hanks has a much less conspicuous haircut, and Ewan McGregor, as the late pope's right-hand man, is effective as a priest straddling progressive and conservative paths for the church. But the best part of the thriller isn't the story or the chases -- it's Armin Mueller- Stahl as Cardinal Strauss. He's truly one of the most versatile, international actors of his generation, and he's a pleasure to watch."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/angels-demons>