Angels & Demons Has Wings

Da Vinci Code sequel Angels & Demons is a fast-paced improvement on its sluggish predecessor, say critics, although filmgoers without a high tolerance for hooey are advised to steer clear.

• Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: The "ticking-bomb thriller tightly wrapped in a papal plot and cinched with the ribbons of religion and science" could pass as CSI: Vatican City.

• Deborah Young, Hollywood Reporter: Star Tom Hanks "does a likable job of glossing over every implausibility, allowing the action to climax in gut-churning shots borrowed from cheap horror films."
• Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: The plot, based on Dan Brown's novel, isn't "remotely plausible," but "this kind of film requires us to be very forgiving, and if we are, it promises to entertain."

(More Dan Brown stories.)