Review

'Inferno' feels more like a flicker than a blaze

Symbol and history expert Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) is back at it once again saving the world from impending doom. After he wakes up injured in a hospital with no memory of the previous 48 hours, he teams up with Sienna Brooks (Felicity Jones), the nurse who is a history buff and fan of Langdon’s work, to help try and uncover what happened. Memories and clues unfold, and together they race the clock to try and stop a deadly virus that could kill more than half the world’s population.

"Inferno" has a spark but never catches fire. This film, the third adaptation of author Dan Brown's bestselling novels, fails to reach either of the previous two levels. While neither of the previous two films ("The Da Vinci Code" and "Angels and Demons") are great from a critical standpoint, they are at least enjoyable to watch.

"Inferno" has far too many issues when it comes to the technical aspects that it heavily weighs down any fun factors that the film might have to offer.

In the previous film "Angels and Demons," there was a lot to like: We had an intriguing story, good acting and the charisma and charm of Tom Hanks. Granted, it had several issues but they were easy enough to overlook because of how entertaining the movie was.

"Inferno" lacks these features. Not even Tom Hanks is enough to save this film because he himself is not that good. I don't really find fault in Hanks because the writing and directing is flat out terrible for this film. Frantic at times for no real reason other than to move the story along, forced emotional guidance, terrible direction and editing and a story where you almost have to be a historian to follow along. You know a film is in some deep trouble when even Tom Hanks can’t save it and at least make it salvageable.

Now if I did have to come up with some good qualities about "Inferno," give me a minute here, let me think. Oh, the soundtrack is decent. I remember thinking that it was all right and maybe worth a listen to sometime in the future.

Now, nothing against sound design and production, but if that is the best quality of a movie, then you know you are in some serious trouble. I was really looking forward to "Inferno," but after seeing it, man I am disappointed.

When I mentioned earlier that Inferno had a spark, it did! It did have a promising plot and a talented cast, and director Ron Howard has made some excellent work over the last few decades. I am just baffled that it never reached greatness or even mediocre-ness (I’m making up words here, folks, because why the heck not?) for that matter. "Inferno" is a hard pass.