ANGELS AND DEMONS

Angels & Demons is a 2000 bestselling mystery-thriller novel written by American writer Dan Brown and published by Pocket Books. A feature film adaptation was released on May 15, 2009, though it was set after the events of The Da Vinci Code picture, which had been released in 2006.

Under the watchful eyes of Father Silvano Bentivoglio and Dr. Vittoria Vetra, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) activates the Large Hadron Collider and captures three vials of antimatter. Instantly afterward, someone kills Father Silvano, using his retina to infiltrate the containment chamber, and steals one vial.The Roman Catholic Church mourns the demise of Pope Pius XVI in Rome. Vatican City prepares for the College of Cardinals' papal assembly, which will choose the next Pope. Until that time, Camerlengo Patrick McKenna, a papal court officer and former helicopter pilot, assumes brief power of the Vatican. Reporters, nuns, priests, and other faithful members of the Church crowd into Saint Peter's Square, waiting for the white smoke from the conclave, signalling a successful vote. But the Illuminati, a 400-year old, underground secret society, capture the four most likely candidates before the assembly enters isolation. The Illuminati threaten to assassinate one every hour, beginning at 8:00 pm, and then destroy the Vatican in a burst of light at midnight. A stolen security camera shows the lost antimatter vial, which will disastrously detonate when the vial's battery dies and the magnetic containment field fails.

The Vatican order symbologist Robert Langdon from Harvard University and Vittoria Vetra from CERN to help them solve the Illuminati's threat, save the four preferiti, and replace the vial's batteries. Langdon listens to the Illuminati message and deduces that the four cardinals will die at the four altars of the "Path of Illumination." However, no one knows where these altars are placed. Vetra demands that Commander Richter, the commandant of the Swiss Guard, to bring Father Silvano's diaries from Switzerland, hopeful that they enclose the name of the person with whom Silvano discussed the antimatter experiment. Langdon also asks access to the Vatican Secret Archives (something he has requested for 10 years) to see the original copy of Galileo Galilei's banned book, which may enclose the locations of the four "altars of science." Using the hints from this book, Langdon, Vetra, Inspector General Ernesto Olivetti, and Lieutenant Valenti of the Vatican Gendarmerie Corps chase to the first church, only to find the first cardinal, Cardinal Ebner, dead, suffocated with dirt, eaten by rats and branded with the word "Earth." They verify the second altar's site and get there, only to witness the demise of the second cardinal, Cardinal Lamassa, his lungs lacerated and his body identified with the word "Air." While Vetra studies Silvano's diaries, Langdon and the Vatican officers locate the third church and try to save the third cardinal, Cardinal Gudiera, from burning to demise, but the assassin appears and murders everyone but Langdon. The cardinal succumbs to the fire, his body branded with the word "Fire."

After escaping, Langdon persuades two Carabinieri officers to chase with him to the last church of the "Water" altar, but the slayer slays the officers and drops the fourth cardinal, Cardinal Baggia, into the Fountain of the Four Rivers. However, Langdon saves the cardinal, who tells him the location of the Illuminati's lair: Castel Sant'Angelo. When Langdon and Vetra get there, they are confronted by the executioner, who spares their lives as they are not armed and he has not been paid to murder them. He makes them aware that his contractors were from the Catholic Church. The executioner flees and finds a vehicle containing his fee, but is killed by a car bomb upon igniting the engine. Langdon and Vetra realize that the last prey of the plan will be Camerlengo McKenna. After arriving at the Vatican via a secret road, they and some Swiss Guards enter the Camerlengo's office and find him in the floor identified with the Vatican's symbol on his chest and Commander Richter near him with a gun. The Guards promptly assassinate Richter to save the camerlengo. During the muddle, the dying commander gives Langdon a key to his office. Then the camerlengo, Langdon, Vetra, and the Swiss Guards learn the spot of the stolen antimatter vial. By the time they find it, the battery is about to expire, the deadly explosion just minutes away. The camerlengo seizes the vial and uses a helicopter meant for escape from the Vatican to fly above the church. He then activates the autopilot and escapes with a parachute. After several seconds, the bomb explodes and the camerlengo lands, now considered a hero by the crowd and even as the best candidate to be the new Pope by the College of Cardinals. Meanwhile, Langdon and Vetra use Richter's key to watch a security video showing that the mastermind behind the murders of the original Pope and the preferiti and the antimatter robbery, in fact, is the camerlengo and not the Illuminati. While Richter tries to seize McKenna, the priest brands himself with a seal that resembles Saint Peter's upside-down crucifixion and blames the commander being a member of the Illuminati. Langdon shows the video to the College. After the camerlengo realizes his plot has been revealed, he immolates himself with oil from one of the 99 holy lamps inside St. Peter's Basilica.

The Vatican announces that the camerlengo died due to internal wounds suffered during his landing, while the public asks he be canonized. The College designate the Cardinal Baggia as the new Pope (who chooses to take on the name Luke), and Cardinal Strauss as the new camerlengo. The new camerlengo thanks Robert Langdon for saving the Vatican and the new Pope, and as a mark of his gratitude loans Galileo's "Diagramma Veritas" to Langdon for his reference. The movie ends with the new Pope walking out on the balcony to the cheering crowd in St. Peter's Square.

Rotten Tomatoes reported an average rating of 5.1/10. One can grab the original DVDs at the nearby shop or you can also watch free films online, which include file sharing sites, video distribution sites, and individual films of notability, directories, archives and guides to more sites where you can watch for open.