THE OLD ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSION SOUTH EAST UK

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Reviewers at the Vatican's newspaper have passedjudgment on "Angels & Demons," finding the religious thrillercommercial and inaccurate, but concluding it is "harmless"entertainment and not a danger to the church.

L'OsservatoreRomano ran a review and an editorial in Wednesday's edition, critiquingthe movie based on the Dan Brown best-selling novel of the same name.

"Angels& Demons" had its world premiere Monday in Rome, after director RonHoward charged that the Vatican interfered with getting film permits toshoot scenes in the city — a contention the Vatican said was apublicity stunt.

The newspaper wrote that the movie was "agigantic and smart commercial operation" filled with "stereotypedcharacters." The paper suggested moviegoers could make a game out offinding the many historical inaccuracies in the plot.

However,L'Osservatore praised Howard's "dynamic direction" and the"magnificent" reconstruction of locations like St. Peter's Basilica andthe Sistine Chapel. Much of the film was shot on sets thatpainstakingly recreated church landmarks.

The film offers "morethan two hours of harmless entertainment, which hardly affects thegenius and mystery of Christianity," L'Osservatore's reviewer wrote.It's "a videogame that first of all sparks curiosity and is also,maybe, a bit of fun."

"Angels & Demons" features Harvardsymbologist Robert Langdon of "The Da Vinci Code" fame, played by TomHanks. In the film, the Vatican turns to Langdon after an ancientsecret brotherhood called the Illuminati kidnap four cardinalsconsidered front-runners to be the next pope, and threaten to kill onean hour and then explode a bomb at the Vatican.

On Sunday, Howardsaid the Vatican had interfered with his efforts to get permits toshoot some scenes. A Vatican spokesman said the statement was designedpurely to drum up publicity for the film.

Top church officialsstrongly objected to "The Da Vinci Code" because it was based on theidea that Jesus married and fathered children and depicted theconservative Catholic movement, Opus Dei, as a murderous cult.