Revealing mistake: Following the drowning cardinal scene, Richter is shown loading a pistol with a magazine and chambering a round. You can immediately hear the hammer striking the firing pin on the pistol, revealing the gun was empty. As well as Commander Richter's pitiful trigger discipline. (01:40:30)
Revealing mistake: When Langdon and Victoria walk towards the Pantheon, the first two angles show them walking alone with some stunt-women behind. But in the third angle, a couple of seconds later, a huge line of people appears, lining perfectly in the back, watching the camera. Obviously a group of real tourists standing behind a security line watching the shooting.
Revealing mistake: When Langdon first has an audience with the Camerlengo, you can quite easily see foundation on the Camerlengo's collar. This skin coloured compact is the base of any film makeup and often rubs off onto white collars if not checked.
Revealing mistake: When the reporters say that the second black smoke is showing, an aerial panning shot of the Vatican is shown, yet the smoke remains fix as if it were a painting.
Chosen answer: In the book, the location of the antimatter bomb is only revealed after the Camerlengo pretends to have a "vision from God" on the steps of the Vatican. By changing the symbol to one that actually provides a clue to the location, it allows Langdon to work out where the bomb is, to actually play some part in proceedings rather than passively stand by until the villain just takes everybody there as part of his plan. As for the Pope being the Camerlengo's biological father, this is a fairly late revelation in the book and requires a substantial amount of exposition, which would only serve to abruptly slow the film to a crawl during the climax. The Camerlengo's motives, his hatred for the church's indulgence of science, are strong enough to explain his actions without the additional detail of his parentage being necessary, thus it could be safely left out to keep the film's momentum going.
Tailkinker ★