Roman Catholics term 'Angels and Demons' "harmless"

Catholic scholars in Rome have given Tom Hanks' starrer, Angels and Demons a clean chit after sitting through a preview screening of the controversial film.

Reviewers at the Vatican's newspaper have called the Da Vinci Code prequel "inaccurate but harmless", Contactmusic reported.

L'Osservatore Romano ran a review and an editorial in Wednesday's edition, critiquing the Ron Howard movie which is based on Dan Brown's bestseller of the same name.

"It is more than two hours of harmless entertainment, which hardly affects the genius and mystery of Christianity... (It's) a video game that first of all sparks curiosity and is also, maybe, a bit of fun," the review read.

The film, which opens later this month, had its world premiere in Rome on May 4.

Previously, it was believed that the reviewers would slam the film for suggesting that a secret brotherhood within the Catholic Church, responsible for protecting Jesus Christ's lineage, was killing anyone who got too close to the truth or threatened the religious icon's descendants.

Instead, the Vatican newspaper's critics have called the film a "gigantic and smart commercial operation," branding the film's reconstruction of locations like St Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel "magnificent".

However, the reviewers also poked fun at the film's mistakes, suggesting moviegoers should try to spot the historical inaccuracies.