"The Da Vinci Code" star Tom Hanks says critics of the film and Dan Brown's best-selling novel are taking "a good story" too seriously.

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The Vatican has called for Catholics to boycott Ron Howard's Hollywood adaptation of Brown's novel about a secret bloodline created by the marriage and offspring of Jesus and Mary Magdalene.

"We always knew there would be a segment of society that would not want this movie to be shown," Hanks told the London Evening Standard. "But the story we tell is loaded with all sorts of hooey and fun kind of scavenger-hunt-type nonsense."

Saying it would be "a very big mistake" to "take any sort of movie at face value," Hanks noted the big-budget thriller was created to entertain.

"It's a damn good story and a lot of fun ... all it is is dialogue. That never hurts."

"The Da Vinci Code" makes its world premiere May 18 at the Cannes Film Festival and opens worldwide the following day.