It’s appropriate that the act of illusion plays such a central role in Inferno, for the film itself spends a lot of time masquerading as though it’s something loftier than a schlocky B-movie thriller. It’s the third in the Tom Hanks-starring, Ron Howard-directed series based on the Robert Langdon novels written by Dan Brown. The first two — The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons — left much to be desired. This one emerges as a marked improvement, though that’s not saying a whole lot.

Simply put, it’s the lightest and shortest of the bunch. Inferno moves at a brisk pace, thanks in no small part to a story device that has Langdon (Hanks) literally learning what’s going on while the audience does. Awoken by young doctor Sienna Brooks (Felicity Jones) in Florence, Italy, the esteemed “symbologist” finds himself in a hospital with a...