Release Date: November 24, 1999
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Gabriel Byrne, Robin Tunney, Kevin Pollak, Rod Steiger
Directed by: Peter Hyams
Distributed by: Universal Pictures
MPAA Rating: R (intense violence and gore, a strong sex scene, language)
|
When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison. He will go out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. They invaded the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the holy ones and the beloved city. But fire came down from heaven and consumed them. The Devil who had led them astray was thrown into the pool of fire and sulfur, where the beast and false prophet were. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
- Revelation 20:7-10 |
The majority of Biblical scholars today believe that the events depicted by John the Evangelist in the Book of Revelation referred to the early days of the Catholic Church, when its followers were under the persecution of the Roman government. The "thousand years" alluded to in verse seven is not a literal millenium, but rather an incomprehensibly long amount of time during which Christ's followers would celebrate his glorious reign on Earth. But with civilization at the doorstep of the third millenium, doomsday prophets and millenarians around the world have invented a new meaning for the passage. The unshackling of Satan and the return of the Prince of Darkness, they prophesy, will occur at the start of the next thousand years.
It is there that Peter Hyams' End of Days takes its setting. In the final week of 1999, Satan has come to earth in human form (Gabriel Byrne) to take a bride, consummate the unholy marriage, and produce a child to ensure his reign during the coming age. All is as according to plan: the bride, Christine York (Robin Tunney), was born twenty years earlier with the mark of the devil on her arm, and now, in the last hour of New Year's Eve, Satan must impregnate her. The Vatican has fruitlessly searched for the girl during the intervening decades, and now, only with a lucky discovery by private security officer and ex-cop Jericho Cane (Arnold Schwarzenegger), has the Church learned of her whereabouts. But the armies of Satan are everywhere, and they will not stop until Christine is in their wretched grasp.
Expectedly, the film begins with a bit of up-tempo shoot-'em-up action. The Andrew Marlowe script, under the direction of Mr. Hyams (The Relic), introduces the abilities of Jericho Cane through a heated foot chase on the roofs of New York City highrises. It's typical Arnold, and in the three years since the muscled Austrian made his last true action film, Eraser (discounting the abominable Batman and Robin), things haven't changed a bit. He's become a bit more refined, and aside from Terminator 2, this may be his best performance yet.
But "performance" is the operative word in that sentence, because Mr. Schwarzenegger still pales in comparison to his costars. Gabriel Byrne's delivery of the devil incarnate is deliciously sinister. Additionally, the part was well-written by Mr. Marlowe, portraying Satan as a manipulative, malevolent, lustful, and ultimately purely evil individual. He has not a speck of compassion within him, just as is described in the Book of Revelation and elsewhere in the Bible.
In the wings are the likes of Robin Tunney, Kevin Pollak, and Rod Steiger, all of whom work credibly. Ms. Tunney is a bit bland as Satan's would-be bride, and Mr. Pollak's comedic sidekick routine is sometimes refreshing but more often tiresome. Mr. Steiger is perhaps the best supporting player, offering us a driven priest who works tirelessly to get Jericho to see the larger picture.
The larger picture is the film's best asset. When End of Days gets involved in the theology of the events, it gains momentum and never looks back, gathering a poignancy on par with such religiously-oriented films as The Exorcist. The most powerful scenes in the movie occur when characters utter Bible passages referring to the "loosing of Satan from his prison" and the "end of days." But unfortunately these successful screen moments do not occur that often, and moreover give way to typically bland Schwarzenegger action. There are some neat special effects involved, but if you've seen one computer-generated Prince of Darkness, you've seen them all.
Director Hyams also serves as cinematographer for the film, and offers mostly unremarkable footage for the audience. He could've easily played up the themes of light and darkness, good and evil, sin and sanctity; but instead he shot the film toward the chiseled profile of its star. Only two specific shots stand out: the first comes early on the movie, when the newborn Christina is taken by a nurse into an elevator; the arrow pointing downward lights up bright red. The other is midway through the film when Jericho enters a doorway into a Satanic lair which is awash with red light, clearly symbolizing the evil presence within.
But the rest of the movie is familiar territory. Arnold Schwarzenegger has, at various points in his career, been both the most overrated actor in Hollywood as well as the most underrated; End of Days falls somewhere in between as another notch in a belt of nameless action-adventure titles. If not for the capable supports, it might've been truly awful, but as it stands, it's a curious look at the end of the world through Terminator-vision. Moviegoers might flock in droves to see this one, and there's nothing to say you shouldn't be one of them. Just don't expect too much.
all contents © 1999 Craig Roush