With Legion, a tale of a war in heaven spilling over onto Earth, about to be unleashed on the world, I'd thought I'd check out a similar story in 1995's The Prophecy. Directed by Highlander writer/produced Gregory Widen, it has 'bad' angel Gabriel (Christopher Walken) seek out the most evil human soul on Earth, to tip the scales in his favor, in a millennia old war that rages in heaven. Fortunately, 'good' angel hides the recently departed soul in a child and then it's up to priest-turned-cop Elias Koteas and school teacher Virgina Madsen to keep the child from Walken's clutches.
While I have fond memories of The Prophecy, I had a recollection that it was a little unimaginative and dull in comparison with Widen's original Highlander movie. Not so in actuality, as it's a strongly directed supernatural hide and seek movie with a well constructed mythology and serious tone. The cast are strong, but Walken is tremendous as the driven archangel, jealous that God has turned away from angel-kind to favor His human creations. There's a nice line in humour provided by the unfortunate sidekicks that Walken manipulated into driving him around and Viggo Mortensen pops up as Satan, determined to have an influence on the heavenly conflict.
Simple in story but weighty in themes and myth, small in scale but epic in imagination, it's a shame that Widen never directed anything else as the guy definitely had a flair for it.
1 comment:
I love The Prophecy. It's a great little film and a really cool take on a familiar mythology told with a visual flourish. Walken is mint and Viggy is Satan. Cool!
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