The third movie in the apocalyptic Prophecy trilogy wraps up that whole "war in Heaven" chestnut, but I can't say the decisive conclusion seemed all that decisive.

The best thing in the earlier films was the scenery-chewing performance by Christopher Walken as Gabriel, an archangel gone bad and leading a second rebellion against God. But the evil angel who was too mean for Hell is gone by this third and final chapter; he's been replaced by a hapless, homeless, powerless mortal who discovers that those "talking monkeys" aren't really all that bad after all. What a waste of a good villain.

Vincent Spano fills Gabriel's shoes as the fallen angel Zophael, showing the same general disdain for humans but lacking Walken's menace and the casual wit that underscores Walken's delivery. Scott Cleverdon is some kind of uberangel, Pyriel, but damn, he really doesn't seem that much of a threat. (The angels on the side of light seem to have given up the fight and gone home; at least, they make no appearances here.)

Dave Buzzotta is Danyael, the human-angel hybrid who has the latent powers of an angel and the all-too-human hots for Maggie (Kayren Butler); he doesn't really get involved in the war, but an assassination attempt sets events in motion and, once riddled with bullets, he knows exactly where to go and what to do.

Except for a handful of clever cameos by past stars, The Prophecy 3 lacks much appeal. The plot is muddy, the punch is softened. The straight-to-video sequels wandered too far afield from Gregory Widen's original vision, and turned a powerful first movie into a lukewarm series. I'd encourage anyone to check out The Prophecy, but leave Nos. 2 and 3 in the box.

[ by Tom Knapp ]
Rambles: 18 January 2003