Leofwine_draca So here we have THE PROPHECY II, a straight-to-video sequel for a film that wasn't all that hot to begin with. Christopher Walken is back as the sinister archangel Gabriel, a renegade determined to bring the existence of the human race to an end, so he goes after a pregnant woman for some reason or other. Yeah, none of this is particularly interesting, mired as it is in middle-of-the-road ordinary.One of the main reasons to watch this film is Walken himself; he brings a wry humour to his central role and he's quite a bit of fun to watch. The rest of the cast is populated by familiar faces who have little to work with. Jennifer Beals is still pretty years after FLASHDANCE although Russell Wong doesn't bring much substance to the part of protagonist. There are also minor roles for Bruce Abbott and Tom Towles as a cop. THE PROPHECY II is full of the usual religious mumbo-jumbo and random kill scenes and feels more than a little disjointed and insubstantial; it's watchable enough for fans of '90s-era movies but you don't bring much away from it.

rooprect If you're reading this review, chances are you've already seen & liked the first Prophecy and are debating whether to continue the saga. Either that, or maybe you're just a weird person who likes to watch sequels before seeing the original. Whatever waxes yer wings...In either case, if you are interested in dark, religious thrillers about angels doing nasty things, you MUST see the Prophecy trilogy. Yes, I know there are 5 Prophecy films, but we'll just focus on the first 3 for now.Much like Star Wars/Empire Strikes Back/Return of the Jedi, the first 3 Prophecy movies tell a continuing story about 1 character: Gabriel, the Archangel of Death (played by Christopher Walken). Although the films' plots are mostly independent of each other, the theme of Gabriel's quest is a continuing story that doesn't wrap up til the end of the 3rd movie. Ergo you can't stop at Prophecy 1. You have to watch all 3.That's all you need to know, but if you want to know more about Prophecy II, here it is. By itself it's a worthwhile flick. What makes it special is the surreal blending of dark suspense and cozy humor, as in the first Prophecy. Although we lose some of the quirky characters who made the first film so memorable (such as Jerry the oozing sidekick, Rachel the catatonic chauffeur, and most of Joseph the stand-up comedic coroner), we get a new one who's just as memorable: Brittany Murphy as Izzy the suicidal emo girl (long before the term 'emo' came into being).Walken and Murphy maintain the wacky humor that made the first Prophecy so characteristic & human. The other characters are there for action and furthering the plot, which is pretty straightforward as far as angels-fighting-a-war-on-earth movies go.The music isn't quite as lush as the first, although one of the themesongs (the airy tribal piece) is carried over. Most, if not all, of the movie takes place at night so it is both literally and figuratively dark. Not quite "The Crow" dark, but dark nonetheless.This movie has a distinct early-90s feel to it. The 90s was a decade of action films leaving behind the simple, clean stories of the 80s and embracing a darker realism (as in "Seven" and "The Usual Suspects"). I'd say this 2nd Prophecy film is closer to the 80s than its groundbreaking predecessor, but it's still a good film.Watch it for Walken, watch it for the continuing epic story, watch it for some engaging action and a few great gags. Most of all... just watch it.

oneguyrambling To get us started here is a quick recap of the original film:The Angels in heaven have split into two factions and are at war. One side is envious of the gifts God has bestowed upon humankind and basically wants to wipe out the human race, the other thinks "be cool Mun", and just wants everyone to get along.In the first film there was an evil soul that could turn the tide of the angelic war if it fell in the wrong hands.In this film there is also something that might provide a great advantage to either side, in this case it is an unborn child, and this time as we are told early in the piece "the war between angels has come to Earth".Thomas Daggett, the ex-priest turned cop from the first film has understandably lost the plot and is holed up in a monastery mumbling to himself nonsensically and scribbling down his visions. (He has also changed from Elias Koteas to some other actor.)This film revolves around a young woman named Valerie (Jennifer Beales), who looks very much like Valerie Madsen from the first film, only if she was a brunette and had longer hair. Anyway in this film Val is driving along minding her own business when she hits a guy. Now I won't say he was a pedestrian because he wasn't walking, he literally "fell from the sky", being a film about angels we can guess where he has come from...His name is Danyael, and when a distraught Val takes him to the hospital he is friendly enough to mouth "Don't be afraid" as he is wheeled into the emergency room, despite the fact that he should be all types of f*cked up.Meanwhile Tommy Daggett continues to be crazy with all the visions.There is a cool "Terminator" scene where someone is seemingly "born" from beneath the Earth's surface, somewhere fiery and dare I say it "hellish"?Good old Gabriel is back baby!! (At least they had the sense to bring back the best character from the first film, although while filming this Christopher Walken must have missed out on another 4 or 5 crappy films that he would ordinarily have taken. The man seems to have no quality screening mechanism.)In the next 20 minutes of screen time Danyael makes a miraculous recovery, chats up Val and gets her four months pregnant in 2 days. Now that's potency!Gabriel also decides to visit Tommy for assistance and without expanding Thomas Daggett plays no further part in this, nor the 4 other sequels!It turns out that Valerie's unborn child will be the key figure in the angelic war, having been born of woman and angel known as a nephalim. In short Gabriel and Co want to remove it from the picture by any means necessary, and Danyael and Co swear to protect it.Despite the mounting evidence;the recovered car crash victim, - the 4 months in 2 days pregnancy, - dead bodies with no eyes and organs, - a warning from both the mortician who says "this has happened before, get away!", - and a chat with Thomas Daggett's priest who says much the same ... Valerie is still skeptical, until Gabriel shows up and tries to rip the unborn child from her, somewhat against her will I would guess. And the rest of the film is basically a keep-e-off game between Gabriel and Danyael, with Valerie and her belly-bun as the ball.There is ample opportunity for this film to veer into Highlander cheesy territory, but the reason that it does not is basically the fact that everyone plays it straight... except Walken's Gabriel.Gabriel hams it up in every Prophecy film he appears in, which is actually a good thing folks. Gabriel openly detests humans, he can sniff and taste them, but can't drive or use a computer. As with the first film he takes a recently deceased re-animated assistant to complete such menial tasks, in this film it is actually Izzy, a recent suicide pact victim who just wants things to be the way they were when she was dead. (I guess she got her wish recently!) Gabriel treats her with disdain, bullies her and orders her around, playing the bad guy card beautifully.Without Christopher Walken there would have been no Prophecy 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6. I know he wasn't in the last couple, but this series would have died at 1 without his presence. (And I am not even a die-hard Walken fan like some.)This could have been "Big guys in dark coats speaking formally while reading bible verses perched on a rooftop 2", but that probably didn't fit on the poster.Thankfully the filmmaker who took the reins from the original had sense to hold true to the tone, rely on the story rather than big stunts and hokey chase sequences, and kept things simple enough to not lose track. The music is similar to the original, which is a good thing, and they also use the effective (but annoying when a 3 year old is asleep in the next room ) technique of hushed dialogue and loud effects and action.I fully expected The Prophecy 2 to suck when I first watched it, and even recently when I dragged it out again I thought rewatching it would uncover hidden flaws and disappoint. It doesn't.Final Rating - 7.5 / 10. A case of second verse, much the same as the first, but a worthy sequel to a great film.

slayrrr666 "The Prophecy 2" is a worthwhile entry in the series.**SPOILERS**While driving to work, Nurse Valerie, (Jennifer Beals) accidentally hits a man, Danyael, (Russell Wong) who fell out of the sky. She takes him back to her home. At the same time, fallen angel Gabriel (Christopher Walken) escapes from hell and stalks around LA looking to get back into heaven, killing rival angel Rafael (Glenn Danzig). Danyael escapes and disappears into the LA underworld. Gabriel finds out about Danyael and Valerie and starts to stalk her. Valerie discovers that she is already pregnant with Danyael's child, and starts to go looking for him. Gabriel thinks that the best way to track down Valerie is with a human disciple, and recruits Izzy (Brittany Murphy) to help him. Digging dipper into Danyael's disappearance, she learns that she has stumbled onto an ages old war between the rival factions of God's angels. The child she is pregnant with is to be the person who unites the two warring factions of Heaven. Danyael is able to save her from an attack from Gabriel. Together they go in search of the one person who can fulfill Valerie's fate, Michael (Eric Roberts). Gabriel has also tracked them to Michael's location, and begins to tear it apart looking for Valerie to stop her from delivering the child and ending the war of the angels.The Good News: I really enjoy this movie, and I think it is nearly as good as its predecessor. The main improvement over the first one is the heightened gore in the film. There is far more heart ripping in this one than in the first one, which allows for more bloodletting in the time of death than in the other one. We also get to see more gore in the attacks on the two angels in the film. As both are perceived, unknowingly, as a threat to humanity, there are several fine shoot-outs with the police and the two angels. Even Izzy has a few cool gore scenes when she is learning that Gabriel has made her immortal to aid in his search. Being rammed into a wall, impaled by steel rods and even shot several times are all bloody revealed. It was nice to see that after a near-bloodless part 1. Even though it was a little shorter, it never really felt short at all. It always held your attention for the duration, and it keeps enough action coming to entertain anyone.The Bad News: Anyone who has even a small amount of religious doctrine will be able to smell the baloney in this movie. It is really so obvious how preposterous this movie is that it almost makes no sense why this is made. A lot of it could be construed as religious at some point, but it does take a lot of construing to believe most of the story. The plot is interesting enough, but a lot of the back-story involved is the main problem.The Final Verdict: If you don't have too much of a problem with a lot of religious banter in a movie, this one isn't all that bad. It does have enough to offset the religious parts of the movie, and at least give the film a rental. Gorehounds will be the most pleased with this film.Rated R: Graphic Violence, a strong sex scene, and Brief Nudity