# Prophecy II, The (1998)

### reviewed by
Jerry Saravia

Whatever promise the original "The Prophecy" had is lost on the filmmakers with this cheap. darkly lit, quickly pasted together sequel that will make you wish the horror genre did not bounce back after the success of "Scream."

The Second War of the Angels rages on as the angel Danyael (Russell Wong) is nearly killed in a car accident by an RN named Valerie (Jennifer Beals). Danyael forgives her by impregnating her with the sole savior to be - the one who will set right from wrong in the heavens and beyond. Not unless Gabriel (Christopher Walken) can help it, as he continues his quest of bringing "heaven back to what it was. When we mattered most." Gabriel is relentless and uses a human named Izzy (Brittany Murphy from "Clueless") as a "monkey" for his merciless killings - pulling beating hearts from eyeless angels. Izzy has the best line as Gabriel is unable to drive a car or operate a PC: "You are keeping me alive so you can use DOS?"

Walken keeps things afloat but there is precious little of him. We are subjected to countless scenes of violent beatings, pumping hearts, car crashes, and many canted angles inside churches, alleys, and abandoned factories (some scenes are so dark that it is impossible to discern what is happening). Oh, and there is one heavy sex scene of course. Did I mention the Garden of Eden is one of those abandoned factories?

Beals is purely uncharismatic and devoid of energy throughout this whole affair - she seems unaffected by all the crazy events around her. Murphy as the frazzled "monkey" has some quirky moments but not to the degree that Adam Goldberg's "monkey" had in the original. Eric Roberts also grates the nerves as the angel Michael - what happened to the wonderful actor from" Pope of Greenwich Village" and "Star 80"?

The original "Prophecy" had humor and horror in equal spurts and had some degree of conviction and atmosphere. There was also a level of poignance as I recall with the possessed Native American child and her relationship with a good angel. This sequel is in-name only in the most literal sense - there is no horror, no thrills, no humor, no sympathy and no real stake in anything concrete. Seen one prophecy, seen them all.

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