# End of Days (1999)

### reviewed by
Walter Frith

    'End of Days' (1999)

    A movie review by Walter Frith

    wfrith@cgocable.net

    Member of the 'Online Film Critics Society'
    http://www.ofcs.org

Arnold Schwarzenegger. An example of how big you can make it in the movies and then have it fall apart so fast. In the 90's, Ah-nuld has only had three good films. 'Total Recall', 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day' and 'Eraser'. 'Last Action Hero' was Arnold's egotistical version of Bruce Willis' 'Hudson Hawk' and 'True Lies' was both uneven, only mildly funny, and lacked James Cameron's signature heap of kinetics. I enjoyed Arnold's work mildly in the comedies 'Twins' and 'Kindergarten Cop' but not 'Junior'. Arnold served in the Bush administration in some sort of fitness advisor capacity. I forget the official title he carried but George Bush's claim that he wanted to be a kinder, gentler president prompted Arnie to make his second terminator portrayal a kinder gentler character. A humourous metaphor for his political connections, but let's be honest here, did we really need a kinder and gentler terminator? Give me a break! He takes an oath in the movie at the insistence of John Connor (Edward Furlong), that he will not kill anybody. So let's face it, Leonard Maltin was right when he said that the first terminator movie was better simply because the film, and Arnold's character, had much more edge.

Satan. His image conjures up many things wrong in the world. He's been played by many actors. Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino and even little old George Burns have played the fallen angel most uniquely. And now Gabriel Byrne plays him with an ice cold sinister deviousness. Byrne is a great actor whose work in 'Miller's Crossing' and 'The Usual Suspects' remains his best. He even had a hand in producing one of this decades most emotionally wrought political dramas, 'In the Name of the Father'.

Both Schwarzenegger and Byrne provide a good and not so obvious game of cat and mouse in 'End of Days'. The first thing I should say about this film is that it has so many plot holes and enough credibility gaps to allow a transport truck to drive through that you must toss these factors aside if you truly want to enjoy the picture. Director Peter Hyams, whose work is better when he has a hand in writing or co-writing his own scripts has a few films I really enjoy. 'The Star Chamber' from 1983 where a group of vigilante judges carry out their own brand of justice. 'Outland' from 1981 with Sean Connery in an outer space version of 'High Noon' and 1979's 'Hanover Street' with Harrison Ford as a World War II pilot having an affair with a married English woman.

Hyams often acts as his own director of photography and clouds his films in a murky and charcoal type of atmosphere which are fitting in adding to his many scenes of compelling structure. His vision is sometimes repetitive but he makes fairly decent films.

Written by Andrew W. Marlowe, 'End of Days' is about an ex-cop and present day high profile security officer (Schwarzenegger) who becomes involved in confronting Satan when a young woman is chosen to be Satan's concubine who will bear his child to walk upon the earth in the next millennium. The film begins in Vatican City in 1979 where the Pope and his council agree that the time has come, based on a sign, where a female will be born in the world that will be the chosen one for Satan's nasty scheme of planting his seed on Earth. Around the same time, a baby girl is born in New York City and a ritual is carried out upon her at the hospital where she's born that will put her under Satan's spell. Skip forward 20 years. 1999. Things begin coming together on a collision course for the sake of mankind's existence. A wall street banker (Byrne) goes to the men's room of an NYC restaurant and is accosted in the men's room by the tangible spirit of Satan to walk the streets in a man's body. Satan has planted his disciples in positions of advantage that will aid him in his plan to have Christine York (Robin Tunney) bear his child and witness the end of man's days upon the planet.

Jericho Cane (Schwarzenegger) hooks up with the plot when he investigates and assassin's plan to open fire on the streets of NYC. He then finds the writings of a street vagrant in an abandoned underground tunnel way and connects the writings with quotes from the Bible and locks horns with the devil in an attempt to protect the forces of good in the film.

Now, in 'The Exorcist' the devil was defeated with two priests being sacrificed in the process. Their religious bindings and the word of God were powerful enough to expel the devil from a little girl's body. 'End of Days' just doesn't come off as credible. An observation is made in the film that only the pure of heart can kill the devil and Cane isn't pure of heart. He's angry at God for letting his family be taken from him and is a flawed and truly mortal being whom Satan could squash like a bug if he really wanted to. In other films and t.v. shows where the bad guys always let the good guys hang on just a little too long to defeat them which proves to be their downfall, well, this is what happens in 'End of Days'. There are also scenes of action and excitement that just aren't credible and bring the film down to an almost laughable capacity. However, the portrayal of Satan by Byrne, the special effects and some good camera work redeem the film somewhat.

What's also funny is some of the humour displayed which are inside jokes based on 'The Usual Suspects' from 1995. Arnold's side kick in this film is Kevin Pollak who appeared as one of the criminals in 'The Usual Suspects' with Gabriel Byrne. There is a scene where a trail of flammable fluid is set a blaze to cause a big explosion, seen in 'The Usual Suspects' and a line is delivered that says: "The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist".....a classic line uttered by Kevin Spacey in 'The Usual Suspects'. 'End of Days' can stand fully on its own and is worth a look by the curious but only die hard Arnold fans will embrace it as great. For the rest of us, it's an average ride all the way.

    OUT OF 5 > * * *

Visit FILM FOLLOW-UP by Walter Frith http://www.cgocable.net/~wfrith/movies.htm

    * * * * * - a must see
    * * * * 1/2 - don't miss it
    * * * * - an excellent film
    * * * 1/2 - a marginal recommendation
    * * * - can't quite recommend it
    * * 1/2 - don't recommend it
    * * - avoid it
    * 1/2 - avoid it seriously
    * - avoid it AT ALL COSTS
    1/2 - see it at your own risk
    zero - may be hazardous to your health

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