the ability to suspend ones disbelief is a vital trait when attending a schwarzengger movie . however , due to the absence of a good film from the big austrian for quite some time , people seem to have forgotten this . the biggest complaint i hear about " end of days " is that it was unbelievable . i'm sorry , but i personally believe it is incredibly naive to expect arnold to appear in a realistic film . twenty years ago , a newborn girl was chosen by a satanic cult to be the one who would bear the child of satan . now , young christine ( robin tunney ) is grown up and is being stalked by three different groups : two church factions , one intent on killing her ; and the other , led by father kovak ( rod steiger ) , attempting to protect and hide her ; the third party is satan himself , possessing the body of a wall street banker ( gabriel byrne ) . drawn into the conflict are jericho cane ( arnold schwarzenegger ) and chicago ( kevin pollak ) , two bodyguards hired by the man they do not know to be satan . as cane is drawn deeper and deeper into the conflict , he learns that christine must not be impregnated or the world will come to an end . if you don't like arnold movies , chances are you already know to steer clear of this one . if this somehow hasn't occured to you , let me reassure you that this is a schwarzenegger film in the truest sense , so stay far away . being a typical film of the schwarzenegger genre , this movie is a whole lot of fun , but be sure to leave your brain and sense of logic at the door . there are more plot holes here than i can begin to count . this movie isn't about plot though . it's about fight scenes , explosions and special effects . these are certainly present in abundance . on the down side , the acting here is certainly less than phenomenal from the leads . as all know , arnold isn't going to get any oscar nominations in the near future . however , he is charismatic enough to get away with this . robin tunney , on the other hand , is likely to get nominated for at least one award , and that's the razzie . not only is she laughably bad in this role , but she looks utterly dumbfounded as to what she's supposed to be doing half the time . as for the rest of the cast , rod steiger is as good as ever ; kevin pollak is certainly in his element as a smart alec of a side-kick ; and cch pounder , a remarkable actress , is woefully underused as a police detective . the real standout performance here comes from gabriel byrne as the man ( this is how he's credited ) himself . byrne simply oozes charm and authority . watch for a scene in which he meets a skateboarder who disrespects him . " end of days " is mindless movie fun nearly at its best . it doesn't quite make it because the film does border on being too mindless at times . some of the scenes we are expected to swallow will have you gawking at the screen in disbelief ( such as how cane discovers the existence of christine ) . if you think you can get past this , just sit back , relax , and enjoy . " end of days " runs a touch too long at 120 minutes . i give it three and a half stars , and a recommendation to catch a matinee . feel free to e-mail with comments at : <a href= " mailto : jabii@aol . com " >jabii@aol . com</a> * * * * * - one of the greatest movies ever made , see it now . * * * * - great flick . try and catch this one . * * * - okay movie , hits and misses . * * - pretty bad . see it if you've got nothing better to do . * - one of the worst movies ever . see it only if you enjoy pain . 
