End
of Days
(1999)
Rated: R
Runtime: 2 Hours and 3 Minutes
Reviewer: Jones
Grade: A-With Y2k behind us now. All of that talk about the end of the world, armageddon, or whatever you want to call it seems like a flight of folly in retrospect. But, just a few short months ago, these thoughts were still on the thoughts of the world at large. These are the thoughts that Peter Hyams addresses in his spell-binding film, "End of Days."
Jericho Cane (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a man who is running out of reasons to live, is charged with handling security for a Wall Street Businessman (Gabriel Byrne). Prior to this, Byrne's character has been inhabited by "The Man" in a particularly interesting restaurant scene.
After a failed attempt on the businessman's life, Cane begins to unravel a mystery that is beyond his comprehension. It turns out that twenty years previous a girl was born who would bear the child of "The Man." The trick is that the child must be conceived within the final hour of the millenium.
Christine York (Robin Tunney) is the lucky winner of host to the Antichrist, but she just doesn't know it yet. Cane eventually tracks her down through a series of run-ins with a priest, whom everyone believes has gone off the deep end. What follows is non-stop thrills as Cane must protect her from both "The Man's" followers and a group of men who believe they are doing God's work by attempting to kill her.
"End of Days" is one hell of a thrillride. Filled with elements of action, suspense, comedy and the macabre. It has more frights in it than any other film of the year, while maintaining the fine balance between horror, suspense, and action with relative ease. Arnold Schwarzenegger is outstanding as Jericho Cane. He actually feels like a real person in this movie, which is something that cannot be said about much of his past work. You can actually care about this character. Gabriel Byrne is simply devilish as "The Man." He somehow manages to make his character sympathetic on a couple of occasions in the film, which is no small order considering who he is playing. There are a few weakpoints in the cast, but for the most part the performances are above what I expected from this film.
If you're looking to have a few frights, and want to see how wild that New Year's party could have really been, you'll want to check out "End of Days." Plus you can't go wrong with a movie that has Schwarzenegger telling Satan to: "Go to Hell."