The Prophecy 2 [DVD]

Four years after the events of The Prophecy, Gabriel returns and the war in the heavens continues unabated. It is surprisingly difficult to find good guys among any of these angels, but the new plan to thwart Gabriel's long-sought destruction of humanity involves the far less than immaculate conception of a child to human and angelic parents. As Gabriel himself points out, the existence of Nephilim upon the earth didn't work out very well back in the early days following Creation - but it's apparently the best plan the archangel Michael can come up with. Somehow the existence of a new Nephilim, possessing the powers of an angel and the free will of a human, is supposed to bring the warring angel factions together. It doesn't make much sense to me, but hey - I'm just a puny human incapable of understanding the advanced wisdom of heaven's forces.

If you're wondering what happened to Thomas Daggett, would-be priest turned detective turned prophet from the first movie, that question is answered early on in this sequel. From there, the focus of the story quickly turns to Valerie Rosales (Jennifer Beals), who engages in the world's weirdest one-night stand with a man (actually an angel) she hits with her car (actually, I believe he hit her car as he fell from heaven). Anyway, the universe's fastest-growing unborn child is conceived, and it's up to the baby's father, Danyeal (Russell Wong), and the archangel Michael (Eric Roberts) to protect both child and mother from Gabriel. Coming along for the ride this time is Izzy (Brittany Murphy), whom Gabriel has kept alive following her lover's pact suicide with her boyfriend. Gabriel can turn people to salt and turn rivers red with blood, but he can't drive a car or operate the most basic of computers.

As in the first movie, Christopher Walken steals the show. All other characters, no matter how important they are in terms of the second war in heaven, are merely bit players in Walken's world. Sure, Gabriel hates all of us "monkeys" whom God elevated above angels when He gave us souls, but it's pretty hard to root against this guy - especially since the archangel Michael turns out to be (in my opinion, anyway) a great disappointment. This is supposed to be the angel that led God's forces against Satan's rebel legions in the first war? Thankfully, there are some other angels brave enough to face Gabriel, as there's nothing like a good throw-down between ethereal forces.

I actually enjoyed this sequel more than the first movie. Walken may well be the only actor capable of truly portraying Gabriel, and he is absolutely at his best in The Prophecy II. There's even more dark humor this time around in terms of his relationships with humans and their technology, and I found this ending (particularly in terms of the setting) much better than that of the first movie. Fans of The Prophecy will almost certainly enjoy The Prophecy II as much if not more than the original.