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Reviews
End of Days There is currently 1 review for this movie. Do you wish to add a review for this movie?
Big on Hype, Low on Substance Reviewed by Adam Matthews
It was inevitable that the end of the millenium would inspire at least one movie in which a hero would save the earth from extinction. Film-makers from around the world would have been licking there lips in anticipation of cashing in on the "millennium hype" that gripped the world last December. End of Days was the most highly publicised, most highly hyped of the "millenium films", but unfortunately the film is dull and ultimately is just another Arnold Schwarzenegger action film. Not that big Arena's movies are all that bad, but they certainly are no award winners either, and most people are sick of watching Arnie do basically the same thing all the time. Save the world, kill the bad guy (and as many other people as he can) and get the girl. It is a formula that has proved successful in the past (not just for Schwarzenegger), and it does provide solid entertainment, but there is a point where you get sick of watching the same thing over and over. In this film, Arnie plays a former cop, now working as a high priced security guard, who inadvertently becomes the only man that can prevent the end of the world. You see, the Devil (played wonderfully by Gabriel Byrne) has come to New York City in search of the woman who has been chosen to bear his child. Should this smooth talking Devil be allowed to procreate, it is goodbye to the earth as we know it. Instead the Devil will rein supreme and earth will become hell. By the halfway point, it is plainly evident that this film is average at best. The story just rolls along and at no point do you feel any real sense of anticipation in what will follow. To be totally blunt, for a lot of the movie you are just waiting for the end. Not a good thing. Schwarzenegger is gives his standard admirable performance, but his presence is not enough to get a lot a movie lovers interested. And please, can we get rid of the smart-arse sidekick character (in this case played by Kevin Pollack) that has become an unpleasant feature in most recent action movies. No doubt the character is there to provide some comic relief, but in the end just comes across as irritating and this film should not have required any attempted comedy. Gabriel Byrne makes the best devil ever played on screen, and his mellow approach to the role (the total opposite to Al Pacino's over-the-top devil in The Devil's Advocate) makes him all the more intimidating. Maybe the movie should have focused more on Brynes' character, this would have undoubtedly have given the movie more substance. Director Peter Hyams has created an excellent "feel" to the movie, it is just a shame that the story is not all that interesting. A "darker" movie, with a little less emphasis on Arnie saving the world, would have been far more enjoyable. Instead what we get is standard Schwarzenneger fodder, that fails to inspire. Rating: ***
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