As a Christian, I get frustrated by how rarely my religion is honorably depicted on film, for most of the time, Christian characters are depicted as "misguided", "stuck-up," or else downright villainous. It is a frustrating stereotype, and I am glad that such films as Apocalypse exist to give honor to what I believe to be an honorable religion.
Apocalypse is a film that relies on a strong storyline and likeable characters, rather than a fancy set. As appearances go, the film comes off looking like somebody's home video(this is not a bad thing, considering that this is a low budget picture), but as the plot thickens and the characters grow(and their performances, particularly Richard Nestor's, grow on you), it is easy to get past this and get lost into the story. And what a story it is! Writers Peter and Paul Lalonde have constructed a thought-provoking script that depicts the coming of an all-powerful world leader who turns out to be the Anti-Christ, and his effect on the world and the people with in it. His coming particularly impacts news anchor Helen Hannah(Leigh Lewis, who gives an exceptional performance), a woman who would rather rely on her own instincts than on faith,despite the words of warning from her Grandmother, who believes that the chaos rocking their world(including a potential nuclear war) is a symbol that they are in their last days and that God is coming. Helen listens, but takes no account until a fatal day when, with only seconds remaining until the earth faces the danger of being destroyed by nuclear weapons, powerful leader Franco Macaluso comes into the picture and all violence stops. The planes containing nuclear weapons vanish, and so do millions of people all over the world, including Helen's grandmother. With Macaluso dubbing himself the true Messiah and claiming responsibility to these disappearances, it does not take long for Helen to realize that her grandmother was correct about God, and correct in the fact that the world was, in fact, entering its last days. With that in mind, Helen becomes a Believer and soon realizes that Macaluso, who is uniting the world through a hatred of God, must be the Anti-Christ. She tries to warn fellow anchor man Bronson Pearl(Nestor), but he has become so swept up in the "changes" Macaluso is making within the world that he continuously refuses to see the obvious signs that determine Macaluso's true identity until it is too late.
As Macaluso and his evil assistant(David Roddis) continue to overpower the world, all you can do is hope that the new Believers Helen and Bronson will come through, but anyone familiar with the Bible knows otherwise. "Apocalypse" proves to be a good character study, with a strong, impacting ending that makes one eager to see "Revelation" and the future "Tribulation." These are films to be admired.
