The Prophecy II

In the 90's, Christopher Walken's career (like many actors) had slipped into the b-movie realm. It was during this time he appeared in the first three Prophecy films. The first carried a pretty serious religious tone in the battle of good vs evil. This second entry is lighter fare, but still provides a game Walken who's a lot of fun to watch and some faces in the supporting cast help.

Mild mannered & religious nurse Valerie (Jennifer Beals) appears to hit Danyael (Russell Wong) with her car. She's apologetic naturally, but also feels a bond and warmth with him. Not knowing that he's an angel, Danyeal impregnates her. Soon she realizes that her unborn child is the key to the ongoing battle over heaven as Lucifer unleashes fallen angel Gabriel (Walken) back onto Earth from the depths of hell. Who'll do anything he can to stop this baby from happening.

Quite a few people think that Walken is hamming it up here. I disagree. It's a more fun & lively go at it than before. With a brisk 80 minute runtime, 'Prophecy II' isn't the serious epic that the original film was trying to be. That however doesn't stop it from being decent. There's a good mix of funny moments, dark territory and doses of violence.

You get an early role for Brittany Murphy as another one of Gabriel's "monkey" lackeys. Steve Hytner (Bania from Seinfeld) continues as the medical examiner. Beals & Wong do their jobs while Eric Roberts doesn't make much of an impact in a quick role as a good angel. B-movie buffs can catch Bruce Abbott (Re-Animator) taking over the role of Thomas Daggett from Elias Koteas too.

As you'll see here (and in the next sequel), this series never let actors not reprising their roles stop characters from reappearing. I enjoyed 'Prophecy II' quite a bit on a popcorn level. It's not heavy handed, deep with the religious tones. Doesn't take itself too seriously and Walken continues tapping into a great character here.

The Prophecy II was an ok movie but it lacked a certain quality the first had. I mean, the first one was so much better there is no comparison. Christopher Walken comes back to play Gabriel, but that and a few humorous sections were all that was good about this film. The ending was the best part. Too bad you have to watch the whole thing to get to it. If you've seen and liked the first, then I recommend watching this one, but don't have too high of expectations.

The 1998 sequel to the 1995 movie "The Prophecy" was certainly watchable and enjoyable, however it just wasn't quite as intense as the first movie. But still, it makes for a good movie, nonetheless.

"The Prophecy II" continues on with the story of Gabriel, and actually includes a more clear and drawn out prophecy this time, whereas the first movie was more hesitant about such a thing - oddly enough.

Similar to the first movie, "The Prophecy II" boasts a rather impressive set of casted actors and actresses. And it is nice to see Christopher Walken return to reprise the role as Gabriel. It was a shame that they didn't have Elias Koteas return to the role as Thomas, despite it being a small part in "The Prophecy II". But they had Bruce Abbott - from the "Reanimator" movies - step in and fill out his shoes, and he does have somewhat of an resemblance to Elias Koteas for sure. "The Prophecy II" also have some good performances by Tom Towles, Brittany Murphy and Eric Roberts.

There was a good pacing to the storyline told in "The Prophecy II", however the storyline felt a little bit rushed at times and as if director Greg Spence just wanted to get the movie finished. Personally, I felt there were parts of the movie that were just skimmed across without going into depth with the aspects of the movie, and that was a shame.

All in all, "The Prophecy II" is a worthy sequel to the 1995 "The Prophecy" movie for sure.

If you liked the first film, you'll quite probably like this one too. It's a little more tongue-in-cheek and like most sequels not as good as the original, but it's still Walken as Gabriel with all that entails. The action is still good. Eric Roberts could be better, but he plays Michael not Gabriel. I think the humour was a little more obvious in this one, too. If you didn't like the original the skip it.

This is one of those films I could rip up unmercifully because the Biblical theology is so brutal - no incorrect, so preposterous, outrageous, stupid, etc. - that it an insult to anyone with any knowledge of The Book. For those viewers of this film who don't, who knows what they'll believe. Hopefully, none of the stuff in here. It also makes evil look cool and the worst "angel" - Gabriel (Christopher Walken) is not only evil and cool, but has a great a sense of humor. Gosh, ya gotta love the guy! Well, no surprise Hollywood would do that.

Having said that, though, and for strictly entertainment value and nothing else, the movie isn't half bad! Walken, regardless of his role, is always fun to watch, the story moves fast and it's only 80 minutes long. You could do worse.