'3BlackChicks Review...'
HIGHLANDER: ENDGAME (2000)
Rated R; running time 85 minutes
Genre: Action
IMDB site: http://us.imdb.com/Details?0144964
Official site: http://www.highlanderendgame.com/
Written by: Wayne Beach, Simon Davis Barry
Directed by: Christian Duguay
Cast: Adrian Paul, Christopher Lambert, Bruce Payne, Lisa Barbuscia,
Ian Paul Cassidy, Adam "Edge" Copeland, Damon Dash, Sheila Gish,
Jim Byrnes, Peter Wingfield, Donnie Yen
Review Copyright Rose Cooper, 2000
Review URL: http://www.3blackchicks.com/bamshighlander.html
After sitting through the torture that was this gag-inducing movie, I
feel sorriest for those faithful "Highlander" fans of both the original
movie starring Christopher Lambert as Connor MacLeod of the Clan
MacLeod, and the followup TV series starring Adrian Paul as his kinsman,
Duncan MacLeod; fans who waited all these years for the lightning that
once was Highlander to strike again. And this lame longform (emphasis
on "long") version of a bad music video is the thanks they get?
It's been awhile since I've seen a movie that both sucks and blows at
the same time.
The Story (WARNING: **spoilers contained below**):
The main characters in the "Highlander" series and movies are an unknown
quantity of immortals (as in, men and women who can only die if one
removes their head from their body) who walk the earth in anticipation
of The Quickening (a gathering of immortals in which they go, excuse the
pun, head-to-head), with the end result being only one immortal left
standing. After all, There Can Be Only One.
Some immortals - including the MacLeod kinsmen - see these duels as a
necessary evil. Connor, even moreso than Duncan, after the latest Love
Of His Life is done in by a mysterious stranger. Hoping to be rid of
the curse of immortality, Connor hides away in Sanctuary, on holy ground
(the one place where immortals do not do their dastardly deeds). But
the Big Kahuna Immortal, Jacob Kell (Bruce "needs a membership to
Overactors Anonymous" Payne) knows no such boundaries; he seeks revenge
on Connor for Connor's having killed his "unarmed" priest father
centuries ago, when Kell Senior helped to burn Connor's mother at the
stake when the Kells discovered that Connor was...oh, must this madness
go on???
The Upshot:
The original HIGHLANDER movie was something of a cult hit, to the best
of my recollection; Christopher Lambert always struck me as someone
whose acting was probably best served when done in his mother tongue,
but the whole time-traveller concept from the first movie, was fun
enough to give in to, and served as fuel for many similar types of
flicks which followed. Parts two and three were utter bollocks, but
they were easily forgotten - because those of us who liked the series,
starring Adrian Paul as Connor's kinsman Duncan, simply replaced the
conflicting bits of fodder with new canon from the series' creators. It
also helped when Lambert made periodic guest appearances on the series,
so for awhile, all was well.
As with many syndicated TV series, holes began to develop in the show's
structure, and after awhile, HIGHLANDER the series fell off my radar. I
kept up with it just enough to know that there was supposedly a movie
"in the works" (and remember, this was a few years ago that I first
heard this), and I waited. and waited. and waited. for something to
come of it.
I had almost forgotten about the movie, until I saw it pop up on a few
"coming attractions" sites. After seeing this travesty, I wish I'd
never seen any parts of those sites.
HIGHLANDER: ENDGAME is such a weak piece of sh...detritus, I hate
mentioning it in the same breath as the cheesy, but fun, series and
original movie. This version Stinks, with a capital "S" - mostly
because the movie's Powers That Be took a good, already-established
concept, and wiped their butt with it in favor of one of the most lame
plots possible: a super-immortal, after all this time? And suddenly,
Duncan also has this riot chick pop up from seemingly out of nowhere, as
part of his Distant, Secret Past? That'd be like...like...like Captain
Kirk, suddenly finding himself with The Son He Never Knew He Had. Give
me a effin' break, will ya?
The only thing - and I do mean, the ONLY thing - that saved this flick
from the redlight district, is its use of mostly-effective "flashbacks",
similar to those done in the series (and, I believe, the original
movie). They were the best thing about the series anyway, as the
"flashbacks" show the two leads in all their playful glory. But can
someone explain for once and for all why Adrian Paul always seems to get
a thicker brogue the further back in time Duncan goes?
Too bad those "flashbacks" couldn't just be extracted from the whole
film, transplanted back to the small screen (where, I say in my
completely unopinionated manner, it belonged in the first place), and
made into a decent bon voyage to the series.
The "Black Factor" [ObDisclaimer: We Are Not A Monolith]:
All that, and Diva's Brotha Rule is in full effect too? Will the
madness *ever* end? Sheesh!
Bammer's Bottom Line:
What a horrible ripoff! Highlander fans, y'all deserve better than this
dreck. But please, Hollywood, no mas, no mas.
HIGHLANDER: ENDGAME (rating: flashing redlight):
I hope the term "endgame" is a promise, not an idle threat. Man, did
this one blow.
Rose "Bams" Cooper /~\
Webchick and Editor, /','\
3BlackChicks Review /','`'\
Movie Reviews With Flava! /',',','/`,
Copyright Rose Cooper, 2000 `~-._'c /
EMAIL: bams@3blackchicks.com `\ (
http://www.3blackchicks.com/ /====\
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