It is a few days before the new millennium in New York City, and though most of its denizens are fixated on their party plans and the dreaded Y2K bug, an evil force stirs beneath the streets. After a mysterious earthquake and series of explosions, Satan (Gabriel Byrne of "The Man in the Iron Mask") emerges from the subterranean depths, assumes human form and walks the city in search of his bride, which has been prophesized in the Book of Revelations. The woman he is in search of is Christine York (Robin Tunney of "The Craft"), a twenty-year old woman who has been troubled by inexplicable religious visions all her life. In order to bring an era of darkness upon Man, Satan must consummate his relationship with his new bride between the hour of 11pm and midnight on the last night of the year (even the characters in the movie realize how silly this is, as one of them asks 'Is that Eastern time?').
However, standing in the way of Satan's apocalyptic scheme
is Jericho Cane (J.C., Jesus Christ, get it?), a former NYPD officer turned
high-tech security guard. Having survived the brutal murder of his wife
and child, Jericho (Schwarzenegger) is a complete burnout, an alcoholic
on the verge of suicide who wantonly risks his life in the hopes of ending
his own suffering. However, he finds a renewed sense of purpose when a
mysterious shooting leads him and his partner (Kevin Pollak of "She's All
That") hot on the trail to uncovering one thousand years of religious prophecy
and the darkness that threatens to engulf mankind for all eternity. This,
of course, leads to a showdown where the man with the most guns wins.
"End of Days" wavers unevenly between being a serious-minded horror-thriller and being a souped-up Ah-nold movie. On the one hand, the dialogue touches on issues of religion, faith, and prophecy, speculating the role that the Church would play in such a calamitous event. But on the other hand, laziness is in abundance as the script inconsistently handles the material, ridiculously allowing leaps of illogic and dumb one-liners to clutter up each scene. For example, the number of the Devil is now changed to '999' since St. John had 'dreamed the number upside down and backwards' when he wrote the Book of Revelations. Satan, though he is all-powerful, seems to have difficulty tracking down his bride and inexplicably decides to refrain from killing Jericho off right away, even though he has a penchant for killing everyone he meets within one scene (which often includes some gratuitous nudity, the staple of the Eighties action movie). Jericho's investigation is also a joke, as all the clues come too quickly and too easily. The final clue that you are watching an Ah-nold movie is that for the final showdown against Satan, Jericho goes into the armory and loads up on every machine gun, grenade, and explosive device that he can lay his hands on (when the supervisor asks "Where are you going?", he curtly replies "To do my job!").
Schwarzenegger's limited range as an actor is also apparent
here. The more emotional scenes of the film (where Arnold must act angry)
are laughable, as his typical over-the-top method of enunciating every
syllable comes into play, and the scenes end up coming off as more parody
than pathos. Unfortunately, it seems that Schwarzenegger is really on good
for two things: playing emotionless robots (as in "The Terminator") and
shooting guns.
About the only things tolerable in this overblown action extravaganza are Byrne and director Peter Hyams moody cinematography and groovy special effects. Byrne may not be as over-the-top as Pacino's turn as the Devil in "The Devil's Advocate", but he still manages to be both menacing and charismatic at the same time. With respect to the cinematography and special effects, they are also top-notch. A number of key scenes highlight this, namely a fiery chase in the New York subway system, a breathtaking helicopter chase through the streets of Manhattan, and the earth-shattering final confrontation in a church. But alas, great cinematography and special effects alone are not enough.
"End of Days" strives very hard to be a high-minded action-adventure, but ends up residing closer to camp than expected. Unless you are a die-hard Schwarzenegger fan (which means you also though "Raw Deal" was good), then movie may have enough to satiate your hunger. However, even in comparison to the better Ah-nold movies of the Eighties (including "Predator", "Commando", and "The Terminator"), "End of Days" is still a poor showing for the faded box-office strongman and just might be the last nail in the coffin that was his career.