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| "There can only be one!" |
While I would love to review this franchise in order, I simply don't have the desire to purchase Highlander II: The Quickening in order to review it. Therefore, I am skipping to Highlander: The Final Dimension and Highlander: Endgame, which are both on Netflix streaming. This works out though because Highlander: The Final Dimension takes place before the events of Highlander II: The Quickening while Highlander: Endgame follows a completely different continuity that was established by the Highlander television series from the 90's. Therefore, I only have to watch the original Highlander in order to watch both Highlander: The Final Dimension and Highlander: Endgame. Talk about a messy franchise. Anyways, it is worth mentioning that both cuts of the films on Netflix are the extended producer's cuts, not the theatrical cuts. When I eventually get to Highlander II, I will add it to this review.
Director: Andrew Morahan
Cast: Christopher Lambert, Mario Van Peebles, Deborah Unger, Mako
Country: Canada / France / United Kingdom
Rating: R
Run Time: 99 minutes
Highlander 3: The Final Dimension (or Highlander: The Sorcerer or Highlander: The Magician...wait what?) takes place after the events of the original Highlander. Due to the failure that was Highlander II: The Quickening, the producers aimed for a sequel that would remain more faithful to the original film. Unfortunately, this means more franchise retconing and a sequel that is utterly useless in the context of the series' ever changing mythology.
Even though Connor won the Prize and defeated all of the Immortals in Highlander, it turns out that there are still three Immortals left standing. It is revealed in a flashback that Connor went to train in Japan after his first wife died. While training under Nakano (Conan the Barbarian's Mako), he is attacked by Kane (Mario Van Peebles), an Immortal. Nakano sacrifices himself to allow Connor time to escape the cave. When Nakano is defeated, his cave collapses and traps Kane and his two Immortal buddies underground. Therefore, the three Immortals were never able to take part in the Immortal Gathering of 1986 from the first film. They eventually make their ways out of the cave in time for the third film in the series and set out to kill Connor in contemporary New York.
While Highlander 3 is not a terrible inept mess (look to Highlander: Endgame if inept messes are your thing), it is dreadfully boring. The entire plot is nearly a retread of the original film: Connor MacCleod trains for his fight with the final Immortal in New York City while detectives investigate the murders linked to the Immortals. That's it. It's literally the same thing as the first film but with a few twists to it. My biggest issue with this film is that it is not a story worth telling. Why did this story have to be told? In fact, why even make sequels at all? Highlander wrapped up the story so tight that there was no room or need for a sequel.
Another one of the reasons this film is so boring is because there is so little action. And I mean barely any action at all. Besides a few violent beats in the first forty minutes, there are two significant sword fights between Connor and Kane. A whopping two. Even though I have more issues with Highlander: Endgame, at least the film is jam packed with action scenes. Both of the sword fights featured in this film are medicore at best. When you see Connor and Kane swing back and forth on ropes while clanging their swords, you'll know my pain.
Let's keep this short. Highlander 3: The Final Dimension is a boring and dull film. However, it is fairly faithful to the original and well put together even though the story is a direct retread of the original film. Unfortunately, the action scenes are especially weak. Just skip it guys.
Rating: 4/10 - Weak action and boring storytelling place this sequel at the bottom of the sci-fi action barrel.
Director: Douglas Aarniokoski
Cast: Christopher Lambert, Adrian Paul, Bruce Payne, Donnie Yen
Country: United States
Rating: R
Run Time: 101 minutes
Before I give you my two cents on this one, it's important to explain that the continuity going into this film is completely different from that of the first three films. There was a Highlander television series in the 1990's that acted as a sequel to the original Highlander but with a small twist: Connor did not win the prize at the end of the film but he did defeat the Kurgan. Therefore, there are still more Immortals out there and more adventures to be had. The television series focused on a new Immortal, Duncan MacLeod (Adrian Paul), a relative of Connor MacLeod. After six seasons of the series, a film was developed in order to bridge the series with the film series and to pair both Connor and Duncan in one film. If that explanation was confusing enough, you don't know confusing until you have seen the film.
Highlander: Endgame opens with Duncan and Connor (Christopher Lambert) as best Immortal buddies. However, an Immortal from Connor's past is back to kill him. Many years ago, an Immortal named Jacob Kell (Bruce Payne) killed Connor's mother. Therefore, Connor killed Kell's father. Kell has now returned to enact revenge on Connor and to kill him once and for all. However, the focus of the film is not just on Connor, but more so on Duncan. Duncan was the star of the television series after all so it turns out that he is the protagonist of this film (or at least I think so). After a bunch of flashbacks and other dramatic scenes, Duncan and Kell duke out in an epic final sword fight. The end. Thank God.
Oh boy. This franchise really asks a lot out of you. I am sorry, but I just can't get into this franchise. The first film had a lot of things going for it but this is purely for die hard fans who watched every episode of the television series and enjoy the films. Let's start with the obvious. The plot, character decisions, and editing rarely make sense. The editing is especially bad. Many characters simply pop out of nowhere and conveniently show up where our heroes are. It doesn't make any sense. There are also numerous scenes where characters recall past events within the film. But that isn't enough, the editor goes on to replay those scenes for us even though we had just seen or heard them a mere 20 minutes earlier. The filmmakers treat the viewer like a child because they don't think that you can remember what happened earlier on in the film. The film even uses a few shots of action twice within the same fight scene! I could go on for a long time about these confusing character decisions and editing errors but this is a short double feature review. Look up a Highlander-wiki if you really care.
While the acting in Highlander wasn't all that great, actors like Sean Connery and Clancy Brown were clearly having a lot of fun with the material. Their energetic performances and memorable screen presences helped make the film entertaining beyond its dull plot. Unfortunately, Highlander: Endgame has none of this. I have to single out Adrian Paul's performance as Duncan. I am sorry Highlander fans, but Paul is a terrible actor. He is horribly boring in every scene and should not be leading an action film. He does a fine job during his action scenes but fails when it comes to drama and comedy. I found myself laughing at some of his line deliveries and facial reactions. Christopher Lambert's final turn as Connor is also weak. He is turned into a self brooding mentor who has the unfortunate task of wearing several awful wigs throughout the film. Jacob Kell, played by Bruce Payne, is so bad that he overacts to the point of self parody. Kell is truly one of the worst villains in movie history. His actions make little to no sense and his dialog delivery is flat out hilarious.
Fortunately, Highlander: Endgame does improve on one thing; and that is the action. The sword fights and shootouts are especially good. Hong Kong actor Donnie Yen (SPL, Ip Man) choreographed all of the fight scenes and did a great job bringing his expertise to an otherwise boring film. It's no surprise that the Highlander series got in on the martial arts craze of the late 90's and early 2000's thanks to the likes of The Matrix arousing interest in the genre. Yen also has a few fight scenes in the film and is clearly the most physically abled actor of the bunch. One of those scenes is a sword fight between Yen and Paul inside of a destroyed antique shop that makes for the best action scene of the film. Unfortunately, all of this good fight choreography is ruined by a lousy film score and truly terrible special effects that seem appropriate for a television series at the time but not a major film that was released in theaters.
I think that this film is best fit for those who grew up watching the entire Highlander film series and television series since 1986. It was clearly made for die hard fans who are willing to excuse any errors because the film makes no effort to explain nearly anything, especially characters' relations to one another. Casual fans or those with a passing interest will feel alienated, confounded, and bored by the film's proceedings. Paul is a lousy lead, the technical merits are poor (minus Yen's choreography), and the plot is as disjointed as they come. If you are an action fan like me, just check out the fight scenes on YouTube or Netflix. Skip this one please!
Rating: 3/10 - A boring and dull action film that put an "end" to my interest in this franchise and its characters. Don't expect me to review Highlander: The Source any time soon.
Franchise:
Highlander (dir. Russell Mulcahy, 1986)
Highlander II: The Quickening (dir. Russell Mulcahy, 1991)
Highlander: The Final Dimension (dir. Andrew Morahan, 1994)
Highlander: Endgame (dir. Douglas Aarniokoski, 2000)
Highlander: The Source (dir. Brett Leonard, 2007)
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