Highlander: Endgame
(2000)
As the law of Hollywood regurjitates upon us time and again, 'Final' is never that: final. To assure that your movie gets a sequel, slap the word "Final" into the title, and Hollywood is bound to provide you one. Such is the case of many movies, but most notably in this case. The third HIGHLANDER flick was titled HIGHLANDER: THE FINAL DIMENSION. Though it was meant to hail a halt to any more adventures for Connor Macleod, we see by this latest sequel, HIGHLANDER: ENDGAME, that THE FINAL DIMENSION just couldn't live up to it's title.
This time though, in respect to the film's creators, the movie completely ignores most of the stuff we saw in the movies, focusing more like a big budget episode of the TV show of the same name. We get two heroes for the price of one though, as both immortal Highlanders, Duncan (Adrian Paul) and Connor (Chirstopher Lambert once more) Macleod, share the spotlight, though I think Duncan was a far more prominent figure while Con was relatively set aside. However, in the world of heroes, the odds must always be stacked against them, so, if there's gonna be two heroes, there must be a whole gang of villains! We'll meet them later on...
We open "10 years ago", when, after meeting with Duncan, Con's long time friend and confidante Rachel (remember her from HIGHLANDER?)winds up flash-fried as Connor's antique store is blown up like it was meant to be in a Shwarzenegger flick... the ones from the '80s, not his late '90s crap. Now, this poses the question: was Rachel simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, or was it MEANT for her and this is simply a way to attack Connor emotionally? Why not ask the dude with the crucifixes in his boot heel who's walking away from the "accident"... oh wait, he's already gone, nevermind, You'll never catch up with his at this point. The way he's slowly strolling away, no one could catch him now... Alright, anyway, it's now a decade later, "the Present", and Con is snoozing it up in a subterranean immortal spa called the Sanctuary. Here, volunteer immortals are strapped into restraining beds that look like something out of FRANKENSTEIN or THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN (the City of Lost Frankensteins) where they simply sit and halucinate all day under the care of some Watchers who dress like monks and wield fire arms. Being the staple of the HIGHLANDER concept, we find Con just in time to play audience to another of his patented flashbacks. This one takes us back to the day of Con's mom's execution.
Seems that excommmunicating Con wasn't enough for the Macleod clan, as they now want his mother to renounce her son, or face the penalty for bearing a being of evil magic: burning at the stake... I'd be renoucning shit left and right if I were in her shoes! My family? Renounced. My God (me)? Renounced. My home theatre? Well, that one I'd have to think about... Point is, Mrs. Macleod refuses to renounce her boy Con, opting instead to renounce God, which gets her burned that much quicker. Despite breaking free of his jailing, Con is still too late to save his mommy, who dies when the fire reaches a small bag of black powder strapped around her neck. In the resulting fit of rage and the thirst for revenge, Connor lashes out and does what any hero would do: he kills a priest. Hey, all my heroes are murderers of holy men! Hell, I'd make Sinead O'Connor my idol of worship is she splattered the Pope's brains all over the sidewalk! As for Connor, well, he gets attacked afterwards, by his long time friend Jacob Kell (the always insane in the membrane Bruce Payne), who lashes out at our hero because of his act of ultimate heresy. Jacob goes down before he even gets in one swing. The Roman Church obviously needs to teach it's followers the fine art of self defense. Besides, you never know when another Crusade might pop up!
After this little peek back into Con's personal Hell, the Sanctuary comes under attack by a gang of immortals riding motrocycles! Though Jin Ke (Hong Kong action star and martial arts choreographer Donnie Yen) shows off his moves by beating the shit out of a few monks, he is ultimately taken down like his partners: in a hail of gunfire. But, the posse's got the last laugh, as in comes their leader, the ever sneaky and spiteful, Jacob Kell. Yep, when Con skewered Kell on his blade those centuries ago, he triggered the latent immortal gene in Kell, bringing him into the Game... wonder what he thought about God and the church after THAT reveltion. Anyway, after killing the guards and re-gathering his associates, the posse head into the Sactuary. Eventually they come upon the containment area where Connor and several other immortals are held fast. Kell, not really one for the Game's rules, let alone the rule about Holy Ground (which the Sanctuary is built on), decapitates each of the immortals while they're still tied down, stealing their lives and their powers. Uh-oh, looks like things are off to a bad start for out old friend Connor! Elsewhere, across the the states, Duncan gets this really bad feeling all of a sudden... is Connor dead? That's what Duncan plans to find out, as he begins a journey for the answer. To start his little quest, Dunc goes to a fellow immortal for info on where Connor might be. He tels Dunc about the Sanctuary, which happens to be a Watcher safe house that was created to help prevent ANYONE from ever winning the Game and claiming the Prize. He also tells Dunc that the place was ransacked and everyone killed. Could this journey be over before it begins? Yeah right, then we'd have a pointless 15 minutes movie, wouldn't we? As Duncan continues the search for Con, we're treated to more of those calssic HIGHLANDER flashbacks, documenting the progression of the relationship between Connor and Duncan. Dunc does a little exploration of the remains of Connor's antique shop in Manhatten. Okay, reality check time children: Connor's shop was blown up 10 years prior to Duncan's return to the place. In that 10 years, NOTHING was done about the wreck. It wasn't torn down, rebuilt, or anything. In addition, not only was it not remodeled, but NONE of the stuff remaining inside was stolen or collected by anyone either! There are still shit loads of swords, armor, and antique crap lining the walls! Boy, the squatters and theives of NYC have sure gotten lazy over the last decade...
Anyway, upon inspection of the shop, Duncan doesn't find Connor, but instead runs into one of his ex-wives: Kate. Kate is also an immortal, and we'll find out just why she and Duncan never really worked out later, in yet another series of flashbacks. Well, Kate also brought along a few friends, namely the posse that ransacked the Sanctuary. The members of the group that made the most impression on me were Cracker Bob (the refugee from a bad CLOCKWORK ORANGE sequel), Carlos (the "guess I'm not too good with swords" gangbanger), and the gem of the afformentioned gem of the gang: Jin Ke (Asian ass kicker who's based on the legendary Chinese assassin of the same name). Ignoring the rules of the Game again, the group attacks Duncan all at once. Despite overwhelming odds and multiple slashes in his body, Duncan proves himself their superior, even the bad-ass Jin Ke. Kell makes an appearance, halting the brawl just long enough for Carlos to blast Dunc a few times, knocking him out of a 6th story window and winding up impaled on a piece of stray debris below. While Kell "chastises" Carlos, a van of Watchers free Duncan and make off with him. The fight scene I just mentioned was probably the best choreographed action sequence of the film, with bodies flying left and right, fists and feet everywhere, and the constant clash of various weapons!
When Duncan awakens, he finds himself strapped down in one of those Sanctuary recliners, courtesy of a rogue Watcher! Where as Watchers are only allowed to watch what happens between the immortals, this Watcher is far more ambitious, so I'll call him the Do-er. After the killing of the Sanctuary's immortal tenants, the Watchers no longer have a way of keeping the Prize from falling into anyone's hands. So, not the kind of guy to let any of the other kids have a toy he couldn't, the Do-er decided that the only plausable action to be taken was to find another immortal, kidnap him, and lock him up somewhere so no other immortals could find him. By circumventing the "there can be only one" rule, the Do-er plans to keep the Prize constantly up for grabs, even if it costs the target immortal his freedom... but what if something should happen and the only other immortal on Earth winds up accidentally decapitated? Say it came down to Duncan and Kell. With Dunc locked up in the Do-er's subterranean lair, Kell winds up the last immortal on Earth yet is denied the Prize (unlike the events of HIGHLANDER: THE FINAL DIMENSION). One day, Kell slips in the shower, smacks his head off the sink, and gets his head bitten off by a walrus. Now, Dunc gains the Prize, becomes a God, and then what? Will be still be unable to break free from the Do-er's restraints, thereby illustrating that man can in fact overcome and rule God?
Bah! Too much philosophy bullshit for an already too long review! Luckily Dunc's old Watcher pal Dawson (on loan from the creek?) makes a timely appearance, along with the immortal that Duncan sought council with earlier, saving the drugged up Highlander from an eternity of halucinations and sensory deprivation. This where Dawson informs Duncan of the numbers game. You see, when one immortal kills another, he takes their power in the Quickening. Those of you who have seen these movies or read my reviews for them, may have picked this up by now. The more immortals someone kills, the more power they get. The more power they get, the less likely it is to beat them. Though few immortals probably bother to keep track of their kills, the Watchers have a whole fucking database on the subject! At this point, Connor's got himself 262 and Duncan's got 174. Kell? Well, let's see, he's got... 661. Boy, on paper it really looks as if Con and Dunc don't have a heterosexual's chance in a gay bar of beating the formerly passive Kell! Well, on paper anyway... Elsewhere, the mighty villain plays his harmonica. How quaint.
After discovering this disturbing info, Duncan demands to be taken to the burial site of all the immortals killed by Kell and crew at the Sanctuary. After being dropped off at the graveyard, Dunc discovers, who else, but his old clan-brother Connor, alive and well! Yep, turns out Jake let Connor free those blood soaked nights ago, in a move that I'm willing to bet Kell will regret come the end of the movie, just like all the other HIGHLANDER villains. Speaking of Kell, he too arrives at the cemetery, where he harasses the duo, has a short fight with Con. After slashing, stabbing, and skewering Connor, Kell then leaves, threatening to destory everything Con loves in the world, especially his "little brother" Duncan, whom Kell threatens before heading out with his would-be girlfriend Kate. Yep, Kell's more interested in torturing Connor throughout his eternal life than he is in winnign the prize. What's worst of all, in case you haven't noticed, Kell's not interested in the Game or it rules. This confrontation in the cemetery is his second defiling of the "Holy Ground" rule, not to mention the violation of the "one-on-one" rule when his upstart minions attacked Duncan all at once. Kell is a dangerous dude, living by no rules but those he places on himself! Think of him as the evil James Dean.
Speaking of Duncan, while Con goes off on his own again, Dunc tries to set things right again between Kate and himself. Despite his efforts, Kate realizes that the love is gone. But, this doesn't keep her from having a nice round of "let's be friends, but REALLY GOOD friends" sex, giving HIGHLANDER fans of both sexes heavy eye candy... wish my ex-girlfriends did shit like that. All I ever get are boxes of rancid meat and threatening (yet festive) cards on Valentine's Day. Oh well, immortals get all the lovin', Godz get all the hatin'. Soon after Dunc and Kate have try to "mend their relationship" (and that ain't glue Duncan's using), Kell calls together the posse. Their fears are finally realized as Kell, in an act that surprises no one, goes medieval, scissor slicing everyone's heads off! In the original cut (which can be found on disc 2 of the DVD), we see that Kell does NOT kill Jin Ke, but the assassin instead cuts his own head off, denying Kell the power and satisfaction. Also, Kate... well, you'll see. While this happens, another engagement occurs back on the roof of Duncan's apartment building, as Connor reappears to start a fight! Since the two are both too weak seperately to have a chance against Kell, Con thinks it'd be best if Duncan lobbed off his head and obtained his skills and experience for use in the film's final battle. Duncan of course refuses, picking up his sword only with intentions of defense, until Con convinces him it really is the only way. With a tear in his eye and stutter in his throat, Duncan does the unthinkable and cuts off Connor's head, adding his attributes to his own arsenal. One legacy ends so that another can go on. Makes even the stone cold face of the God of Death shed a tear... I was of course refering to Hades, not myself...
So anyway, now with a whole shitload of power and skills to draw from, Duncan goes off to carve some righteous justice out of Kell's ass! Or, more precisely, his neck! The two battle it out in a church/warehouse/steel mill kinda place, jumping around, swinging swords, hitting each other repeatedly in another impressive fight scene! After all the action and the incorporation of simply bizarre and uneven morphing animation, Duncan is victorious, defeating Kell NOT with Connor's special "unblockable" trick (which Kell shows is actually blockable), but with a standard monkey flip-and-slash move. Gaining Kell's power, Duncan is awash in a sea of lightning and explosion, blinding us with a grand finale. Afterwards, apparently just to give us a happy ending, we learn that Kate is alive (the event I was refering to earlier), having been spared by Kell, despite his claim that "a woman is a temple... built over a sewer". We see that immortals really can find true love, as Kate and Duncan get back together and Connor has been put to rest beside his beloved Heather in the rolling hills of Scottland. As for that rogue Watcher guy, well, Dawson took care of him, in a rather "permanent" fashion (in other words, he shot the guy).
All I can say is "wow". After multiple horrible sequels, we get an excellent wrap up like this. Who would've thought? A haunting soundtrack full of energy and stirring Scottish folk music, like you might find at a Riverdance show, only better. Great visuals, excellent settings, a story to please both sexes, an extensive arsenal, just a whole bucket full of happiness! What a sweet end for the series (though I've got odds that Duncan goes on to be in atleast one more flick). After this, the movies will no longer be refered to as "starts off good, then just falls downhill fast", but something more appropriate, like "it's two lumps of shit bookended by two pieces of cinematic art". Well, maybe not that over reactive, but something close. It was sad to see Connor go, but it was a fundemental part of the story and an excellent send off for a sci-fi legend. Besides, Lambert is really starting to show his age, and for a guy who's supposed to be immortal, that's not a good career move. Duncan is a great character, bringing a sense of naivity to the hero that helps people follow along with the story shit, cuz we learn as he learns. Besides, both actors have played the roles so many times in their lives, they know the characters like a chronic monkey spanker knows the back of his hand! As for Kell, he's very close with the Kurrgan to being the best HIGHLANDER villain to date! He's cold, calculated, vindictive, powerful, and only spares the occasional twinge of humor, which is usually witty or thought provoking, not spastic or goofy like Katanna or Kane. Hey, wait a minute... now that I look at it, why are all the HIGHLANDER villains' names starting with 'K'?! Look: Kurrgan, Katanna, Kane, and Kell... coincidence, or something deeper? Uh, yeah, anyway, I'd say Kell would be second only to the Kurrgan, but that'd be like comparing apples with MAC trucks: they're on two different levels. Kurrgan is great for the over-the-top psychotic rage and depravity. Meanwhile, Kell is more distinguished, stylish, philosophical, and learned, a real thinking man's psycho! Also, Kell's total disregard for the Game's rules, makes him a complete and utter bastard. Hell, even the ruthless Kurrgan followed the rules! On a last note, before finally wrapping this up, all you WWF fans out there keep an eye out for Alan Copeland, better know as (and credited as) Edge! He's seen in one of Duncan's flashbacks as "Lachlan": a medieval bandit and, uhm, carrier of styrafoam stones. Gotta love those mangled Canadian teeth...
DVD X-tras: This mammoth double disc edition comes with (almost) anything a true HIGHLANDER fan could ask for! Features on Disc 1 include: a commentary track by the film's producers, editor, and co-executive producers (but no stars?!); a trivia game called "There Can Be Only One", where you have to help Duncan defeat Kell by answering a series of Highlander based questions; a commentated history of the film's visual effects; a few deleted/extended scenes; "Sneak Peeks" for a variety of other flicks from Dimension, including THE CROW: SALVATION (yet to be released as of this review); and for Easter Eggs, there are many easily found "Watcher Files", which contain snippets of info on the Highlander mythos along with others that have outtake footage and background info for the film.
As for Disc 2, it contains the full "Earlier Cut" of the movie, which is basically a rough cut prior to edits in scenes, changes to the soundtrack, sound refinements, and visual FX additions. Also, there is an extensive behind-the-scenes featurette that covers pretty much all aspects of the film. Still, I'd like to know where the fuck the excuse is for the "Kell's got magic powers" stuff we were fed in the movie's trailers... probably the reason that said trailers weren't included in this edition...
Sequels: this is the end... at least for Connor.
If You Liked This Flick, Check Out: HIGHLANDER: THE GATHERING or BEOWULF
