Coventry Review of The Prophecy 3: The Ascent

The Prophecy 3: The Ascent (2000 Video)

Angels as LAME as they Come...

[2/10 · 30 September 2008]

The third and final (as far as I'm concerned, at least, since I won't ever bother to check out the two remaining 2005 sequels) entry in the "Prophecy" franchise is an irredeemably weak and time-wasting dud. The second sequel to the really intelligent and ingenious 90's horror classic lacks pretty much everything you seek in a horror movie: a coherent plot, diversity between the good and evil characters, suspense & excitement and gory killings. Although Christopher Walken still incomprehensibly stars in the film, the new production crew has taken away the ONE element that made the franchise unique, namely Walken's malicious persona. After his defeat in the second film, Archangel Gabriel remained on earth but gave up on fighting the great heavenly war and became a hermit with long filthy hair. He still wanders around and observes the new angels that arrive on earth to fulfill his old task, but he himself remains on the background and even leans towards the good side. Can you imagine Christopher Walken as a good guy? What's next, Satan selling Girl Scout cookies for charity? The plot revolves on Danyael, the now adolescent angel/human hybrid son of Jennifer Beals in part two. He's killed in human form whilst blaspheming God but resurrects again as an angel with a mission. He sets out to the desert for a confrontation with Pyriel, the angel of Genocide, to end the Second War of Heaven once and for all. Meanwhile, there's another mean angel – Zophael – who tries to stop him. The main default in part three is the lackluster character development. With Walken out of the picture, the story lacks a strong and menacing villain. Vincent Spano and Scott Cleverdon can't hold a candle to Walken and Brad Dourif is shamelessly wasted in an insignificant role. A proper main character is lacking on the good-guys side as well, for that matter. You naturally don't accept Walken as the hero, but also the Danyael character is too weak and unconvincing. At a certain point halfway through the film, it even looks as if Joseph the pathologist – who briefly appeared in both previous installments – is going to become the leading man and that would be a really moronic twist. The special effects are lame and not the least bit satisfying to horror fans. The climatic battle between Danyael and Pyriel looks more like an MTV commercial instead of a horror movie finale. "The Prophecy III" in an incredible waste of time, money and effort. There are only two moments in the entire film that are worth mentioning and, of course, they both involve Christopher Walken. The first shows him visiting the same roadside bar where he went in the first film with Amanda Plummer and the second involves him trumpeting along with The Tornados' song "Telstar". Altogether these moments last perhaps 3 to 4 minutes and they're hardly worth the agony of sitting through the entire movie. Skip it.