The Prophecy II (Widescreen)

Four years after the events of The Prophecy, Gabriel returns and the war in the heavens continues unabated. It is surprisingly difficult to find good guys among any of these angels, but the new plan to thwart Gabriel's long-sought destruction of humanity involves the far less than immaculate conception of a child to human and angelic parents. As Gabriel himself points out, the existence of Nephilim upon the earth didn't work out very well back in the early days following Creation - but it's apparently the best plan the archangel Michael can come up with. Somehow the existence of a new Nephilim, possessing the powers of an angel and the free will of a human, is supposed to bring the warring angel factions together. It doesn't make much sense to me, but hey - I'm just a puny human incapable of understanding the advanced wisdom of heaven's forces.

If you're wondering what happened to Thomas Daggett, would-be priest turned detective turned prophet from the first movie, that question is answered early on in this sequel. From there, the focus of the story quickly turns to Valerie Rosales (Jennifer Beals), who engages in the world's weirdest one-night stand with a man (actually an angel) she hits with her car (actually, I believe he hit her car as he fell from heaven). Anyway, the universe's fastest-growing unborn child is conceived, and it's up to the baby's father, Danyeal (Russell Wong), and the archangel Michael (Eric Roberts) to protect both child and mother from Gabriel. Coming along for the ride this time is Izzy (Brittany Murphy), whom Gabriel has kept alive following her lover's pact suicide with her boyfriend. Gabriel can turn people to salt and turn rivers red with blood, but he can't drive a car or operate the most basic of computers.

As in the first movie, Christopher Walken steals the show. All other characters, no matter how important they are in terms of the second war in heaven, are merely bit players in Walken's world. Sure, Gabriel hates all of us "monkeys" whom God elevated above angels when He gave us souls, but it's pretty hard to root against this guy - especially since the archangel Michael turns out to be (in my opinion, anyway) a great disappointment. This is supposed to be the angel that led God's forces against Satan's rebel legions in the first war? Thankfully, there are some other angels brave enough to face Gabriel, as there's nothing like a good throw-down between ethereal forces.

I actually enjoyed this sequel more than the first movie. Walken may well be the only actor capable of truly portraying Gabriel, and he is absolutely at his best in The Prophecy II. There's even more dark humor this time around in terms of his relationships with humans and their technology, and I found this ending (particularly in terms of the setting) much better than that of the first movie. Fans of The Prophecy will almost certainly enjoy The Prophecy II as much if not more than the original.

Think you would want to actually meet an angel? As this film points out, angels always had one wing dipped in blood. For whenever God needed a people, a city, a nation to be chastised- he sent angels to do the killing. The angels in this film, both in terms of quality of acting and special effects are very, very believable.

Another thing that sets this film apart is it's theological and metaphysical sophistication. A very good case is made for a second war in heaven. This is because when God bestowed his Grace, his holy spark, unto humans, he raised them up above the angels. Some angels, like Gabriel, just couldn't stand being made second to "a bunch of talking monkeys."

In this sequel, Gabriel returns to earth. This is due to the fact, as Lucifer states early in the film, Hell isn't big enough for both of them. However, this time instead of searching for the one perfect Dark Soul to turn the tide of the heavenly war, he is searching for the new Nephilim, a child of the union of angel and mortal, heaven and earth. Such a being would have the power of an angel combined with the free will and divine spark of a human.

Oh yes, you also get more of the humerous" scenes of Gabriel intercepting the souls of suicides to serve as his helpers. In this case it is a goth girl named Iggy. I don't know why this should be so funny, but it is....

I couldn't think of an actor other than Christopher Walken who could have pulled off this role- who could believable be opposed to the forces of heaven and hell. You actually believe that he would burn down heaven to make his point....

All-in-all, I would say that this is one of those rare sequels that is as good as the original. My only complaint is with the sound levels. Much of the dialog is barely above a whisper. If you boost your sound loud enough to hear it clearly, then you get blasted out of the house by the action sequences.

I loved the first film in the series. I did not care for this film. It didn't have enough fresh ideas, and some of the new ideas were just stupid. The main problem was with the cast's talent, or lack thereof. The first one in the series had a great cast all-around. But, in most returning roles, new faces replaced the original actors. I guess the originals from the first film weren't interested in being in a strait-to-video release.
The Prophecy 2 has one big thing going for it, and that is the scenes between Christopher Walken and Brittany Murphy. Walken is his naturally creepy self in these scenes. Brittany Murphy, as the Goth Girl "Izzie", shows that she can hold her own in scenes with big-time actors (as she did three years later in "Don't Say a Word").
I think the film is well-worth viewing just to see those two opposite each other. But still, only for fans of the first film, or if you're a Christopher Walken or Brittany Murphy fan.