End of Days (1999)

End of Days (1999)

7/10

Starring

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Gabriel Byrne

Kevin Pollak

Robin Tunney

Directed by Peter Hyams

No matter what the critics say, I believe End of Days is one of the best Arnold movies I’ve seen. The setting and lead character persona in this film are not typical of the Arnold movies we were used to when it was released.

The movie did get panned by critics, even though I think it kind of broke even at the box office. What I enjoyed most about the movie was the acting of everyone except the two leads—and that’s what most people didn’t like about it, too.

End of Days places Arnold in an uncomfortable role, and you can see his discomfort throughout the movie. For me, even though he struggled to settle into the role and deliver the emotional depth needed to carry the film, Robin Tunney did a lot of the heavy lifting, as did many of the supporting cast.

At first, Robin’s portrayal came off as annoying, and you might wish she hadn’t acted that way. But as the movie progresses, she really helps make it memorable.

End of Days starts with a scene at the Vatican in Rome, where priests and the Pope panic and discuss the coming end of the world. This apocalypse will begin with the birth of a child, who will ignite the events leading to the end of days.

The devil has decided to wait two thousand years after the birth of Christ to impregnate a woman who will then give birth to the anti-Christ. The path to this requires a man possessed by the devil—or some sort of demon—who walks the earth, torturing others while waiting for the right time to mate with his chosen woman.

Their paths cross with Arnold’s character when he’s hired to protect the possessed man after he’s shot at by a priest, who also has a picture of a girl (Robin Tunney). Now, Arnold is interested in the case, determined to find the girl and get to the bottom of the murder attempt—even though he’s unaware of the religious and spiritual forces at play.

I can see why people may not like this movie, even I have some issues with it, like in the case of the devil being portrayed as perverted. I didn’t have a problem with the idea of making him perverted and loose, but the scenes showcasing his perversion were so uncomfortable and silly. I believe the writers could’ve done a better job with the devil’s sexual perversion. 

Also, End of Days struggles with pacing, especially when it lingers on uncomfortable moments and awkward character dynamics. The plot, though intriguing, feels disjointed and leans too heavily on cliched supernatural tropes, which takes away from its potential to be something more.

After Eraser (1996), Arnold, for me, dove into a string of crappy movies—from the guilt-tripping Jingle All the Way (1996) to playing Mr. Freeze in one of the worst movies ever made, Batman & Robin (1996), which is also the worst Batman adaptation.