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© Orange County Register, September 26, 2001
By JOHN MONAGHAN
Knight Ridder Newspapers
A bigger budget only means Michael York has better-quality scenery to chew in
"Megiddo," the sequel to the 1999 evangelical Christian thriller "The
Omega Code."
The first movie was a bona fide success story - a low-budget, Hollywood-style action movie in which God, not Schwarzenegger or Stallone, rode in to save the day. In a savvy bit of grass-roots distribution, its producers rented theaters, generated word of mouth through churches and grossed an estimated $12 million to make it the most successful independent film that year.
"Megiddo" doesn't mess with a successful formula. Devil/media mogul Stone Alexander (York, Shakespearean in the hammiest sense of the word) establishes a new world order with himself as dictator. This way he controls the Megiddo region of Israel, the holy spot where, according to biblical prophecy, an epic military battle between good and evil will unfold.
Most other countries have joined him, with the exception of the United States and China, the former run by Stone's brother David (Michael Biehn from the first "Terminator"). Their exchanges are hilarious, not only because of the campy acting, but in the way each quotes Scripture to his own advantage. "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away," David sneers through clenched teeth as he cocks his gun for the final showdown with Stone.
In terms of production values, "The Omega Code" had straight-to-video written all over it. "Megiddo" does too, but it tries harder to look like a real movie. It employs a DeMille-like cast of thousands in its crowd scenes and an arsenal of computer-generated effects. These include a smoky hound from hell and a climactic battle with tanks and fighter jets that is at once loud, confusing and disturbingly bloodless.
While devoid of graphic violence and sex, "Megiddo" is just as pandering to its own demographic. It's an action movie by the numbers, though in this case the numbers are chapter and verse from the book of Revelation.
"Megiddo" will find its audience in fans of apocalyptic thrillers, though the images of a Middle East holy war, with the Sphinx and Roman Coliseum laid waste, may be difficult to enjoy in light of our recent tragedies.
