You've seen the ads for End of Days, right? So you know to expect big special effects. Now, if there is a plot, which is highly questionable, it is that Arnold Schwarzenegger has to protect a young New York lass from becoming the mother of Satan's child. Satan, it seems, has one chance--at the end of every millennium--in which to procreate. And if he succeeds, the world as we know it will be no more.
Satan's window of opportunity is just one hour, between 11 p.m. and midnight on the last day of 1999. The problem is obvious? Why did Satan choose New York City as his Bethlehem? Or does he have a 60 minute reproduction opportunity in every time zone throughout the world? I guess we need to take a catholic attitude on this one, and accept the plot in blind faith.
End of Days stinks, there's no other way to describe it. Don’t waste you're time on this drivel, unless you enjoy watching a random stringing together of special effects, which include Arnold displaying superhuman strength. There's even precious little creativity here. When Satan comes to earth he absorbs the body of Gabrielle Byrne, which is the form he keeps for most of the film. But in the end, when the Byrne body has been pulverized, Satan erupts into this huge clear jello looking monster that would not be astray in Dore's illustration of Dante's Inferno. And amazingly enough, all the Satanic helpers are incredibly useless. It's like all Batman's arch enemies, none of them can get good help. And Satan shows them no mercy. Which leads me yet another interesting point. Where do you go if Satan gets mad at you, do you get thrown out of hell?
But I digress. . .
End of Days is interesting since it hits two social hot buttons. Humans have an incredible tendency to be superstitious, and the minute when 1999 becomes 2000 has really got us going. And rightly so! It's enormous. Even though the millennium doesn't change until 2001, we are still facing the moment when the1900s become the what? The 20 hundreds? The 2 thousands? I don't even know how to say the word? Not to mention the problem with check writing. Then there's the other hot point. At the end of last century Neitsche claimed that God is dead. At this end of this one, it's apparent he's still alive and motivating the movies.