Review: Highlander 2 (1991)

Review by Disgruntled Monkey

Director: Russell Mulcahy
Starring: Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery and Virginia Madsen
Writer: Peter Bellwood

Highlander 2 was the first Highlander movie I actually watched. It wasn't until I watched the original that I realized how insane this sequel is. But despite being insane it's also got a reputation for being one of the worst movies ever made. However i'm about to put forth a controversial statement. While it's not a good movie, it's far from the worst thing put out there.

First off the acting isn't bad at all. You've got Sean Connery who is a great actor. Christopher Lamber who may not be the best but has a very easy charm to him. Virginia Madsen who's a great actress in her own right and finally Michael Ironside chewing the scenary as the main bad guy. There not given anything solid, in fact they are given some insane stuff to deal with but they are still engaged with the movie.

Visually the movie is a mixed bag, but in my opinion creates an interesting and bleak world which does feel rather oppressive. Some of the special effects are cheesy, but other manage to hold up and are still more impressive than your Sy Fy fare. There are also some fun set pieces that manage to really create a nice sense of action.

Where things truly fall down is the story. Mr Bellwood must of been on some serious drugs when he wrote this because nothing really makes sense, nor is it explained. Everything from the original is changed or morphed slightly. The biggest change would be that the immortals are now aliens rather than being mystical. From there the movie goes about with out a real care for the original and no regard for trying to make sense. All the films problems stem from the script and Russell Mulchy who doesn't seem to try anything to stem the bat shit insane.

Highlander 2 has things going for it but it's truly buried beneath a big pile of steaming script shit. Taking a look at where the series went I can't give too much crap to this sequel cause the weird is at least entertaining. If you want to dive into Highlander start at the beginning, but if you are a fan maybe give it another look. It's not the end of the world.

Category	Rating	Reason
Entertainment	0.5 sword out of 1	Despite not making sense it's fun in an insane way.
Script	0 swords out of 1	The first case for negative points.
Acting	0.5 sword out of 1	Good actors make this crap bearable. Kind of.
Directing	0 swords out of 1	I think Mulcahy was never in full control
Technical	1 sword out of 1	For the time it looks good and some stuff holds up today.
Overall	2 swords out of 5	I've seen true movie abominations and this isn't one of them.