THE BLACK SHEEP is an ongoing column featuring different takes on films that either the writer HATED, but that the majority of film fans LOVED, or that the writer LOVED, but that most others LOATH. We’re hoping this column will promote constructive and geek fueled discussion. Dig in!
End of Days (1999)
Directed by Peter Hyams
“End of Days is darker, more demented than anything he attempted before.”
So Arnold’s back. Well, not yet, but chances are he’ll be back soon on the big screen, hamming it up and shooting someone with a slight smirk. Now that he’s out of office, it seems everyone is speculating what the big fella might do next. I’ve always been a fan of Schwarzenegger. I, like every kid of the 80s, grew watching him. And still to this day he, along with Stallone, represent the only true action heroes that I ever believed in. I like The Rock, he’s entertaining and has good charisma, but he’s missing something. Something Arnold had. The Austrian seemed like a cartoon hero who, despite that goofy ass accent and his inability to say phrases, had the charisma to keep people coming back. So it’s interesting that he’s returning, when we know he’ll be older and softer. Now since I got my direct line to the Big Oak’s office disconnected, I decided to look to the past, deep into the Black Sheep’s vault. And one movie stuck out…1999’s End of Days. Yep, the one where Arnold battles the meanest, baddest bad guy of all time…Satan!!!
Not only is End of Days a decent action movie, but I see it as the last great Arnold film. Why? Well, a few reasons. 1: Because it’s the last one that look like it had a budget. The thing looks great with state of the art (for the time) effects and scenes that are both dark and interesting. 2: It’s the last movie where Arnold looked interested. He looks like he knew this was his comeback vehicle and damn it, he wanted it to be good as it’s his one attempt to do something different. He wanted to (SPOILER – SPOILER – SPOILER ) …die. He wanted to take a character further than he ever had. Sure, he still shoots up people and delivers a few bad one-liners, but the overall tone of End of Days is darker, more demented than anything he attempted before.
I’ve always seen End of Days as Arnold’s last gasp. After the bomb but that was Batman and Robin, Arnold took two years off then made this. He made movies after End of Days, but none made an impact, and none did he seem all that interested in. He was chasing. But with End of Days, you could tell he was determined to truly become an actor. Not saying he fully succeeded, but God did he try by attempting to play a tormented, haunted soul for the first time in his career. Unless you count Twins. Here, Arnold plays Jericho Cane, an ex-cop who fronts a security team. He’s the ultimate badass like always, but the movie quickly establishes Arnold’s state of mind showing him alone with a gun to his forehead. This is not the Arnold we’ve seen before! Dun, dun, dun! Okay, so maybe I’m goofing on it, but in all seriousness, this is perhaps his best attempt at actually acting. And he does a pretty good job with it. In fact, most everyone brings their A game. Kevin Pollack is good and his funny sidekick (surprise, surprise). Robin Tunney is believable as the devil’s bride. Director Peter Hyams does his best Seven impression, though I wish it would have stayed closer to that at times.
If you look back at all Arnold films, they’re only as good as their villain. With End of Days being about the end of the world and all (remember the Y2K craze?) it only makes sense that Schwarzenegger needed to battle Satan as he invaded the Big Apple looking for his chosen bride. I particularly enjoy Gabriel Byrne’s version of Lucifer. He may not be as creepy as say Robert DeNiro in Angel Heart, but that’s not really the attempt. Instead, his version of Satan is more like a douchebag jerk. He likes to make out with women, eyeball them, talk shit to teenagers, and smirk when he has them killed. He’s a bit like a spoiled child. I’m sure Satan probably is a jerk, but I don’t ever remember seeing him played like this before.
Speaking of which, for a big Hollywood production End of Days goes for the juggler of Christianity. It’s not that the movie trashes the religion, but Arnold’s character just doesn’t care anymore. He’s beaten down and broken. To him, both the Catholics and the Satanists aren’t that different. Everyone is against him. It’s probably how he felt at the time. The muscles weren’t as tight as they once were. This would have been a good movie to wrap his career up with, kinda like John Wayne in The Shootist. Instead, we’ll have another Terminator. Or maybe Twins 2: Back in the Saddle.
Disagree? Buy the DVD and discover for yourself.