Crimson Rivers - Angels of the Apocalypse (2004)

OLIVIER DAHAN, OPUS 4

** 2004. Written by Luc Besson and directed by Olivier Dahan. Two policemen try to understand why a group of months are committing ritual murders in the neighborhood of an old monastery. After the excellent first episode The Crimson Rivers directed by Mathieu Kassovitz in 2000, ANGELS OF THE APOCALYPSE is a big letdown. Christopher Lee undoubtedly accepted his role to pay his taxes, the French pop star Johnny Hallyday slurs four words, the whole movie seems illuminated by blue, red and green spotlights and there are some hectic months making a lot of diarrhoeal Chinese jumps in the background. Inadvisable. September 26, 2008

LUC BESSON!!

Just one name for a good movie with a touch of humor: Luc Besson!
And see it in org. language!! If not ,You loose the feeling! May 17, 2008

Nowhere near the first CRIMSON RIVER

Jean Reno,
A fine actor. This movie just wasn't worthy of him. The first "Crimson River" was one of the finest filmed movies I have ever seen. The cinematograpy was gorgeous. Angels of the Apocalypse just didn't measure up. Sort of a Davinci Code with "ninja monks"? February 8, 2008

NAILED!

In the vein of "Indiana Jones" meets "The Davinci Code" it unfolds along the lines of "Law & Order : SVU" and "Seven" - very creepy - borders somewhat on the supernatural but once you're thrown into the Melange - you're stuck.

Reno is Excellent as Niemans - as is the Beniot Magimel as his side-kick [literally a role requiring physical stamina] and Camille Natta as the Expert on Revelations.

This one's quite a treat in all aspects, especially the minimal yet very effective art direction.

Styalish, creepy and load of dark fun! August 6, 2007

Mad Nazi Monks

I'm not sure why this is tied to "Crimson Rivers" since the only thing in common is there are Nazis. This movie goes in more for action than mystery. It is a decent movie but the separate investgations like in the first movie aren't as mysterious and the other police officer is not as appealing a character or actor as Vincent Cassel was in the first movie. Cassel made a good partner for Reno in the first movie and I would have preferred he had been in this one as well. Cassel did better when he was on his own and he had chemistry when he was with Reno. It would have also given a little more credence to it being a sequel.

A group of religious men hiding from Nazis that work out of a monastery with underground tunnels to Marginot bunkers was not quite as intrigueing as the serial killer at a university in the mountains. Mainly I think because Crimson Rivers was made to be a murder mystery and it did a great job of dropping clues that you could follow. This movie is more like something thrown together and tries very hard for intense action and not enough on the mystery. The story centers on a murder investigation at a monastery leading to further investigations of monks killing people. They find out the monks are actually Nazis looking for a religious artifact. It is still certainly worth seeing, just don't look for it to be anything like a sequel to the first movie. Worth a rental or possibly buying as a set with "Crimson Rivers". July 27, 2007

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