Review – The Fallen Angel 3-Movie Collection

You have to love movie collections in the discount bin or at your local library. When it comes to Fallen Angel I think I paid $5 in the clearance bin some years ago, but you can hop onto WorldCat.org and see if your local library has a copy. If this had been only a 2 movie set or if some studio would have made the sequel to “Priest” which was set up at the ending of the first, this package would have gotten 5 stars.

Legion

We will start with Legion, first of the Fallen Angel collection. This is actually a much better movie than most people give it credit for. It’s incredible to watch now because you get to play the “where are they now” game, even if you don’t intend to. You are going to recognize so many faces.

Who are the Fallen Angel actors you might recognize?

Dennis Quaid, but, he’s in everything. Either he has an awesome agent or he works really cheap.

Lucas Black who most of you will know from NCIS New Orleans as agent Christopher LaSalle or his appearance in Tokyo Drift.

Charles S. Dutton who has been in a lot of things but had his longest run on the Longmire TV series.

Kate Walsh who went on to so many TV shows after, Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice and Fargo to name a few.

Tyrese Gibson who pretty much everyone knows from the Fast & Furious franchise. On a personal note I must say the role he has in this movie is tons meatier (for the audience anyway) than what he does in that franchise. I quite honestly don’t like the character he’s been given there.

Adrianne Palicki, if for nothing else, her roles in G.I. Joe Retaliation and John Wick.

The list goes on and on.

If you are into the occasional action flick with demonic (actually Angelic this time) possessions making people crawl on the ceiling like insects, this is a flick to have on your list. Yes, given the title of the set, each of the films has a bit of a religious bend to them so be warned if that bothers you. All in all, this is quite a good movie in this genre.

Priest

Of the 3 movies in the Fallen Angel collection this is the best. Unlike the previous movie which is set somewhere out west in America, this one is set on some alternate Earth. It is based on a comic book series so it already has a rich depth to draw from when the screen play was created. Once again the movie starts Paul Bettany as Priest. Maggie Q. gives her typical stunning performance. When it comes to both acting and marshal arts the girl has more gifts than possibly as many as 10 other people combined. Click the link to look at the depth of her filmography.

While the movie was done in 2011, it didn’t skimp on the special effects, nor did it go overboard. What is surprising is that none of it looks dated. The movie was originally done in something of a steam punk manner so it was rustic to start with and that makes it appear someone timeless. They even go so far as to show cartoon people shoveling coal during the opening sequences. Kind of a nice counterbalance. They have solar charged motorcycles but the city is coal powered.

The Fallen Angel actors you know from somewhere else

Once again you get to play the “where are they now” game. This movie is even more fun for Star Trek fans because Karl Urban appears in it and most today would know him as “Bones” from the new Star Trek movies.

It’s hard to not like a movie which finds a role for Christopher Plummer to play. In America we let actors become politicians but in Canada it appears they let politicians become actors. This guy’s filmography goes back to before I was born and he is still acting. Not just still acting but doing an incredible job of it. He has done so much work it is difficult for me to choose one you will recognize. At this point it might well be “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.”

One of the more immediately recognizable faces/voices is that of Brad Dourif, at least for science fiction fans. He was Wormtongue in “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” and he was Brother Edward on “Babylon 5.”

I only wish the sequel could have been made right away so the same actors looking close to the same could have been used. I have no idea why this was treated as a one-off movie instead of a franchise. It certainly had a fan base to draw from.

Gabriel

This is the most disappointing of the 3 movies. Saving it until the last of the set was both wise and a let down. After you watch the first 2 you think “Wow! They are getting better, the last one ought to be great!” Oh, someone should have warned us about thinking.

I don’t mean to say the acting is bad. Erika Heynatz does a really great job playing Lilith. Her filmography isn’t that long so I do look forward to seeing more from her.

Samantha Noble really plays Jade, Angel now turned prostitute, well. She has these expressions with her mouth which remind me much of Vanessa Ferlito, another gifted actress who can portray “street wise” just standing there.

What didn’t work for me here was the premise of the movie. I didn’t buy in from the beginning so I didn’t enjoy the movie. Granted I’m a severely fallen Catholic who has not seen the inside of a church in decades, but I don’t remember any chatter about Angels battling for control of purgatory. The concept of it being set up like a game where the light and dark sides could only add Angels one at a time up to seven for each just didn’t sit right. The movie did well generating a post-apocalyptic look and feel but the premise just couldn’t be sold. While there was some solid acting, they should have had a completely different script.

For more movie rental ideas please see list one and list two.