It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Good movie but grossly overrated

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

While the production teams behind the latest Hellraiser, Dracula, and Prophecy films certainly deserve credit for trying to take said franchises into new territories, most of their efforts to breath new life into the series never quite come through as successful. Fans will forever dispute over which elements of the original should stay the same in the sequel, which elements should evolve, and which elements should change entirely.Prophecy: Uprising gets it right.Christopher Walken's character, the fallen angel Gabriel, has rightly left the franchise as his story has come full circle in Prophecy 3: Ascent (although, admittingly, a cameo would've been nice -- minor gripe.) Uprising continues the spirit of the Prophecy films with angels warring on earth over the fate of Heaven, Hell, and God's favor. This time around, the war continues with the fallen angel, Belial, seeking an ancient text which shall foretell the coming apocalypse in detail.This text, the Prophet's Lexicon, has fallen into the hands of a young woman named Allison. And while the angel, Simon, guides her away from the demon, the film mainly follows the detective Dani who has gained a new partner, John Riegert. Dani and John investigate a series of bizarre murders where the victims have had their hearts violently removed, which ties back to Belial and sooner or later all the characters shall come face to face.The curious thing about Prophecy Uprising, and the factor that I admire most, is how the plot feels almost inconsequential in the sense that fans already have a clear idea where the film is heading (and non-fans won't be very far behind, either.) Barring superficial changes, the storyline doesn't differ too terribly from the original Prophecy, yet Uprising manages find its own voice via its new Romanian locations, its new cast and creative team that pay proper respects to Walken and Widen, but still manage to make the performances and the film their own. This slight distinction gives Uprising a surprisingly refreshing flavor and raises it above what I expected to find in a third sequel (direct-to-video, no less.) The film opens with a slightly heavy-handed chase sequence (did we really have to hide the pursuer?) that contains an interesting, somewhat jarring, moment where the nameless man scales a wall, leaving the rain-soaked streets of Bucharest to enter a white wintery domain for seemingly no reason. It offers an interesting other-worldly moment to the chase, which I welcome in this age of overused chase sequences. The man looks around at the changed surroundings in shock, then flings Romanian currency behind him in a nice slow motion shot as he continues his flight from the unseen pursuer. When caught, which tends to happen to characters chased in movie openings, the pursuer turns out to be a crooked detective (the aforementioned Dani, played by Sean Pertwee) who proceeds to rob this wasted junky of whatever cash he has left.But from there John Light takes the spotlight, not making much of an effort to hide the angelic enigma behind his character's alter-ego (thank you, John Light.) In a film franchise about angels, the mystery behind detective Riegert would not stay a mystery for long, so John Light rightly makes it plain to the viewer from the get-go. And there's a certain charm to his interpretation of an angel incognito -- a playful nudge and a wink, if you will, for those who would figure out the, ahem, "surprise" early. Looking over a crime scene, with barely any observation he notes with a distinct lack of interest, "I think you'll find the heart was removed before your friend fell." The film focuses primarily on the partnership between John and Dani and their investigation of the murder string. Kind of a buddy-cop film, if you will. Right up until John unveils his true nature to Dani in a mansion that houses the spirit of atrocities from Dani's past. A kind of "hell on earth" Riegert muses while the ghosts haunt Dani's conscience in a series of slick, well cut, flashbacks. I particularly liked this exploration of Dani's treacherous history that builds on the truth we've already seen -- that this detective does not represent spiritual purity, and yet we follow this character.Meanwhile the film cuts away just enough to drive the story of Belial's pursuit of the more pure protagonist, Allison (Kari Wurher), until the inevitable confrontation where angels and humankind have their final showdown in a wonderfully atmospheric location, laced with blue light, and deep shadows. I loved the restraint and simplicity of the ending, I loved the shot composition that shows John Light as little more than a silhouette in the background as an implied protective force -- keeping Allison and Dani under his wing, so to speak -- so they have a chance against Belial.Flawed? Indeed. Leaving quirky questions like "Why did Dani empty his gun except for two bullets going into the final confrontation?" and "How come the heart-rip theme seems inconsistent at the end of the film?" But never mind. I was impressed that Uprising managed to find its own voice while pulling a few unique tricks out of its hat, ending the film on the note that they did. I watched with satisfaction as the victorious angel walked into the sunset to burst into a flock of birds. Cue the end credits and the end of this review.

I never thought I would enjoy any of the sequels as much the original but this one changed my mind. Even without Christopher Walken, I found myself involved in the complex story and its shifting moral ground. The locations in Eastern Europe were dark and brooding, just the right place for a movie that delves into the characters' haunted pasts. Sean Pertwee and John Light were excellent, as was Georgina Rylance as the possessed maid. If I had any problem at all with the story, it would be that I have seen the soul-shifting hook used before. And what a nice surprise to see Doug Bradley in a role that lets him show that he isn't just a terrific Pinhead. Apparently the Romanian dialogue was supposed to have subtitles and the studio left them off. It would have been nice to know what they were saying but somehow I feel I understood them anyway.

The first three movies were about the angels who stood beside God during the first war in Heaven and then divided; creating a second angel war. This movie seems like the beginning of a new story concerning a division between those who had fallen in that first war.While, sadly, there is no Christopher Walken, there really is no part or place for Gabriel in this story. This is about God's as yet, written prophecy and how Hell's minions want to use it for their own purposes.The central character of this movie is Dani (Sean Pertwee), a Romanian cop with a past, but the central character of the story (this movie and the next) is Allison (Kari Wuhrer) who, for lack of a better term, "inherits" the One bible, in which God is writing the last chapter of Revelations. Whoever gets God's final Revelation first will have the upper hand, not only in Hell, but Heaven as well. Unfortunately, too soon after we figure this out, the credits are rolling. This leaves the character-build of Allison incomplete and one can only hope we get a clearer understanding in September's follow-up, The Prophecy: Forsaken.To sum up, if you're a Christopher Walken fan looking for Gabe to toot his horn one more time, don't bother with this film. If you're a Kari Wuhrer fan, you'll probably be disappointed with the lack of her character building. If you're a Sean Pertwee or John Light (as Satan) fan, or a fan of the series in general, this movie is a must!Side Note: One possibly implied reference to a character in the original series: During the internet chat session where Dani's trying to gather information about corpses missing their hearts, he gets a reply from "joseph_1995". Reference to Thomas Dagget's autopsy doctor friend, Joseph (played by Steve Hytner) and the year the original film was released???

First of all I really enjoyed the first 3 movies, yea it was drug out a long time and all but they were still pretty good. I see why it says that this movie can stand alone because it doesn't even follow the same direction the other movies had. For instance whats this crap that the "angels" have to live in human bodies thats a really big jump from the beginning of the series. It's like a body snatchers movie for crying out loud. But anyway the plot line itself didn't make much sense if you follow the first three. The first three dealt with the war between heaven and fallen "angels" this movie was about a war for a new hell. As a movie by itself it would be alright but it shouldn't be given the privilege of being in the original Prophecy movie series. It should've been given it's own name. Yes I'll probably buy the next one that comes out just to see where it goes and how it ends.