lastliberal I have a thing for Jean Reno. Ever since I saw him in Godzilla, I have been searching for his films. This is the completion of Crimson Rivers, and it is great.No, it won't win any awards, but it's enough to see Reno as Commissionar Niemans again, strongly supported by Benoît Magimel (The Piano Player, The Child of the Night), Camille Natta, and the ever evil Christopher Lee (Wicker Man, Lord of the Rings).Lots of blood and a weird story based on end times and a book supposed written in God's hand. Heads roll, people are nailed, and monks fly through the sir. Fantasy? Oui. Reno est magnifique. C'est tout ce des sujets à moi.

gradyharp While many new writers search for bizarre story material as subject for action thrillers, few have looked to the scariest source of all - St John's Book of Revelation from the Bible. So it is from the pen of Luc Besson ('The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc', 'The Transporter', 'La Femme Nikita') adapting a screenplay from the novel 'Les Rivières pourpres' by Jean-Christophe Grangé that we gain some visualization of the predictions of the Apocalyptic end of the world. And it is as scary as you remember from reading the Bible as a child! Commissioner Niemans (Jean Reno) partners with Reda (Benoît Magimel - the hunky fine actor from 'The Piano Teacher' and 'The Flower of Evil') to investigate a series of crucifixions linked to a near secret abbey. Because of the ecclesiastic nature of the murders a church scholar Marie (Camille Natta) is called in to advise and it is with her skills as an expert on Revelation that she teaches Niemans and Reda the meanings of the breaking of the various Seals, the four horsemen, the events leading up to the prophesied end of the world, and provides the intellectual backup to the thriller chase sequences attempting to apprehend the monks posing as Angels of the Apocalypse provided by Niemans and Reda. Add to this mix the fact that the Abbey is connected to the Maginot Line from WW II and that a German entrepreneur Heinrich von Garten (Christopher Lee) has for some odd reason purchased the Abbey for this own secret agenda and all of the ingredients for a edge of the seat suspense movie are in place.Reno and Magimel make a terrific screen team with just the right amount of humanism and humor to allow some tension relief for he story. The special effects are excellent as is the cinematography and musical score. Yes, there is considerable blood and guts as each of the 'surrogate apostles' is murdered, but the camera doesn't linger longer than necessary to make the point.The problem with the film is that it runs out of steam in the end and gives the feeling that someone called "Cut" making story end far too abruptly. But other than that this is a fairly interesting enactment of the Biblical prophecy of the Apocalypse, updated (?) for the audiences of today! Grady Harp, May 05

mario_desoet Well this movie urged me to vote(10) and write comments to it! I am a great movie fan, in particular horror movies and detectives, one of my favorites is se7en.This movie leaves the viewer guessing for a long time about the bad guys, what are they? Well I will not spoil it for ya(too much) but there is an explanation for everything! I really loved this french movie(English spoken).If you can go and see/buy it, I liked it more than the first one and even more than a lot of other movies.It has some great chases and unsuspected action.Really this movie will be liked by horror fans as well as action fans.

SnakesOnAnAfricanPlain Like the first film I had high hopes for this, mainly because I am a big fan of Jean Reno. Most of the signs weren't good though, with Vincent Cassell and Mathieu Kassovitz both being absent. However Christopher Lee joins the cast and the dark atmospherics in the trailer were promising. It begins like many a religious murder mystery thriller, well not quite but still. A monk enters a room in a monastery and hammers a crucifix into the wall. He screams as blood begins to pour out. Niemans is called in, because like he says later whenever a strange case comes up he is put in charge. It is discovered that a body lies behind the wall. Reda is a young cop investigating a completely different case, and beating up a drug dealer. Quite how a French policeman trained in martial arts just so happens to come across a drug dealer who is trained in the same martial arts is quite amazing. Especially since Vincent Cassell's character also knew martial arts, one might think that the part is essentially the same character just with a new name and back story. Maybe so. Reda happens to run into a Jesus lookalike, and Reda and Niemans join forces. More people start to die, all who have the same names and jobs of the apostles. Some very tense scenes such as a chase with a superhuman monk. Another sort of chase sequence in a supermarket add to the action side of the film. Sometimes they seem as though they come out of nowhere and are just shoved in. They are very good action sequences though. Finally after a long time Christopher Lee comes in and is criminally underused, it transpires he is searching for a book, but the book is a trap and that is it. The film certainly has potential, Reno is good but seems to just be on automatic pilot. Unfortunately no characters are developed and the story is interesting but can't be pulled off while it is littered with boring people. The atmosphere is excellent though, with the dark brooding style adding to the dark nature of the film. In action terms the film has a lot, however by the end the cringe worthy joke between the two cops, and the drinking of a 'magic potion' that gives you super strength is laughable. The plot is also sort of skimmed over, and nobody questions the fact that these people might very well be Jesus and the apostles. At points you will probably be left confused. No matter though you will be entertained, and you may forget about the film soon after watching it. But it wont matter.P.S. You don't have to see the first film to see this.