The Prophecy: Uprising proves that not all movies need a sequel (or even three of them), and not every idea can be made into a successful and entertaining franchise.
This time around, the plot focuses on an ancient religious manuscript, called the Lexicon, which continues to write itself and reveal the mysteries of the future. The book, which has been hidden in an old church and used by one of the local priest, falls into the hands of an unsuspecting woman named Allison (played by Kari Wuhrer).
Allison questions her sanity due to hearing voices and soon finds herself thrown in the middle of an epic war between fallen angels. The angels, who are not the cute cuddly kind, naturally want the book for very bad reasons and will stop at nothing to get it.
The first Prophecy came out in 1995 and had a solid story and a great cast – including Christopher Walken and Viggo Mortensen. This sequel lacks both elements of the original film.
Prophecy: Uprising does have a halfway interesting story, but it doesn’t come close to the first movie and loses many of the elements that made the first film stand out. The movie, which is only 88 minutes long, drags for what seems forever and takes an eternity to get moving.
The pacing makes the plot confusing and causes you to lose any interest you might have had in finishing the film. Instead, the movie becomes a chore to watch and just illustrates how far the franchise has fallen since the first film.
Main Menu screen
The acting is solid, but many of the actors are wasted in their parts and you can’t help but wonder just why they took the role in the first place.
Sean Pertwee (Equilibrium and Dog Soldiers) does a good job as a stressed out cop trying to figure out what is going on, but his performance is too little to save the movie. Doug Bradley (Hellraiser franchise) is totally wasted in the film, and fails to bring any of the intensity he delivers as Pinhead.
Overall, the movie has little to offer in terms of entertainment or to any fans of the original Prophecy. It is promoted as a new beginning in the franchise and doesn’t require that you watch any of the past films to know what is happening. It also doesn’t make you want to go back and watch any of the old films to see what you might have missed.<!--page-->
The DVD comes with several special features, but you may not want to watch them after suffering through the film. The extras include an extended ending – prolonging the torture of watching this movie, a deleted scene – which adds nothing to the enjoyment of the movie, a Prophecy Slide Show – where you can see scenes from your favorite parts of the movie, and a making of The Prophecy: Uprising.
The disc also includes a cast audition feature where we get to watch stars like Bradley auditioning for their roles. This is a halfway interesting feature due to the different angles they try for their characters during the audition.
Special Features screen
Prophecy: Uprising is a movie that does little to help a franchise that has been sinking since the first sequel. It has a slow pace, a weak plot and doesn’t come close to being as entertaining as the first movie. Fans of the Prophecy series may be disappointed in the film, but there is still hope - Prophecy: Forsaken, the fifth sequel should be out in September.
The Prophecy: Uprising is available at Amazon . Visit our database for more information about the film.
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