HIGHLANDER II: THE QUICKENING

   Film (1990). Davis-Panzer/Lamb Bear Entertainment. Dir Russell Mulcahy, starring Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery, Virginia Madsen, Michael Ironside, Allan Rich. Screenplay Peter Bellwood, from a story by BrianClemens and William Panzer, based on characters created by Gregory Widen. 100 mins. Colour.

   This is a sequel to Highlander (1986), which was a pure fantasy about two immortals, one good (with amnesia) and one bad, who battle through the centuries. The sequel begins in 1999 with the sword-wielding immortal Scotsman (Lambert again) saving humanity by building a shield to replace the destroyed ozone layer. Moving forward to AD2034 we find a corporate DYSTOPIA in the subtropical twilight (shot inArgentina) beneath the shield, which is now maintained only for corporate profit, the ozone layer being in much better condition, though this is kept secret. The protagonist - who turns out to be an ALIEN - oscillates unnervingly between youth and age, mortality and IMMORTALITY, before disposing of the shield and the alien warlord (Ironside) who has temporarily become a partner of the corporate villains. Rumoured production problems and budget cuts may explain the incoherence of what could have been much more fun.

   PN