Les rivières pourpres II - Les anges de l'apocalypse (2004)

Director:

Olivier Dahan

Writers:

Luc Besson (writer)
Jean-Christophe Grangé (characters)

Release Date:

18 February 2004 (Belgium)

Genre:

Thriller | Action | Crime

Tagline:

An unholy crime... An unstoppable killer... Caught in a deadly tide.

Plot:

Pierre Niemans faces the threat of the apocalypse while investigating a series of ritual murders.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Monk | Ritual | Mythology | Religion

Cast

Jean Reno	...	Pierre Niemans
Benoît Magimel	...	Reda
Christopher Lee	...	Heinrich von Garten
Camille Natta	...	Marie
Johnny Hallyday	...	L'ermite borgne
Gabrielle Lazure	...	La femme de Philippe
Augustin Legrand	...	Jésus
Serge Riaboukine	...	Père Vincent
André Penvern	...	Père Dominique
Francis Renaud	...	Flic Reda #1
David Saracino	...	Flic Reda #2
Michaël Abiteboul	...	Flic #1
Eriq Ebouaney	...	Flic #2
Jo Prestia	...	Emilio
Cyril Raffaelli	...	Prêtre tueur

Also Known As:

Crimson Rivers 2: Angels of the Apocalypse (International: English title)
Crimson Rivers II: Angels of the Apocalypse (UK) (DVD title)
Crimson Rivers: Angels of the Apocalypse (USA) (DVD title)
I fiumi di porpora II - Gli angeli dell'apocalisse (Italy)
Les anges de l'apocalypse (France) (working title)
RP2 - Les anges de l'apocalypse (France) (trailer title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence and some language.

Runtime:

100 min | France:97 min | Switzerland:87 min | Argentina:97 min | Mexico:98 min

Country:

France | Italy | UK

Language:

French | German | Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Spain:13 | New Zealand:R16 | South Korea:15 | UK:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Chile:14 | Finland:K-15 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Netherlands:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:NC-16 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | USA:R | Norway:15

Filming Locations:

Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg

Company:

Studio Légende

Trivia:

The guns used by the main characters in this film are: Niemans (Jean Reno): Taurus PT 99 Reda (Benoit Magimel): HK P2000 Marie (Camille Natta): Ruger SP 101

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: The shadow of boom mic is visible just after the army go to the monastery, at the bottom left corner, in the forest.

Quotes:

Reda: You still never told me.
Commissaire Niemans: What?
Reda: The name of your dog.
Commissaire Niemans: I found an interesting name, a dangerous dog's name.
Reda: For a Yorkshire?
Reda: Yes, I called him... Reda!

Movie Connections:

References Der Schatz im Silbersee (1962)

Soundtrack:

No Fun

Desperately Seeking a Longer Running Time

Jean Reno's detective Niemans is back hunting the mind behind a bizarre series of murders and disappearances, all with a religious overtone. It all begins with a bleeding wall in a monastery and goes from there as twists seem to be leading us toward the end of the world.

I would like to report that this is at least the equal of the earlier film (One of the best thrillers of the past five or six years), but I can't. This is a film that has too many characters and too much plot with the result that you're hard pressed to work out whats happening. Characters such as Mary, a religious expert, or Christopher Lee's ominous business man are never more than cyphers. We get to know nothing about them. There are plot twists or points that are never fully explained. Watching this I had the sense that this was suppose to be about an hour longer but that it had been chopped up to its shortest possible running time. I'm led to believe this by the fact that whats on screen alludes to more than we're seeing, this is a film thats alive off the screen. I wish that they had taken the time to explain more.

None of it is really bad, although the acrobatics of the killer(s) in monks robes are much too far over the top for the films own good.

In the end as a rental or on cable this is okay, but but given a choice I'd watch the first one again over this.

Should Luc Besson read this: Please do another-and better- film with Reno's character. He's too good a creation to die after only two outings.