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.

It seems that contemporary filmmakers find it difficult to deal seriously with religion. It's much easier to latch on to something in the Bible that they don't quite understand (the Ark, Mary Magdalene, the book of Revelation) and try to create supernatural thrillers under a cloak (in this film's case, a LITERAL cloak) of religiosity.This film is never quite sure what genre it wants to belong to. Is it just a bloody horror show, or an apocalyptic thriller, or perhaps even a post-WWII neo-Nazi conspiracy film? You might think any of the above, depending on when you started watching. There is some wonderful scenery from the French/German border area, along with astounding stunt work and adrenaline-rush chase scenes. But the plot never clicks, and the ending, although full of excitement, is empty of meaning and resolution. The underground scenes, drenched in water, almost made me wonder if Jeunet took over the direction at that point.Jean Reno and Christopher Lee are both thrown away in their generic roles as tough cop and dastardly villain. Lee's final scene is such a blatant ripoff of the end of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK that I wonder how he did it with a straight face. I saw this on cable with closed captioning. I would have preferred French dialog with subtitles. The English dubbing is lifeless (with all Europeans using bland American accents), and the captioning frequently disagrees with the audio track, occasionally even mistranslating French idioms. Skip this one unless you just want to skim the action sequences!

This sequel is just disappointing. It starts with the great Vincent "Dobermann" Cassel not being in the second part anymore, but he wouldn't save that stupid story anyway. There are many interesting ideas, but when it comes to tie them all together, the end is mostly stolen from "Raiders of the Lost Arch". But there's even more fun in that flick: Nazi monks on 60 year old steroids, which make them invulnerable to bullets... Gimme a break! I wonder if Besson will ever learn that world war 2 is over (remember those evil German villains in "Taxi"?). Part 1 was far better, the story, and especially the appearance of Vincent Cassel. I really wonder how Besson/Reno can make masterpieces like "Leon" on the one hand, and junk like that movie on the other hand.

In Lorraine, close to the border of Germany, the Chief Inspector Pierre Niemans (Jean Reno) is investigating the death of a man behind of a wall of an isolated abbey. Meanwhile, the efficient detective Reda (Benoît Magimel) is investigating the attempt of murder of a man called Jesus. They come to the same point along their investigations, join forces with the detective Marie (Camille Natta), a specialist in religious matter, and fight against Heinrich von Garten (Chritopher Lee), a German Minister of Culture and Religion, and a group of powerful monks.What a mess is this "Les Rivières Pourpres II - Les Anges de l'Apocalypse"! Using the same character of Niemans from the good "Rivières Pourpres", this movie has some good moments, such as the dark atmosphere and Reda pursuing a monk through roofs, houses, sheds and streets. But the plot is totally confused and quite silly, wasting what could be a good movie. I expected much more, and in the end I was completely disappointed with this movie. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "Rio Vermelhos 2 – Anjos do Apocalipse" ("Red Rivers 2 – Apocalypse Angels")