OK, for those of us that remember the 80s and 90s Denzel Washington sorta kinda totally ruled. He was all that and a bag of chips...And now, for the most part, he is playing the smart clever cop...over and over and over and over and over and over again.What the heck happened Denzel? In "Training Day" you played a cop, but you played a villain cop that was so evil that you made us all hate you! You turned "Malcolm X" into a great movie despite Spike Lee's involvement! And now you play the same role over and over again. You are breaking our heart...But for those of you that love the type-casted Denzel, Fallen will work for you. Again he's the clever and wise detective, but this time the movie has a creepy and delightfully fun supernatural twist...Plus it was made when Denzel was still acting and not just phoning it in, so, you know, you have the REAL Denzel Washington, not the made-for-TV Denzel Washington.And on top of the fact that this was made when Denzel was great and still actually acting, you have a small but powerful Elias Koteas role.Elias Koteas the B-list actor that ALWAYS brings his A-game to every film no matter how small the role is. And in this movie, the role is tiny and so well done that you walk away remembering that tiny little role as powerful, as fantastic, as, well, A-game awesome.Koteas literally outshined Washington when Washington was at his finest. He introduced us to the film and set a bar so high that everyone was forced to deliver their best work.And then the plot, the creepy demon that can jump from body-to-body by a simple touch. You haven't seen that before and you won't see that again. Not only that, but it was done so well that you will never listen to that Rolling Stones song the same way again.The movie is start-to-finish clever. The acting is brilliant. It is a must-see.

Shortly after thinking that he'd brought an end to a series of murders, a homicide detective starts to realise that the perpetrator is still at large and is also someone who couldn't possibly be arrested or brought to justice by conventional methods. The way in which his investigation leads him to these findings and the formulation of a highly unconventional plan to end the killings, provides "Fallen" with its extremely offbeat plot. This well-written story begins very colourfully in a way that raises a lot of questions and then proceeds through the investigation stage before reaching it brilliantly twisted conclusion.Having been responsible for capturing serial killer Edgar Reese (Elias Koteas), Detective John Hobbes (Denzel Washington) visits him on death row immediately prior to his execution. Reese's behaviour at this time is rather strange as he thrusts his hand out strongly to shake hands with Hobbes and sets him a riddle to solve. He then talks loudly in ancient Syrian Aramaic and later, in the gas chamber, loudly sings "Time Is On My Side" until he can't anymore.A little while later, Hobbes has to investigate a further series of murders which are carried out in the same style as those committed by Reese and a clue he finds at one of the crime scenes leads him to research the case of a well-respected detective from his department who, 30 years earlier, had committed suicide at a remote woodland cabin after being accused of crimes he didn't commit. Hobbes' research leads him to the detective's daughter, Gretta Milano (Embeth Davidtz) who's a theology professor. She's initially very reluctant to talk but confirms that her father took his own life because of incriminating evidence against him which he felt he wouldn't be able to disprove.When Hobbes visits the cabin where Milano had killed himself, he finds the name "Azazel" written on one of the walls and Gretta later confirms that it refers to a fallen angel who, after being cast out of heaven, had been made formless as a punishment and could only continue to exist in the bodies of others. The demon's ability to pass from body to body simply by touch made it extremely dangerous and impossible to stop. Hobbes begins to realise that he's actually in a dual against a very formidable adversary who's determined to destroy him and so, when evidence starts to appear which implicates Hobbes in the murders he's investigating, he knows that he's rapidly being put in the same situation that detective Milano had been in and so devises a scheme to outwit the demon and bring a permanent end to the havoc he wreaks.Denzel Washington is very natural and believable as the decent detective who has never taken a bribe in his career and believes that cops are "the chosen people". This extremely rational man remains typically methodical and professional as he pursues what turns out to be a supernatural serial killer and is confident that his approach will eventually enable him to put a stop to the demon's killing spree. John Goodman, James Gandolfini and Donald Sutherland all do well as Hobbes' police colleagues and Elias Koteas makes a powerful impression in his role which gives him tremendous scope to display his abilities.Thrillers which include the type of subject matter featured in "Fallen" often resort to sensationalism, gratuitous violence and endings that use some previously unknown piece of information to bring matters to a close. The fact that "Fallen" avoids all these pitfalls is very much to its credit, especially as its brilliantly twisted conclusion follows on perfectly from all that preceded it and puts an entirely different perspective on what appeared to happen in the movie's opening scenes.

As far as the sub genre of supernaturally tinged detective vs. Killer mysteries of the 1990's,(Virtuosity, The Prophecy, In  Dreams etc) Gregory Hoblit's Fallen stands out as one of the best. It's a somber, sardonically written, Gothic influenced chiller that is absolute cinematic joy from beginning to end. Denzel Washington is reliably solid as John Hobbes, a sharp detective who's caught a vicious killer Edgar Reese (Elias Koteas in a cameo so scary you want to hide behind your couch), and oversees his execution. Reese's casually cavalier attitude and malevolent theatrics leading up to the execution unsettle Hobbes, but not as much as when an eerily similar copycat killer begins taunting him long after Reese's death. Enigmatic clues, visits from strangers who mysteriously know him and a sense of impending dread lead Hobbes to believe that Reese wasn't human, and is reaching out from beyond the grave to continue his murderous legacy. The plot gets spiritually ethereal and uses some very unique situational scares that are highly memorable. The colour palate and mood of the film are absolutely gorgeous, using a gauzy, earth toned,  fluttering brown moth wing style aesthetic that haunts the characters, and a darkly humorous screenplay that gives the actors dialogue and character feasts. John Goodman and James Gandolfini are fantastic as Hobbes's detective colleagues. Embeth Davidzt is down to earth and human as a mythological expert with secrets of her own, and other memorable support is provided by Robert Joy, Gabriel Casseus and Donald Sutherland. There are an endless parade of cop vs. serial killer films in the post 70's all the way to present day. Some pedestrian, some with lofty twists on the convention. Some work splendidly, some are crap. But in a sub genre so crowded with entries, you need to give yours a special brand and aesthetic that will make your effort stick in people's minds as something unique. Fallen succeeds very well in this way, and is a spine chilling popcorn flick with a grounded, serious undercurrent of shadowy, haunted house stylistics. Highly recommended.

I tried to watch this film..had never heard of it ( probably for good reason) but I saw Goodman and Sutherland et al and thought I would watch. It is boring. It takes part of the exorcist and a few other movies ( seven and maybe a 3 stooges flick) and tries to braid something spooky and coherent.. it does not succeed. Washington is typical Washington..all dentures and con..but basically just another black guy that Hollywood decided to make a star ( samuel Jackson is another)..anyway, he cannot carry the movie- a total waste of time..I kept wondering what was happening and what was gonna happen..and guess what ? nothing happened. ever.like a seinfeld episode.clean the link out of your navel instead.