The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, November 18, 1991, Page 10, Image 9
Poorly acted sequel wastes advantages of original film “Highlander 2: The Quickening” By Anne Steyer Senior Reporter Two reels seems generous for “Highlander 2: The Quickening” (Stuart). The second reel is for Sean Connery because he is, well, Sean Connery. Otherwise, this is a flick that takes too long going nowhere. Its predecessor was based on an interesting and innovative premise: A group of immortals, good and bad, progress through time fighting each other, with decapitation being the only way they could die. They fought to achieve the “quick ening,” the end of their journey. Only one of these immortals could achieve this quickening, though, hence the fighting. The quickening gives the winner more power and the choice of mortality. In the sequel, Christopher Lam bert reprises his role of the Scottish highlander, Conner MacLeod. In the original, MacLeod was the focus of the film and the one who achieved the quickening. He chose to be mortal. Unfortunately, “Highlander 2” confuses this premise. It uses flash backs to another planet, 500 years before, to set up a storyline. In so doing, it completely disregards eve rything in the first film. The film uses this lame plot device to give MacLeod back his immortal ity, bring back the long-dead Ramirez (Sean Connery) and create new bad guys. The bad guyscome from the planet Zeist. For social and political rele vance, Zeist is polluted beyond re pair. Of course, no action film would be complete without the female charac ter who immediately falls in love with the hero. Virginia Madsen is stuck in here. She meanders about, looking attractive and doing little else. Given the excitement of “High lander,” this sequel had enormous potential. But throughout the movie, it is impossible to think about any thing but how bad and long it is. The story requires a big stretch of the imagination, and even then is full of loopholes. The dialogue is full of the requisite good guy/bad guy ban ter, but is neither clever nor witty. The characters arc not compelling and Lambert and Madsen arc terrible. Michael Ironside (“Total Recall”) is an OK villain, but he is more cartoon ish than fiendish. Without the flair of Connery, the cast would be nearly devoid of talent. The look of “Highlander 2 is dark and gloomy, but not as slick as the Gotham City of “Batman.” It looks more like the camera had a dirty lens. There are five or six minutes of good special effects, but nothing to compare with the original. The few special effects and the moments with Connery (without Lambert) provide hope, but turn out to do little more than punctuate an otherwise complete disappointment. A University-wide canned goods drive will take place on Nov. 18 - 22. CAN-IT boxes for donations will be located at the front desk of each Residence Hall, Greek houses, and at CORNERSTONE (640 North 16). Contributions will be given to the Malone Community Center Thanksgiving Basket Project. Spon sored by UMHE CONERSTONE. Please help us help others. ■ I I 17th & 'N' St. ■ No Appointments Necessary ■ 476-9466 $600 Off I Full Service Oil Change | I Quaker Stale 10W-304 I Pen moil-10W-30 1 Now For $ -f I | Only I O (Reg. 324.05) I * * We change oil, oil litter up to 5 quarts. * * We lubricate the chassis. I * Ws check and till: transmission fluid, . I brake fluid, battery fluid, power ■ steering fluid, washer fluid. ■ * We check and freeze, air filter, wiper blade, tire pressure, vacuum Interior, wash windows. BdSt Service in Just 10 Minutes Most brands available I Expires 12-31-91 Mon -Fri. 8 to 6 Sat 8 to 4 iLots of good things happen when you make a plasma donation. You can change the quality of life for a hemophiliac, burn or shock victim. r__j 1442 O' Street « 475-1358 't--—-— I I t I I I i I i i i i i i i i i t i m i i • i | *. / .. ' Brian Shellito/DN Scorsese movie chilling, witty “Cape Fear” By John Payne Senior Editor When Marlin Scorsese and Robert De Niro get together, great things happen. Given their remark able track record (“Taxi Driver,” “Raging Bull,” “GoodFcllas”), any Scorsese-De Niro collaboration creates high expectations. And rightly so. “Cape Fear” (Cooper), a remake of the 1962 classic, is a towering accomplishment for both the di rector and the actor. Part morality talc, pan rollercoaster ride, it’s the best psychological thriller to come along since “Fatal Attraction.” The story begins at the Georgia State Penitentiary, where convicted rapist Max Cady (De Niro) is re leased after serving a 14-year sen tence. While in the joint. Max has plotted revenge against his lawyer, who, as Max puls it, “sold him out.” In truth, his grievance is justi fied. Max’s attorney, a public de fender named Sam Bowden (su perbly played by Nick Nolle), bur ied evidence that would have helped his defense: Max’s victim, a 16 year-old girl, was sexually promis cuous. That fact, Sam reasoned, would have lessened the jury’s sympathy for the girl, in turn less ening Max’s sentence. With that in mind, Sam makes the rather unethical decision to sit on the information and allows his client to go to prison for 14 years. Once illiterate, Max emerges from his cell a student of Nietzsche, the Bible and American law. The latter enables him to torment Sam and his family without winding up in jail. At first, Max’s harassments arc subtle. In a movie theater, he sprawls out in front of Sam, his wife and his daughter, puffing away on a cigar and laughing wildly at the film. When Sam lakes his family out for icc cream, Max is there to pay the bill. Before long, Max is spying on the Bowdens at their plush estate, menacing Sam’s wife (Jessica Lange) and seducing his daughter (newcomer Juliette Lewis). Had it played out on this level alone, “Cape Fear” may have been a routine drama. But with each scene, Scorsese lightens the screws a little more, allowing his film to gather strength like a storm. As Max stalks the family, he forces them to confront the per sonal lies that exist just beneath the surface of their picture-perfect world. Much of the fun derived from this taut chiller — and there are several darkly humorous moments — is the product of Scorcesc’s scaring wiL In the legally-minded ’90s, it’s probably fitting that the cruclest thing Max could do to Sam is take him to court. Ultimately though, “Cape Fear” is De Niro’s movie. With his most drastic change of appearance since “Raging Bull,’’ his portrait of a calculating psychopath is liable to give folks nightmares. "•JeTma'ITctW1 Phillip Glynn, a senior art major, prepares to hang one of his paintings Sunday in preparation for his exhibit in the the Nebraska Union. Glynn’s collection is the first in a series of student art displays sponsored by the Union Board. grandmother's 1 /2 rita Mondays Glasses /I starting at ” $1.25 flavors Liters to cllOOSC starting! from! 5 p.m.-12 a.m._70th & A Art Continued from Page 9 of math and science courses, he said, and needed a creative outlet. He ended up failing those classes and switching to a liberal arts program. Glynn said he decided to study on photography, fearing that studying other types of art would make them less appealing to him. “1 was afraid if I made it academic, I wouldn’t enjoy it anymore," Glynn said. UPC-Visual Arts chairwoman Kristine Mueller said the committee hopes to provide three rotations next semester. Each rotation will show case a different artist or group of artists.