Highlander: The Source – How to Kill a Franchise

zOMG. We just finished watching the new Highlander: The Source… I don’t even know where to start. If you saw Highlander 2: The Quickening and liked the total incontinuity with the rest of the films and series then you’ll still hate this. Okay, okay, hate might be a strong word. If you took a Highlander story, and you had someone without much experience in American films rewrite the screenplay, then you had Tim Burton rewrite it, then you let a random person on the street rewrite it, then you filmed that – this is what you would get. My wife (those two words come up alot…) is utterly flabbergasted at this one bit at the end. For some reason someone in charge decided that at the end of the movie – just before the final scenes that resolve the plot – we should see all the key scenes from the whole movie over again. All of them. Methos (Peter Wingfield) seems to go through all the sides of his personality that he developed through in the series within minutes, akin to someone with a multiple personality disorder. The words Adrian Paul used in the special features of the dvd for this were “character development”. Duncan (Adrian Paul) seems to mostly be a disillusioned shell of his former self throughout the movie until the final climax. I think the only character from the past who seems to be true to form is Joe Dawson (Jim Byrnes.)

I would say the plot of this film has holes – no wait – what’s the plural for abyss? The sad thing is, this story and plot had so much potential for them to just screw the pooch entirely. If you just have to have your Highlander fix (we did, we do) then you’ll have to see this anyway. The only redeeming values are that now we know the resolution and can reimagine how it should have been done, and this is the first thing we’ve seen Adrian Paul in since Tracker. (Yes, I have IMDB I know he’s been in other productions since then, but I can’t be bothered with them.) On a sidenote, I will have to research what happened to Alien Tracker, seeing Geraint Wyn Davies (of Forever Knight – see my boxed sets shelf ) and Adrian Paul in one show was just holy even if the show never made a real go of it.

On the off chance that anyone at Panzer Productions, Adrian Paul, or anyone else related to this film ever see or hear of this – please, please, pretend this was H2 and just make another real Highlander movie!!!

~ by wynneth on April 17, 2008.