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Megiddo: The Omega Code 2 |
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With a foreboding, apocalyptic feel,
Megiddo tackles the culmination of the
Great Tribulation by zeroing in on two brothers.
One becomes the Antichrist. The other, the
president of the United States. Quite a family
legacy!
This sequel to Matthew Crouch’s 1999
film The Omega Code
opens with a journey back in time (1960,
Resten, Va.) to highlight the wicked
inclinations of six-year-old Stone Alexander.
Reacting furiously to the death of his mother
and suffering from an estranged relationship
with his television-entrepreneur father, this
soon-to-be Antichrist exhibits the seeds of evil
sprouting within. Stone even tries to burn his
baby brother (David) to death in his crib. When
The Guardian ceremonially anoints the boy
with blood and the devil possesses his young
body, Stone intones, "I am Lord!" Clearly, this
is no irate Huck Finn.
Twenty-five years later, brother David is a
senator. And Stone is a rising star within the
10-nation confederacy known as the
European Union. This is the point at which
Megiddo catches up in time with
Omega Code. David is elected Vice
President of the United States, one of the few
countries not on board with Stone’s one-world
government plan. Realizing he must work for
peace, President Richard Benson meets with
Stone, only to die at his hand. This, of course,
pushes David into the presidency. Meanwhile,
the world is suffering through the various
outpourings of God’s wrath as the Great
Tribulation unfolds. Riots in London. Famine.
Infestations of demonic locusts that go forth
from Stone’s mouth. Prophecy foretells the
ending. Megiddo merely puts colors on
the canvas.
• positive
elements: Clearly, this film was produced
as a way to plant spiritual seeds. Its primary
goal is to communicate that God does have a
plan that involves the glorious return of His
Son and that He wins in the end. It succeeds.
There’s also an interesting lesser truth lurking
here. It is possible to do "good" things
with evil intentions. Near the film’s end,
Gabriella (Stone's wife) is confused. How
could her husband, who has helped her feed
much of the worlds’ poor seem so brutal and
vile. "I fed the poor because the quickest way
to control is through their belly," is his sinister
explanation.
• spiritual
content: Spiritual roots run deep beneath
Megiddo. But they are the same ones
that anchor The Omega Code. So for
an in-depth look at their structure, read Bob
Smithouser's "Spiritual Content" and
"Summary" analysis of The Omega
Code.
• sexual
content: None.
• violent
content: This critic not only flinched, but
jumped several inches off his seat when The
Guardian drags a knife across his hand to
draw blood for the anointing of young Stone.
Stone murders his father by throwing him over
the railing of a multi-story building (the fall
almost kills him; Stone's evil touch finishes
him off). When David becomes president, the
FBI shoots it out with the Secret Service (a bit
more hokey than gratuitous). The movie
culminates, as the title suggests, in the fields
of Megiddo in Israel for the world’s final war.
The body count is substantial, and explosions
rip apart vehicles and buildings. One person
catches on fire and runs about in pain and
panic. A winged and grotesque Satan morphs
from within Stone’s body and thrusts his hand
into David’s stomach.
• crude or
profane language: Meeting with Stone,
President Benson tries to get quickly to
business, rejecting the idea that they should
first "blow smoke at each other’s hind
quarters." The word "hell" is tossed around as
an exclamation a couple of times.
• drug and
alcohol content: Gabriella smokes. Wine
is available at a dinner.
•
conclusion: "Maybe it’s the
religious element in the film that makes it so
creepy. ... You start to wonder if what is
happening could really happen as the Bible
says." That wasn't written about
Megiddo. It was written about The
Omen. But if this is true for Omen,
it’s certainly true for Megiddo.
Personally, I came away with mixed feelings.
First, I realize that there are individuals who
could benefit by seeing this film because it
may stir up a hunger for spiritual truth. But for
Christian families seeking Friday night
entertainment, it’s too dark and too disjointed.
Sure, Revelation itself describes the terrible
tragedies and bloodshed of the earth's final
hours. But not in Technicolor, and not 20 feet
tall. Outside of my deep desire to see
Christian films succeed, I find it hard to root for
Megiddo.
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