Angels Fallen: Warriors of Peace movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Angels Fallen: Warriors of Peace

This sci-fi, indie thriller is now playing on Amazon.

RATING: R

LENGTH: 1 hour 43 minutes

Movie Review Mom GRADE: C+

IN A NUTSHELL:

This movie is the sequel, of sorts, to Ali Zamani’s movie Angels Fallen, which released in 2020 and starred Michael Madsen and Eric Roberts. This is an indie film, not a Hollywood blockbuster, so lower your expectations just a bit.

The film was directed by Ali Zamani and co-wrote it with Chris Kato. They both play a demon in the movie in the scene where it attacks Denise Richards’ character. One played the demon on set while the other played the voice in post-production. Thank you to the studio for sending me a press screener to review their film!

The story is about a depressed and faithless man who is haunted by the war in Iraq. He is approached by a mysterious man who tries to recruit him to stop an evil archangel from raising an army of the dead to take over the world.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

This is too scary and violent for kids.
Lots of violence with dead bodies
Profanity in English and Spanish, including many F-bombs
Racist comments like “Cracker”
Bloody images of body parts
We see a woman tied up in only her underwear
We see scantily clad women and a topless one in a strip club
Scary images of the army of the undead

THEMES:

PTSD
War
Good vs. evil
Leap of faith
Crisis of faith
Choices
Friendship
Loyalty

THINGS I LIKED:

It’s always good to see Cuba Gooding Jr. in anything. He seems to be embracing his religion because I’ve only seen him in Christian movies lately. Don’t get me wrong…this is not your typical Christian movie; however, it has religious undertones and messages of faith.
Denise Richards was really funny in her role. I wish she got more screen time. She replaced the character Newton from the first Angels Fallen movie of 2020. There is a quick reference to him in a scene to explain it away.
There were quite a few cast changes from the first Angels Fallen movie. The only actor who reprised his original role was Michael Teh as Michael. The current cast includes Josh Burdett, Arifin Putra, Randy Couture, Korrina Rico, Lee Kholafai, William McNamara, and Greg Canestrari.
Some cool special effects! The demons all look super scary and well thought out. The quality was unexpectedly good for this low-budget indie.
The location scouts did a fantastic job! The live locations were terrific and really elevated the scenes.
I’d love to know where they filmed the library scene. It looks like a gorgeous library in Europe somewhere. Much of the film is supposed to take place in Georgia, Russia.
There are plenty of action sequences with intriguing weapons to keep you entertained.
There’s an interesting little twist at the 1 hour 39-minute mark.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

The archangel Michael in the Bible is actually the GOOD guy. This movie flips it for some reason, making him the evil villain. Why?
There’s some shaky cam. I hate shaky cam. For example, the fist-fight/boxing sequence wasn’t filmed very well.
A lot of the acting is pretty bad.
I like Denise Richards but her filled lips and fake eyelashes were super distracting. She’s naturally beautiful and doesn’t need all of that.
Not all of the CGI moments looked good.
Some of the dialogue was cringy; however, as a university professor, I was pleasantly surprised to hear the word “whom” used correctly!
The musical score is often too loud and overpowers the scenes.
The pacing runs fast and slow, resulting in a choppy flow with rough transitions.
I would love to have heard more humor to balance out the heavy, melodramatic moments.

FUNNY LINES:

“Is this where we kiss?” – Paul (Lee Kholafai)
“I am Debra and, no, you can NOT call me Deb.” – Deborah (Denise Richards)

INTERESTING LINES:

“They say that where words end, music begins, that it’s the language of the soul.” – Balthazar (Cuba Gooding, Jr.)
“It takes a leap of faith.” – Padre (Greg Canestrari)
“Faith is a matter of trust. You could have the resolve to run toward the ledge, but you believe someone will catch you if you jump.” – Padre (Greg Canestrari)
“God is always talking to us. We just have to stop and listen. At the end of the day, you may have faith but, it is always something we’re finding.” – Padre (Greg Canestrari)