I don’t really do Instagram but I do tend to stop by now and again to see what’s going on on a few accounts I follow (generally movie and shark-related content).
A few weeks back I saw a post from @ewlyd.season.2 (check him out on Instagram and Facebook). It was a clip from a movie I hadn’t seen for years and after finally watching it again recently I’m wondering if I’ve ever actually seen it from start to finish until now.
Fallen (1998)
If you haven’t seen it, it’s a supernatural mystery/crime/thriller starring Denzel Washington (The Book of Eli), John Goodman (The Big Lebowski), Donald Sutherland (The Hunger Games), Embeth Davidtz (Bicentennial Man), James Gandolfini (The Sopranos) and Elias Koteas (Let Me In) among others.
This is what it’s about according to the internet:
“After witnessing the execution of serial killer Edgar Reese (Koteas), whom he arrested, police detective John Hobbes (Washington), and his partner, Jonesy (Goodman), are soon investigating another murderer whose mode of operation is eerily similar to Reese's. In the course of the investigation, Hobbes meets theology professor Gretta Milano (Davidtz), who introduces him to the world of the occult and the possibility that an evil spirit is behind the killings.”
I like these kinds of movies.
We all have our favourite genres, and horror (not that this can be classed as horror) and anything slightly supernatural always gets my attention.
Another film I like for similar reasons is End of Days (1998) starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. It’s sadly one of his more underrated films which also falls under the same genre as this one. But anyway, that’s a post for another time…
I love rediscovering films. I always get a kick out of you guys telling me that you’ve gone and watched, or intend to watch a movie I’ve done a post about. It’s great to have a platform where I can spread the love for certain films that might’ve been forgotten about. Occasionally the same thing happens to me when I see something online about a film I haven’t seen in a while.
Watching a movie for the first time in years can often be just as enjoyable as the first time we watched it. That’s kind of the case for me with this film.
It’s no wonder Denzel Washington is such a legend. Not only is he a fantastic actor, he’s done just about every kind of movie you can think of: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, Romance, Thriller, War, Western, Biographical - he’s even done Shakespeare a couple of times! In fact the only genre I haven’t seen him do is comedy. I guess some actors know where their strengths lie.
Every film I’ve seen starring Denzel Washington has delivered and has been engaging on different levels and this is no exception.
As you’d expect Denzel is on full form in this, as are all of his co-stars including a rather weighty John Goodman (I’d forgotten how much weight he lost).
The premise is interesting, the movie itself is engaging and despite critics not being overly impressed (as I always say, what do they know about movies?) I think it’s a really good watch and one that has maybe been forgotten about and buried underneath so many of Denzel Washington’s more critically acclaimed films like Training Day (2001), Man on Fire (2004) and more recently The Equilizer (2014) and its 2018 sequel.
If you somehow haven’t seen this film I highly recommend tracking it down, especially if you’re a fan of Denzel Washington and/or enjoy a good supernatural crime thriller.
I really enjoyed rediscovering this movie! Thanks to @ewlyd.season.2 on Instagram for reminding me it was out there.
Seen it? Let me know below.