Starring: Michael York (Stone Alexander), David Biehn (David Alexander), Diane Venora (Gabriella Francini),Udo Kier (The Guardian), R. Lee Ermey (President Richard Benson), David Hedison (Daniel Alexander)

Synopsis: When the apocalypse is nigh, good and evil duke it out through brothers David and Stone Alexander.

Review: It's Labor Day, 1960, and young Stone Alexander is sad. He misses his mother, who died giving birth to his younger brother David. His father tells him to be a man and stop grieving, so when the nanny's back is turned, Stone sets fire to the crib, with baby David inside. From there, things only get more dysfunctional for this affluent Virginia family. See, Stone is possessed by evil and wants to take over the world, and David is an agent of Truth, Justice and the American Way, and a warrior for God. When Stone eventually climbs to the head of the EU and is a bona fide world dictator, only American President David Alexander (and God) is left standing between Stone (the Devil) and total world domination.

Such is the incredible tale related to us in Omega Code 2: Megiddo, yet another take on the ever-popular fundamentalist Christian apocalypse story. The title implies rather strongly that Megiddo is a sequel to the 1999 apocalypse thriller The Omega Code, but do not be ye fooled. The only thing these two films have in common is Michael York and his character Stone Alexander. Otherwise, they are entirely different movies, and it's probably better if you haven't seen the original The Omega Code, because Megiddo is a far superior product. Sort of.

Not to say that Megiddo is necessarily a great movie. It's a lot better than many others in its genre, but there are still plenty of cringe-worthy moments to set one's teeth on edge. In its favor, Megiddo has very good production values for a straight-to-video release. It's also incredibly well-acted, with several identifiable faces in the cast besides York, including Udo Kier (Yuri in Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2, and Yuri's Revenge), R. Lee Ermey (Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Full Metal Jacket) and Chad Michael Murray ("One Tree Hill," "Dawson's Creek," "Gilmore Girls"). The writing is above par for this type of thing, borrowing elements from "The West Wing," The Exorcist, Black Hawk Down and Chronicles of Narnia. The result is an interesting, though not quite even blend of fantasy, suspense and drama that tones down the overtly Christian dogma and doesn't rely on group prayers and preachers for plot. That last point alone separates Megiddo from the rest of the pack.

As much as Megiddo does well, it still makes many of the same mistakes of other End Times movies. For one thing, it's too long. Once Stone is ruling the world things move along very well, but the pace is hampered by a bulky, biographical beginning. Its amateurish dependence on over-the-top stunts to show who is good and who is evil cause unintentional laughs throughout the movie. It vacillates between corny and quality so much that I felt like I was doing a mental tug-of-war to stay invested. Speaking of corny and over-the-top, Michael York is definitely channeling a combination of Dr. Evil and Darth Sidious in his portrayal of Stone "Antichrist" Alexander (I'd also like to know how an American raised in Italy ends up with a clear British accent). I kept waiting for a handlebar mustache and a few "BWA HA HA HA"s. I mean, ouch.

This brings to mind another irritating point that none of these Bible-based movies ever address--for all his obvious Biblical knowledge, how come the Devil never remembers that he's doomed to fail at the end? Every time he loses, it takes him completely by surprise while everybody in the audience with even a passing familiarity with scripture is thinking, "Well, duh, ya moron. What'd you expect?"

And what kind of name is "Stone Alexander" anyway?