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.
