Highlander III: The Sorcerer

Tricked that he won the Prize, Connor MacLeod wakes up from a peaceful life when an enshrined immortal magician comes hunting the Highlander.

Clark Collis said in his review, “The plot may not be any less far-fetched and Lambert’s Scottish accent is certainly no more Scottish, but the third installment in the Highlander story finds a franchise at least partially back on course after its lame predecessor.”

Taking place in between the first two movies, Christopher Lambert reprises the immortal swordsman Connor McLeod, now living with his adopted son, played by Gabriel Kakon, in Marrakech. Obviously, it doesn’t last and the Highlander soon sees his peaceful life threatened when the powerful, clearly anti-social Kane, played by Mario Van Peebles, escapes from 400 years of imprisonment with the mission of decapitating Lambert. Problems start to arise when the appearance of the lovely archaeologist Dr. Alex Johnson, played by Deborah Kara Unger, who ends up being, unsurprisingly, Lambert’s French revolution era mistress in a past life. Collis said, “The scene is thus set for a return to New York and yet another bout of dark threats, Gallic posturing and excessive swords ‘n’ sorcery hokum.”

Without Sean Connery’s mentor figure will be sorely missed, and the Versailles flashbacks are really ridiculous, but there is some real effort being put in “Highlander III: The Sorcerer (aka Highlander: The Final Dimension),” released in 1994. Collis said, “Debut director Morahan pulls off a few dazzling special effects and Lambert hones in on a splendidly fitting grim stoicism. Best of all is Peebles who spends the entire movie stalking around in silly costumes and muttering such corkers as “Four hundred years is a long-time to hate” like a man who’s got the next Bond villain job in the bag.” Large, mindless enjoyment, but be careful to try not to laugh too loud at the sad parts.

This may be a lame sequel, but it’s in a good way.

If you didn’t like the last movie, this film will redeem itself for you. It doesn’t hold a candle to the first film, but that will be a tough one to top. Check it out for yourself and see how you enjoy it.

Look out next week when we review the next film in “Highlander Month.”