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This addition to the glut of "end of the millennium" movies that plagued us all last year can be summed up with a handful of C's: cheap, cheesy, cliched, clumsy and contrived.
Basinger is Maggie O'Connor, a nurse in the Big Apple who winds up with her junkie sister's baby on Christmas Day. Six years later, somebody is killing six-year-olds. Enter former seminarian and current FBI agent John Travis (Jimmy Smits). He's the Bureau's expert on occult crime, and he's convinced the children are victims of a Luciferian cult with roots in the 16th Century. Why? Because all five--like Maggie's niece, Cody--were born on December 16, 1993, when the "Star of Bethlehem" made a return engagement. Do I have to say that Cody is, of course, the new avatar of Christ and that these Luciferians are looking for her? Didn't think so. It's hard to decide what element of this example of soporific cinema is worse. How about the decidedly Latino Smits having a name like "John Travis?" Or the scene where Travis looks at some symbols scrawled in the dirt by the chief baddy, satanic high honcho Eric Stark (Rufus Sewell) and pronounces them a "16th Century Druid spell." Uh, people--by the 16th Century the Druids were long gone. Just a little historical note. Then there's Basinger's O'Connor, the ultimate in "I can do this all by myself" movie heroines. Usually, there is at least some degree of official heel-dragging to inspire this attitude, but O'Connor has Travis to back her up practically from the start. Why, then, she dives headfirst into situations she is obviously neither equipped nor prepared for where she could end up being very dead is anyone's guess. Of course, the bad guys never do get rid of her. You just can't get good help anymore. Or one could bring up the CGI monsters, which look like they were borrowed from some horror comic. That would be bad enough, but they are so totally gratuitous they become a joke. "Oops, time to dump a roomful of rats into the plot." My viewing companion has a suggestion, which I think has merit. He said that to watch this movie, one should schedule an entire evening. Start with Bless the Child followed by some other apocalypse movie (I recommend The Omen) and complete the evening with Dogma. Or, better yet, just enjoy the last two and leave this one on the shelf to collect dust. If we're lucky, it will get buried. Go To Page: 1 2
The copyright of the article Basinger Bombs: "Bless the Child" in Science Fiction Films is owned by Elizabeth Burton. Permission to republish Basinger Bombs: "Bless the Child" in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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