Magnus Martel (Terence Stamp), a wealthy business man and member of a secret society, enlists the aid of his estranged son, Jake (James D’Arcy), to join a team that is attempting to solve the riddle of a box made shortly after The Crucifixion. The Grand Master (Udo Kier) of the secret society, who has lived for at least 2000 years and is the man who killed Christ on the cross, wants the box, and will do anything to get it. After Magnusās island is raided and he and most of the team are murdered, Jake and Mira (Natasha Wightman), an alchemist, set off to find the box and discover its purpose. To find it, they will have to decipher ancient clues, and travel across the world.
A solid entry in what has become an unremarkable sub-genre, Revelation takes several of the earlier entries, adds a touch of Raider of the Lost ArkĀ (actually Temple of Doom), shakes it up with uneven acting and a slightly too small budget, and creates a watchable film.
Revelation confounds viewer expectations, so it tends to be poorly received. The trick is not to assume it will follow a preset story structure. With the search for the ancient ātreasureā that has our heroes traveling around the world with the villains in hot pursuit, people take this as an adventure film. But itās not, and has little adventure and even less action. Needless to say, those expecting car chases, shootouts and a climactic magic duel between the forces of light and the forces of darkness are going to be disappointed. This is a leisurely paced, tension-filled, puzzle film that is based around clever ideas (some new, many reused).
While the basics of the story are easy to follow, the clues that Jake and Mira use to find the ancient artifact are another matter. Obscure is putting it mildly. Or perhaps improbably is a better term. I was waiting for them to find a chalk circle drawn on the sidewalk and say, āA circle is the symbol for eternity, wrapping around the Earth. It is like a continuous flowing river. The whiteness of the sidewalk indicates purity, as the Virgin Mary was pure. Obviously, we need to go to the Church of Mary by the river in Ecuador.ā
The supporting cast, who exist to supply interesting and powerful voices for some of the broader scenes, couldnāt be better. Udo Kier, Terence Stamp, Ron Moody, and Derek Jacobi all know how to announce themselves on screen.
D’Arcy and Wightman need to be more subtle than the supporting players, and subtle they are, but for DāArcy that means stiff and lacking in charisma. Wightman is better, being high on the charm scale, but canāt make up for DāArcy when itās only the two of them trading lines.
Revelation is a derivative, thoughtful, and fun little film, haunted by its potential to be more.