Bardlerx Strictly average movie

WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Claire Dunne One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

fung0 Great acting, great sense of realism, clever plot... somewhat let down by a low-on-logic finale. If the entire audience can see the final twist coming, I think the cop should be able to see it too. If he can't, then he's not really clever enough to be starring in his own show.It's notable that the whole serial killer scenario of Messiah bears a more-than-passing resemblance to David Fincher's execrable 1995 film Se7en. But in its favor, Messiah is a far better handling of the concept, with more-likable characters, more-interesting detail, and a far less annoying resolution. (Stott's also a better actor than Pitt. But then, who isn't?)Overall, a fun waste of several hours, that could have been much more, with just a tiny bit of tweaking.

Keith F. Hatcher Diarmuid Lawrence is evidently a director for television, and has amply shown he masters the medium, though `Messiah' is not the best example of his I have seen to date. In this respect `The Echo' (1998) (TV) (qv) rates as very convincing, though with a lower IMDb vote average, surprisingly. Here, once again, Lawrence takes his idea from a book, this time by Boris Starling, again of not much high literary merits, let's say, as with `The Echo' and converts the story into an intriguing two and a half hours or so of entertaining whodunnit thriller.The idea is not very original: a killer in series basing himself on the names of the apostles........ but the story is laden with plot twists which mostly have you thinking of Agatha Christie rather than the better writings of people like John Le Carré, Ken Forsythe, etc. Nicely filmed around Lawrence's usual stamping ground - inner London suburbs from Fulham and Putney to the East End and Bermondsey, not forgetting Highgate and so on, - the story has a very stubborn chief inspector, played very well by Ken Stott, galloping along the grim trail of death, as well as the occasional personal issues with his kid, his second wife and that `little' accident ..........WHOA! Nothing else to say: major spoiler which would destroy the whole point of the film! Ken Stott's playing is really the make or break of the whole film, though other actors are also pretty good. Suffice to say, if you like a well-made police thriller, this is a good one - but `The Echo' is better - at least in my books.

jamesbloke You cannot go far wrong if your cast includes Ken Stott, Neil Dudgeon and Edward Woodward. The acting is excellent from the above, and most of the rest of the cast.The script is also pretty good - a really original story and some excellent dialogue (although one or two cliches and over-used plot devices do work themselves in).I must correct one of the previous comments - it is not Red Metcalf, nor any of the other police officers who discover the pattern to the murders. Metcalf sort of finds out by accident, and the gaps are filled in by the Reverend Stephen Hedges. It's not until a while later that Hedges spots the connection with the victims occupations, and it's not until ages after that they notice that the dates of the murders are on the relevant Saint's day! This is one of the first things to check, surely?!!?Unfortunately, upon reflection, several other holes in the plot emerge, large enough through which to drive the proverbial double-decker bus.But on the whole, whilst watching, Messiah is excellent.

scottish_fiona Messiah was compulsive viewing from start to finish. The story centred on apparently random murders of men in London in various gruesome ways. DCI Red Metcalfe (Ken Stott)has to find the truth which, to his surprise, is a little closer to home than he might think.Gripping drama and Ken Stott was brilliant. Hopefully we have not seen the last of DCI Red Metcalfe.