Highlander: End Game movie review by Larry Novotny

"In the end, there can be only one!" This is the common thread that binds all of the previous "Highlander" movies and the television show. They obviously weren't talking about sequels. If this is the last of the Highlander series, it certainly didn't appear that way.

Brothers Connor (Christopher Lambert) and Duncan MacLeod (Adrian Paul) of the Clan MacLeod are immortals reunited again to fight an enemy that has spent about 4 centuries avenging himself upon Connor. Jacob Kell (Bruce Payne) has been busy destroying all of the people Connor has loved and cared about. Until there is only one left, Duncan.

Kell has also broken one of the "Rules of the Game". An immortal can only challenge another immortal to single combat, winner take all. Kell has been piecing together a team of disgruntled immortals, giving them a purpose to their endless existence. One of his disciples is Kate, Duncan's wife from a far away past. Duncan, not wishing to ever be apart from his wife, murders her on their wedding night. This act of violence transforms Kate into an immortal. She is appalled at what Duncan has done to her and flees into the night.

The storyline is complex, constantly cross-cutting between the centuries showing little snippets of the lives of the Clan MacLeod. This is what mainly brings my rating down. The action sequences and sword fights are masterfully choreographed, photographed and edited. The story taken at face value is easy to piece together at the end of the movie. But if there is anything more to the story, I must have missed it somewhere in the past.

The subtitle: "Endgame" is misleading. Knowing a very little about the Highlander series from the TV show, I assumed that this would be the final showdown that results in only one final Highlander who wins the ultimate prize (whatever that may be). I certainly didn't get that impression from this movie although it is entirely possible that this is the end of the series. Somehow, I don't think so.