Messiah 2: Vengeance Is Mine Online

Last year, the first MESSIAH was shown on BBC 1. Adapted from the excellent novel by Boris Starling, it was a chilling, London-set tale of murder, religion, and gallons of blood. This year round, we get the sequel - VENGEANCE IS MINE. After a teasing set of trailers, shown after nearly every single programme after seven o'clock, turned me into an excitable bundle of anticipation, and after six months of waiting (it was postponed from August 2002, after the events in Soham), we get the best damn British thriller in years. Ken Stott returns as grumpy DSI Red Metcalfe, a man haunted by his own dark past, and trying to track down the killer of his brother Eric. The plot really starts moving when a man is found bound and buried alive on Wimbledon Common, in the same fashion as another man several years ago. Are we talking about a copycat killer? Is this revenge? As the bodycount rises, so does the tension, as Red and his team (including Neil Dudgeon and Frances Grey) race against time to find the next target before the killer does. In the first MESSIAH, the serial killer was bumping off the 12 disciples in the particulary gruesome ways that are depicted in the Bible; but this time, it is more a outright guessing game, a true murder mystery. Some of the deaths are extremely inventive and horrible (although not quite as grisly as last time, when we had flaying alive, beheading, and sawing in half). Stott, Dudgeon, Grey are terrific, and are well supported by Art Malik, Emily Joyce and Vincent Regan. The direction is such a high-point in this, because it is sutiably moody, castign huge shadows and cold blues against the London back-drop, and the waves of blood. At times the direction can be quite distant, but it is always tight, always focused, and never strays from the downright thrilling. This was shown in two parts, over a Saturday and Sunday, and I can tell you that the 24 hours between Part 1 and Part 2 was agonising, absolutely agonising. The first MESSIAH was unfairly compared to SE7EN (mainly because of it's religious content), but I actually think both the first one and this MESSIAH are miles better. Perhaps this is because I know London very well and I can relate to that, but I think that the acting, the direction, and the script are all so much better. Plus, this is a more traditional mystery: at least we actually get a chance of guessing who the killer is, instead of having to wait for some nobody to turn up, like in SE7EN. The mark of a good horror story is that it should stay with you. And this. As you lie in the dark, pushing yourself deeper into the matress, close your eyes. . .and you'll see men being buried alive, hearts cut out. . .rivers of blood. . . Essentially, this is a fairy-tale for adults; we all like to be terrified in the safety our armchairs, but it's a bloody good one. I hope they do a MESSIAH 3, because this truly was the highlight of the year (and it's only January). Lizzie Mickery's script is so brilliant, the characters and the plot so deep, and the deaths so imaginitive. This is fantastic.

How on Earth did this show not run for longer then it did. This goes back to 2002, and it holds up unbelievably well even now, the production values are superb, it looks better made then half the dramas on screen now. The acting is flawless, but the writing is what makes it, absolutely fabulous, storytelling at its very best. It's deep, complex and intelligent, but never does it feel too clever for its own good, easy to follow.

It's dark, macabre, and perhaps not for everyone, you get a vibe as to what it's going to be like. Not as dark as Messiah 4, which I still rate as the best of the lot, but this is still viewing at its best.

Superb acting, Ken Stott is once again fabulous, he is at the top of his game, well acted by all concerned, Frances Grey, Neil Dudgeon, Vincent Regan etc.

Brilliant, 9/10

To me 'Messiah' was a great and near blameless show in which the first two seasons were particularly strong, and should have lasted longer than it did.

It got off to a great start in the first series, which set the tone for the show brilliantly with a taut and dark atmosphere, always engrossing storytelling, great acting and production values, intelligent scripting, very disturbing and inventive murders if not for the faint-hearted and a genuinely surprising final reveal (if slightly let down by a slightly implausible and not-as-developed-as-it-could-have-been motivation).

'Messiah 2: Vengeance is Mine' is every bit as good and quality-wise it is about equal. It is stylishly and beautifully filmed with a lot of atmosphere, while the locations are also used to great effect. The music is suitably ominous while never being too obvious. A great job is done with the directing, always tight and resolutely moody and nothing is rushed or plodding.

Both parts of "Vengeance is Mine" are tautly and intelligently written, with an always natural flow and the mystery is always kept alive and fresh. The story here is darker and just as disturbing as before, with a great ominous atmosphere and plenty of surprising twists and turns while taking time to develop it enough to stop it from falling into incoherence. Susan's deafness also gives it some welcome heart too. The deaths are shocking and imaginative, if not quite as gory as in the first series (then again, it doesn't get gorier than deaths based on the deaths, ones that are as brutal as you can possibly get, of the twelve disciples).

The final solution was a surprise to me, though I know of people who felt they found out too early or found it too obvious, and the motive was a little better developed and easier to swallow than the first series, though the physical competence of the murderer and how they were able to carry out the murders has been brought into question and understandably. The characters continue to be interesting, and the acting continues to impress.

Ken Stott is exceptional in the lead role, some of his best acting has been on this show. Neil Dudgeon also excels, don't think he has done better work than his acting in 'Messiah', Michelle Forbes is touching and Alun Armstrong is earth-shattering as a very totured character. Frances Grey's role is a bit limited, but she does much with it.

Overall, wonderfully done second series to a great show and just as compelling as the first. 9/10 Bethany Cox

All in all it was very good. I have seen it twice and on the second time didn't recognise the killer till half and hour from the end..... My little criticism concerns the identification parade. When the parade is done behind darkened glass, there is no way it can be done unless the suspect is legally represented to insure fair play. They is absolutely no way that any legal representative would allow Melcalfe to accompany is deaf wife during the proceedings. He was in an ideal position to inform his wife of the suspects number. She should have been accompanied by a proper interpreter. Any evidence gained at the parade would have been a waste of time. The rules are that any officer involved in the investigation is not even allowed to be in the same building !!

I didn`t see the original MESSIAH and couldn`t help feeling that perhaps that I should have after seeing the first half hour of the sequel , but not to worry even though it`s perhaps not as stand alone as the QUATERMASS serials or the James Bond franchise you don`t need to have seen the original to follow MESSIAH 2 : VENGANCE IS MINE

That said however no one can accuse VENGANCE IS MINE of being a groundbreaking crime thriller . It`s all filmed in the same extremely dark way as HANNIBAL , SEVEN , TOUCHING EVIL etc . In fact it`s so dark it`s sometimes difficult to see what`s going on . And it tries to shock the viewers with cruel deaths that these " shocking " deaths end up being laughable due to their OTT manner , instead of feeling sorry for the victims you can`t help giving an involuntary laugh as they meet their demise , especially the chap who gets bumped off beside the railway line . In fact so many people get abducted and murdered in relatively public places without the murderer being seen or interupted that I couldn`t help feeling there might be a supernatural angle to all this . This doesn`t happen and strangely enough when the killer is revealed the story doesn`t fall apart as much as I expected . Okay it`s unlikely for the reasons I`ve outlined but it does make logical sense .

One special word of note - for the first time ever we have an American actress playing a British character without a hint of an American accent , you`d have no idea at all that Michelle Forbes is an American actress . There is a very good reason for this . Watch VENGANCE IS MINE to see what I mean

Along with Scandinavian ones, UK crime thrillers have become a sign of quality to those fond of versatile, intense and logical works where character actors, mood and environment have an important role to play. Messiah 2 is another example of them, where crimes are covered as tragic (as they are in real, no place to make witticisms), and solutions are presented as they are revealed, not relying on detectives' odd flashes or criminals' rough mistakes.

Actors like Ken Stott and Neil Dudgeon fit the detective pattern well (well, perhaps too much, as they have lots of D(C)I roles), as I really did not guess who the wrongdoer was - in spite of been a key follower of similar creations - I was satisfied with both the result and the 3 hours of so in front of screen. I am pretty convinced that I will find time to the following 3 seasons as well - regardless of some changes in cast and approaches.

I loved this; I loved Messiah. Now I'm hoping for a Messiah 3.

It was dark, I admit, but I had to keep watching because the plot never slowed down. It wasn't afraid to jump into really dark and unpleasant issues - pretty brutal crimes and the like. And it was nice and progressive, with all different kinds of people from a big cross-section of society.

And I never would have guessed who really did it (that's not a spoiler is it?)

This is the first Messiah I have seen, and I found it really excellent. You would be hard pushed to find something more gruesome but nonetheless as gripping as this.

**Definite spoiler ahead**. I am a big devotee of British TV and I was pleased to see Neil from The Office and Vincent Regan, who I only know from Hard Men, in something else. It was great trying to guess who the killer was, but who would have thought that Thermoman's lovely little girlfriend could do all those things?

It was mentioned at the laundry that the planning for all the murders was meticulous, but how was she strong enough to get Jenny Collier into one of those sacks and up on the track, and why was she so determined that Russ Collier should suffer so much? I mean he hadn't done anything to her. Also how had she figured out so exactly who the real murderers were in each case? Why was there no mention of a daughter in the original Heard case? I felt these points weren't quite explained enough. But maybe I'm just a bit dim. Nevertheless, a damned good scary tale!!

Messiah 2 continued where the previous left off,the script and story were spot on with a plot equal to todays serial atrocities.ken stott again delivered the goods as our lead in a gruesome tale,with a stellar cast to help him (neil dudgeon especially)one can only hope the bbc have more planned.

I wondered about several things whilst watching this.

1. How come two of the police officers held their ranks after the first film; Red Metcalfe had to confess to the hit-and-run accident which spawned the first killings and Neil Dudgeon's character had been suspended for revealing details of the investigation to the press. How come they hadn't been drummed out of the force?

2. Vincent Regan's character here is an inspector, yet he is seen about 15 years earlier, as an inspector, when he could only just have been old enough to have joined the force! Even if he had joined early and risen to inspector very quickly, how come he is still an inspector after 15 years?

3. How could a tiny woman like Emily Joyce have killed all those men in such a physically demanding manner?!

4. Metcalfe is sometimes seen having to sign to his deaf wife, because she can't lipread, but sometimes just speaking to her, indicating that she can. Make your mind up!

Just by chance I watched the very last episode of M2 on TV yesterday evening. At the beginning, I cannot tell exactly whether it's a USA or UK production because the language is not specific. Then I found out it was filmed in Northern Ireland with American actors. Demystified.

I need to track down the first few episodes, and I am also waiting for M3 as the local TV channel promised, then I can draw a fairer conclusion later. Solely on this episode, the plot is predictable and a little out-of-moded. What attracts me is that I wanted to see how the revenge would be done. When Anna (Sara) threatened to end the life of Duncan's boy, I thought, just like in most US TV series, she would stab the scissors into his neck, kick him from high and try to flee. When she let him off, I thought she would be running off. She did none of them, instead she stabbed her own neck and fell down in front of Duncan and Red. She did it out of despair, I suppose, when she was told her ex-judge father protected his male lover all through his life but not her.

When hatred enters and harbours in a heart, if it is not released, it festers and grows stinkingly. The avenging angel (devil?) Anna finally loses almost everything but the hurt she did on Duncan. I don't see any salvation in this "Messiah", I need to dig out why it is titled as such. I hope M3 will come sooner and see how the "promise" is fulfilled. Now what I should do is to look for M1, it should be interesting to see how Michelle Forbes manage to learn sign language within six days.

Messiah 2 is the sequel to 2001's grisly Messiah, which concentrated on an elite CID investigation into bizarre and seemingly motiveless murders. Soon enough it became apparent that the murderer chose his victims as their names corresponds with the twelve apostles.

Again, Messiah 2's killings have a biblical twist- the killer is targeting people who have literally got away with murder and thus have gained vengeance for wrongful convictions and unsolved murders. Yet, soon the killer branches out to specific targets, and a there could be a personal motive for this killer.

Messiah 2 begins with a sequence involving Red and his estranged brother. Unfortunately, when they meet up, Eric is dying from a stab wound, and Red begins trying to solve this case in conjunction with the main murder inquiry. There are some brutal scenes in Messiah, including a man being buried alive, bloody murder scenes and a man having his heart cut out. All it did lack was a decapitation. There is also a child murder, and its understandable therefore why release date was early 2003 rather October 2002, following the child murders in Britain.

Ken Stott returns as brooding, brilliant DCI Metcalfe, with Art Malik, Neil Dudgeon and Frances Grey making up his team, plus a plethora of new faces and british stars including Alums Armstrong who seems to be starring in everything these days, Vincent Regan and Shaun Dingwall (Touching Evil). Stott looks bored at times, yet is a magnificent character actor who really shines as the leading man. Malik is wasted in a small role, and Alun Armstrong excels as a destructive and tortured character who disappears about halfway through.

Although a little slow burning at times, and there is a tendency to stay at murder scenes a little too often (Another criticism of the first film), Messiah 2 is a gritty thriller, which will keep you on the edge of your seats right to the end, and the acting quality on offer is enough to keep you watching. The ending is typical of most thrillers, yet is completely absurd, as the identity of the killer is quite obvious. The character stood out completely as irrelevant in the context of the film and may as well had an `Iam a serial killer' Tattoo on their forehead. I wont name names, but try and look for the `Cracker' Connection. Also, Frances Grey as a full blown DS in a serious crimes squad at what, 25? That's ridiculous! Overall, Messiah is implausible and a little boring at times, yet it is an involving and memorable thriller, a rarity from the politically challenged BBC.