HIGHLANDER: ENDGAME

Let us celebrate the fine work of Bruce Payne. who plays the villainous Jacob Kell in Highlander: Endgame.

A man who obviously loves his work, the English-born actor, whose credits include Warlock III: The End of Innocence and Howling VI: The Freaks, dives into his role with gusto. His facial expressions rival Jim Carrey's in The Mask. When delivering a line, he elongates vowels to make himself clear, as in: "You are on borrowed ti-i-i-i-me!" When he tells his gang members how much they mean to him, you expect him to complete the compliment with Dr. Evil's ode to Mini-Me: "You complete me."

Payne provides a focal point in the ultra-violent, ultra-muddled new Highlander movie. The new film blends characters from the three previous feature films as well as the popular, but defunct, TV series, shot largely in Vancouver. If you're new to the Highlander phenomenon, it was hatched by Scottish writer Greg Widen and involves a secret tribe of immortals from Scotland who gain strength and wisdom (but mostly strength) by fighting and killing one another. The only way to kill a fellow immortal is to behead him.

If there are lessons to be learned from Highlander, they are: 1) don't let power go to your head, or you might lose it; and 2) never laugh at a man in a kilt, unless it's Ashley McIsaac.

The good immortals in the new film are Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert, star of the three movies) and Duncan MacLeod (Adrian Paul, star of the TV series). They must battle Kell and his gang of immortal villains, which include Duncan's wife from the 17th century, Kate (Lisa Barbuscia), and a gang of crazies who ride around on motorbikes like punk Shriners. Joel Soisson's screenplay has few talky sections, and so we get a steady diet of swordfights, martial arts duels, gun battles and, of course, beheadings. The emphasis on action comes at the expense of plot, which becomes as murky as the blood that runs from the characters' wounds. Mind you, plot machinations have never been all that important to the Highlander movies, and it would be foolish to expect Pinteresque dialogue. First one to use a metaphor loses his noggin!

While the story, which bounces back and forth in time, is nebulous, certain other things are crystal clear. One of these is product placement. There is a long battle atop a roof where huge red letters for JVC illuminate the action, the corporate logo often getting more camera play than the combatants

Cineastes may find the film lacking, but Highlander fans should not be disappointed. Swordplay, kilts and scenery-chewing from the chief villain -- what more could you ask for from a cult flick?

Marke Andrews