The original opinion of Highlander was the right one.
When the movie debuted 40 years ago, on March 7, 1986, it outright bombed at the box office, pulling in a mere $12.8 million on its $19 million budget. Critics also hated it, with Roger Ebert calling it “a completely silly and very boring movie” and Gene Siskel saying it was “one of the lousiest films I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Despite its lackluster start, Highlander became a cult hit on VHS and spawned a whole franchise which consists of several films and TV shows, as well as an upcoming reboot starring Henry Cavill. But here’s the thing. Highlander is not some gem that audiences just missed and self-important critics thought they were too good for. It’s a bad and painfully self-serious movie, and by the looks of the upcoming reboot, that’s going to be a similar slog.
The original Highlander was conceived of by screenwriter Gregory Widen and directed by Russell Mulcahy. It stars Christopher Lambert as Connor MacLeod, a warrior in 1500s Scotland who appears to die in battle, only to fully recover and be accused of witchcraft and banished by his clan. Soon after, a swordsman named Juan Sánchez-Villalobos Ramírez (Sean Connery) informs MacLeod that he is an “immortal” who can only be killed by being beheaded (which isn’t really what the word “immortal” means, but so be it).
Ramírez also tells MacLeod that one day, in a distant land, the last immortals will do battle until just one remains, which is where Highlander’s well-known catchphrase, “There can be only one,” comes from. That final battle finally comes to pass in 1980s New York, where the majority of Highlander takes place. Now living as an antique dealer, MacLeod does battle with the last of the immortals and wins, thus absorbing their power and becoming a mortal man.
Admittedly, the sword fights in Highlander are pretty fun, and they do occupy a good amount of screentime. But action only gets you so far if the characters aren’t interesting, and that’s the real issue with Highlander. While it has a fun premise that juxtaposes swords and sorcery with grimy 1980s New York, Mulcahy takes everything so seriously that the movie is entirely joyless. It’s all just so bassass for the sake of badassery.
When it comes to the fandom, people seem to love Highlander for its worldbuilding and its campiness. On that first point, I’ll admit that the movie does have an interesting premise with lots of (untapped) potential. Camp, however, is usually categorized by a level of self awareness and/or cheapness, yet this film has neither. Even more serious than the characters are the sword fights and action, which has no time for humor or even humanity, it’s all just serious, life-and-death action. Plus, a nearly $20 million budget in the 1980s does not equal some campy, low-budget joke. That was a lot of money back then, and this movie features utterly beautiful Scottish landscapes and some pretty cool New York set pieces, yet all of it goes to waste because the characters suck. That’s not camp. That’s a misallocation of resources.
The only person involved who seemed to understand that Highlander should be campy is Connery, who plays his role with a charm and lightness that make him fun to watch. The immortal, extravagantly-dressed conquistador with a cape made of peacock feathers looks and feels like he’s in something similar to The Princess Bride, which is exactly the kind of humor a ridiculous premise like this needs. Instead it’s all very serious and very dull, which looks to also be the direction of the new movie.
So far, we’ve only seen two images from Highlander via Henry Cavill’s Instagram account and both look pretty gloomy. The first shows him walking under some Chinese lanterns, looking sweaty and like he’s about to kick some ass. The second features him in a church with a sword by his side, presumably about to face down an enemy. While it may be a bit harsh to judge the movie from just its two images, the movie is being helmed by Chad Stahelski, who directed all the John Wick movies, which are pretty damn serious, too. So while we can probably expect some great action sequences from the reboot, there’s no reason to expect any more of the humor Connery brought to the original.
Perhaps I’ll be wrong about this and the new Highlander will offer more than just badass sword fights. Hopefully it takes the time to develop its characters and thus gets audiences invested in the lore of its world. I’m not really all that optimistic though. Instead, the whole idea of a Highlander reboot has me thinking: Why couldn’t there be only one?
