Portrayals of angels in the movies range from the funny to the frightening, and it’s this latter genre of movies about angels that the upcoming ‘Legion’ looks like it will fall into. But before you watch yet another of the many movies coming out in 2010 about the end of the world, enjoy some of the other great movies about angels on this list:
Dogma – After ‘Good Will Hunting’, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck just didn’t seem to be quite sure of what do with themselves. So their portrayal of two fallen angels that could destroy existence by proving God (played by Alanis Morisette) wrong really makes sense, right? And so one of the most blasphemous movies about angels you’ll ever see unravels with a somewhat ridiculous storyline nowhere near the level of ‘Clerks’, and it’s a real shame the angry outcast angels didn’t succeed with their mission; Kevin Smith could have really crucified himself with the religious types if the two angels here had ended one of his most bizarre movies the way they wanted to.
It’s a Wonderful Life – And here’s one of the movies here about one of the most beloved angels of all time: Clarence, the angel trying to get his wings just in time for Christmas by saving a very troubled George Bailey. It’s one of the sappiest movies about angels you’ll ever see, and one that will forever have kids ringing bells to give angels Christmas presents around the holidays (“Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings”).
Wings of Desire – This is one of the most romantic movies about angels you’ll ever see, about an angel silently watching over our world that falls in love with a trapeze artist and the idea of being human. Another of the most popular movies about angels, ‘City of Angels’, isn’t on this list because this beautiful and poetic movie did it much better, and it gets bonus points for the best use of Peter Falk in a movie ever.
A Guy Named Joe – And here’s another of the movies about angels here of the romantic and unwinged type. Spencer Tracy plays a fighter pilot that dies and is sent back to Earth as the guardian angel for another pilot…who is in love with the girl he thought he was meant to be with before he died. It’s kind of one of the most depressing movies about angels you’ll ever see, but one that those who believe in guardian angels may enjoy.
A Matter of Life and Death – This is one of the better movies on this list, featuring a heavenly jury of angels. It’s one of Powell and Pressburger’s many beautifully-filmed movies, a dreamlike Technicolor affair with an escalator to heaven and a truly touching love story about how love conquers all (even death). Of course there are some annoying plot points (angels run things in heaven the same as we do in Earthly court, apparently), but this is often considered one of the best British movies ever made, and definitely one worth watching.
Constantine – And here’s one of the best movies about angels…starring Keanu Reeves. He plays a cynical, chain-smoking detective (cynism and chain-smoking always walk hand-in-hand) that sends half-demons back to hell. It’s a movie about angels, demons, and half-demons, and features an angelic Tilda Swinton as a gender-bending angel Gabriel. Like ‘Legion’, it’s one of the darkest movies about angels you’ll ever see, but also shares its telltale beginning-of-the-year release date.
The Prophecy – And here’s yet another of the movies on this list that seeks to change the way we think about angels, turning them from protective guardians into badass warriors. It’s not one of the best movies you’ll ever see, but this film about a heavenly power struggle featuring Eric Stoltz and Christopher Walken as angels is one of the most horrifying of the sparsely-populated angel genre.
The Bishop’s Wife – An now for one of the more cheerful movies about angels on this list. Cary Grant plays the suavest angel you’ll ever see as the divine intervention for a bishop (David Niven) trying to get a cathedral built. But as the bishop soon realizes, the angel is there not to help him with creating this physical structure, but to help him repair the fissures in his own life. It’s another of the better guardian angels movies on this list, although it might help you understand why angels hate humans in so many other movies (they always do things better than us, and get no reward for it).
A Life Less Ordinary – Here’s another of the movies about angels here that attempts to be a bit romantic, about angels playing cupid in Heaven. The romantic dark comedy features that classic kidnapper-falls-in-love-with-kidnapped love story, but with a bizarre twist as the angels of love turn into criminals and kidnappers themselves. For one of the wildest and “less ordinary” movies about angels you’ll ever see, check out this star-studded, chaotic affair with Ewan McGregor, Cameron Diaz, and Holly Hunter.
Angels in the Outfield – This same title has been used for two different movies about angels and baseball, one a 1951 movie starring Janet Leigh and Paul Douglas, who gets some heavenly help with his down-and-out baseball team (the Pirates) in return for his laying off the swearing and bad attitude. This is the better of the two movies, but the 1994 remake is one of the few movies about angels aimed at kids, about a foster kid who who enjoys sneaking into baseball games to watch the terrible team, the California Angels. When his estranged father tells him they’ll be a family again when “the angels win the pennant”, he takes this literally, praying for and getting a little heavenly help. So whether you’re looking for classic movies about angels or movies about angels for kids. this one title has you covered.
So whether you’re looking for horror movies about angels similar to ‘Legion’ or prefer angels of the guardian variety, there’s sure to be some movies about angels on this list for anyone fascinated with the winged (or, in many cases, unwinged) ones.
SOURCES:
http://www.filmsite.org/fantasyfilms2.html
www.wikipedia.com
