Gabriel (2007)

43% of users liked it
(6,054 ratings)

An angel come to Earth to help save the world finds himself rescuing one of his own in this fantasy dominated by elaborate CGI effects. Gabriel (Andy Whitfield) is an arc angel who like others of his kind periodically takes human form to help battle the forces of darkness, led by Sammael (Dwaine… More An angel come to Earth to help save the world finds himself rescuing one of his own in this fantasy dominated by elaborate CGI effects. Gabriel (Andy Whitfield) is an arc angel who like others of his kind periodically takes human form to help battle the forces of darkness, led by Sammael (Dwaine Stevenson), and rescue humanity from the forces of evil. Gabriel joins six other angels for the latest round of street warfare against the agents of the dark, but en route he encounters Jade (Samantha Noble), a beautiful angel who has succumbed to the temptations of the world of humans and now supports her heroin habit as a streetwalker. Gabriel is immediately drawn to Jade's troubled soul, and takes it upon himself to bring her back to the forces of good, but his efforts to redeem her threaten to keep him away from his mission to defeat the darkness. Gabriel was the first feature film from Australian writer and director Shane Abbess. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 54 min.
Directed By: Shane Abbess
Genres: Action & Adventure, Horror, Art House & International, Science Fiction & Fantasy

In Theaters: Nov 15, 2007 Wide
On DVD: Feb 19, 2008
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Critic Reviews

Russell Edwards, Variety
This derivative, low-budget HD effort will be hellish for anyone outside its targeted youth audience.
David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews
Deliberately paced and disastrously overlong...

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

John M

An intriguing plot with a dark haunting vision of the battle between heaven and hell.
jay n

Andy Whitfield has a strong screen presence but that in itself isn't enough to save this murky dull illogical mess of a movie.
Thomas B

when i think of angels, i rarely think of them having to use guns. Gabriel is a bit of a confused film, trying to encapsulate the dark, angsty sort of feel which many action films sport today and focus on the main character, the angel Gabriel. If the creators were truly serious about… More
when i think of angels, i rarely think of them having to use guns. Gabriel is a bit of a confused film, trying to encapsulate the dark, angsty sort of feel which many action films sport today and focus on the main character, the angel Gabriel. If the creators were truly serious about this, we would see no pulled punches or flimsy suggestions of violence and if it was better funded there would be more effects than using contact lenses, but we cant blame them for that. even though this film has some pretty cool action sequences and a good concept, Gabriel himself is a little one-dimensional and Sammael is not quite scary enough, but the twist is alright. the other arcs are a bit wussy but overall it's a pretty good film. Defining Scene: When Gabriel cracks the shits and goes rampaging. angels gone bad is so very very good.
Red L

Movie of good angels vs fallen angels fighting it out on earth. The idea of the story is OK, but I disliked the inconsistencies. For instance six bullets don't even knock Michael over yet fist fighting knocks him down. I also didn't understand the why of the last scene.… More
Movie of good angels vs fallen angels fighting it out on earth. The idea of the story is OK, but I disliked the inconsistencies. For instance six bullets don't even knock Michael over yet fist fighting knocks him down. I also didn't understand the why of the last scene. Although I only give it 3/5, I would watch it again.
Dean !

A real missed opportunity, I was hoping for much more after seeing the trailer. The idea is good but the end result is not. It trys too hard to be a mix of the Matrix and Sin city, but the fights look strange and the CGI is over used. Watch it on TV if you have to but don't pay… More
A real missed opportunity, I was hoping for much more after seeing the trailer. The idea is good but the end result is not. It trys too hard to be a mix of the Matrix and Sin city, but the fights look strange and the CGI is over used. Watch it on TV if you have to but don't pay to see this.
Justin Y

At first glance this film looks like a good watch and even the trailers do their job by making this look decent. Unfortunately, the inexperience of the director and the low budget bring this movie down. Nice attempt though.The story is the strongest element of this film.… More
At first glance this film looks like a good watch and even the trailers do their job by making this look decent. Unfortunately, the inexperience of the director and the low budget bring this movie down. Nice attempt though.The story is the strongest element of this film. At a high level it is 7 archangels against 7 demons in Purgatory. A great concept for a sci-fi film. It's too bad that the films execution of this story falls flat. Everything else regarding this movie also falls short of expectation.This movie runs at almost 2 hours and the action is held to a minimum. That means this film is a slow crawl. Long scenes of mediocre dialogue and only short bursts of action make this film boring at times. The beginning of the film does a nice job at laying out the plot, which does sound interesting as I mentioned earlier, but once the movie is underway you don't get what you expect.The action sequences are shot uniquely, which I'll give some praise for, but in the end, they are nothing but a forgotten memory. So are the rest of the archangels because only one of them, Gabriel, gets in on the action. I don't want to spoil anything here, but this movie is 1 on 7. It is truly a disappointment. The ending lacks action as well. There is just way too much talking.The acting is OK at best. The lead, Andy Whitfield, is a decent Gabriel, but the rest of the cast is forgettable. It's not that the acting is horrible, although it isn't award winning, but more the fact that their characters don't do much.This film is like a low-budget, less entertaining Constantine. I guess that means to watch that instead of this.
Dean M

It's like The Prophecy, but this action-thriller of the purgatory between heaven and hell is fantastic in cool special and visual effects and marvelous production design on the scene views like The Matrix and The Crow.… More
It's like The Prophecy, but this action-thriller of the purgatory between heaven and hell is fantastic in cool special and visual effects and marvelous production design on the scene views like The Matrix and The Crow. Aussie filmmaker Shane Abbess does a marvellous job in this first low-budget film, especially the performance from newcomer Andy Whitfield as the last of the Arc Angels.
A.D. V

While it's somewhat derivative it is highly entertaining nontheless. I do have some minor issues with the ending though.
Erin C

A little confusing, but this was still a good movie. It starts out a little slow, but it quickly picks up with quite a few action scenes. It was a lot better than I thought it was going to be!
Barry L

This has been done so much better in the past but it is still quite a good watch. Could have done better though.
Leo L

Interesting movie. Good story plot. Not bad at all.
Matthew A

WOW! This movie had so many great messages and such an interesting and gripping plot, I just love it. It is easy to be bad, but it is very hard to be kind and righteous. The action wasn't anything to spit at either. It was truly unique and even Matrix-like at some parts. But… More
WOW! This movie had so many great messages and such an interesting and gripping plot, I just love it. It is easy to be bad, but it is very hard to be kind and righteous. The action wasn't anything to spit at either. It was truly unique and even Matrix-like at some parts. But there was not as much of it as I hoped there would be. The main character Gabriel was portrayed really well and in fact I could feel everything what he felt throughout the whole movie. A true hero! And yet again, the twist at the end and overall the ending was very powerful (if you listen to what they're saying of course). I would highly recommend this film to anyone who enjoyed light vs dark type movies, such as Night Watch.