The best thing to happen to the franchise since the original, Highlander: The Search for Vengeance is lean, mean and brutally sharp, decapitating all who stand in its way. Weighing heavily on the post-apocalyptic aesthetic of The Quickening, the film weaves a gritty and thoroughly engrossing tale of revenge, shrewdly avoiding the messy continuity and chaotic adventures of Connor MacLeod, bringing everything back to basics with a new hero to root for in the form of Colin MacLeod. Directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri, his propensity for over-the-top violence, striking visual flourishes and breathtaking compositions perfectly suit the tale; it helps that he pairs these with sometop-notch set pieces, stylish sword fights with a sense of weight that makes the immortals feel genuinely dangerous, and outstanding animation, as expected whenever you work with Madhouse. By ditching all the extramarital lore that burdened the later films, the film takes things back to the mythology and a more romanticised, myth-heavy atmosphere, even having time to ponder upon the burden of immortality, where the loneliness and repetition of endless life come through, adding a layer of melancholy beneath its extreme violence. It helps that the film has odes of superb music and genuinely engaging voice acting, complementing the otherwise straightforward narrative. Colin might be a bit of a one-note protagonist, defined almost entirely by his obsession with revenge, but it's an obsession we are fully drawn into from the get-go. Made with an unapologetic and genuine passion for its source material, Highlander: The Search for Vengeance, in terms of pure entertainment, it's a hell of a lot more satisfying than any of the other sequels. Given everything we've seen so far about the upcoming reboot of this franchise, it is certainly one I am looking forward to... Maybe there can be more than one.