The Omen (6 June 2006)
directed by John Moore
starring Liev Schreiber, Julia Stiles, Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick, David Thewlis, Pete Postlethwaite, Mia Farrow, Michael Gambon, Amy Huck, Harvey Stephens
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MPAA rating: Studio: 20th Century Fox Script: David Seltzer Music: Marco Beltrami, Jerry Goldsmith Running time: 110 minutes Tags: ambassadors; antichrist; apes; armageddon; birthday parties; Catholic church; Drama; Horror; murder; Remake; suicide; Thriller Tactical strength: [5/10]
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for disturbing violent content, graphic images and some language
Of all the recent remakes, The Omen (2006) gave me the most hope for something that truly would surpass the original. The original Omen (1976) had some pretty campy acting, but it did create an overall creepy effect -- you either believe in Damien Thorn's evil nature and his ability to cause the events that surround him or in the complete dementia of his parents to the point where they could kill their own child.
Now, scene for scene, the new Omen easily surpasses the original. Each scene has overall better acting, much better cinematography, and better effects. But even though each of the parts of the remake surpasses the scenes in the original, the sum of the parts doesn't surpass the effect of the original. Somewhere in assembling the remake, the overarching creepy feeling produced by the original film got lost.
The real and palpable evil force in the remake comes from Damien's Nanny Mrs. Baylock (Mia Farrow). We see her kill Damien's mother, attempt to kill Damien's father, and keeps company with evil dogs that she allows in the Thorn's house. Mrs. Baylock appears completely self-directed, and not under Damien's influence at all. If anything, she provides training for Damien in how to conduct evil acts. In the entire movie, only two distinct events originate with Damien: he does knock his mother over a banister to the tile floor several floors below and makes a security guard visibly sweat and shake in his presence. We also get some outward signs of his evil nature, such as the animals at the zoo going crazy when he tours with his schoolmates, but overall, The Omen doesn't do a very good job at convincing me that Damien has much power or even an evil nature at all.
Robert Thorn (Liev Schreiber) also doesn't do much to convince the audience that he really believes that he must kill his son. Like Gregory Peck before him, Liev Schreiber must portray suspicion at his son's true nature culminating with a frenzied determination that he must kill the boy to save the world. Gregory Peck succeeded at this task in the original. Schreiber's version of Robert Thorn seems to just go along for the ride. He barely makes a convincing ambassador, let alone a cold-blooded killer of round-faced children.
I do have to mention Pete Postlethwaite, who does an excellent job portraying Father Brennan. Brennan tries repeatedly to convince Robert about Damien's true nature. Postlethwaite's portrayal alone gives plausible reason to believe in Damien's evil nature, but this one excellent performance cannot carry the film.
Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick, the new Damien, does an excellent job glaring at the camera, but can he rally act? Even though his character is the subject of the film, Seamus gets effectively little screen time. I think the only way we'll know whether he has any talent other than glaring will have to come from some future work, if he gets any -- maybe a remake of Damien: Omen II?
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