I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by this flick. I went to see it last night (6/6/06... I'm a sucker for clever marketing) and while I will say that the film was not better than the original, it was still enjoyable and actually did some things better than its predecessor, even if it did get some things wrong in the process.
I loved the way this film was shot, for one. It definitely helped the mood of the film, especially for the last half, when the two protagonists are looking for clues of Damien's origins. It's so dark and gloomy that you can practically feel the weight of doom as you watch it. The death scenes are pretty horrific and are basically the same deal as the original, maybe just a bit more gruesome this time around. David Thewlis's decapitation scene was really well done and is at least on par with David Warner's horrific death form the original. Speaking of Thewlis, I thought he was fun to watch. He almost has that David Warner charm. Mia Farrow was great as the nanny from hell. They made some interesting changes to the storyline like adding scenes of destruction from recent headlines, most notably the attack on the World Trade Center. The movie is almost exactly the same as the original, just a little more spiffed up. Oh and before I forget, I jumped twice while watching this. The original never actually did that for me.
Problems I had with the film start with the casting. Julia Stiles was, in my opinion, way too young looking for the role. They needed someone with a little more age to play the part. That's not to say she was bad, she was just not convincing in the part. Liev Schreiber didn't bring me into the film the way Gregory Peck did and there were only few moments where he managed to shine. The kid who played Damien... he was good but I think one of the problems with the film is that from the start, this kid is an evil little bastard. Yeah, he's the Anti-Christ and all that jazz but part of what made the original so creepy was that the kid really had no idea who he was and was seemingly innocent and ambiguous. The Damien of the remake gives dirty looks to everyone, shows up in people's nightmares and participates even more in his mother's demise this time around. I don't know why but I just preferred it when the kid wasn't outright evil like this kid was. The music in this film is sadly, nonexistent. Considering that Jerry Goldsmith won an Oscar for the original's score, they should have given the score a little more heft. Last but not least, the ending, while just about the same as the original, was not done right. All I can say is that they edited the scene wrong. It's not like the original, where you don't know exactly what happened to Thorn and his son until the very last shot. A little weak, in my opinion.
This was a decent remake and I liked the fact that they had respect for the original because it definitely shows. They stuck with what worked and tweaked some things here and there, even if they goofed with some considerably important elements. Worth a watch but it's nothing you have to run to the theater to see.
RATING: *** out of *****.
I loved the way this film was shot, for one. It definitely helped the mood of the film, especially for the last half, when the two protagonists are looking for clues of Damien's origins. It's so dark and gloomy that you can practically feel the weight of doom as you watch it. The death scenes are pretty horrific and are basically the same deal as the original, maybe just a bit more gruesome this time around. David Thewlis's decapitation scene was really well done and is at least on par with David Warner's horrific death form the original. Speaking of Thewlis, I thought he was fun to watch. He almost has that David Warner charm. Mia Farrow was great as the nanny from hell. They made some interesting changes to the storyline like adding scenes of destruction from recent headlines, most notably the attack on the World Trade Center. The movie is almost exactly the same as the original, just a little more spiffed up. Oh and before I forget, I jumped twice while watching this. The original never actually did that for me.
Problems I had with the film start with the casting. Julia Stiles was, in my opinion, way too young looking for the role. They needed someone with a little more age to play the part. That's not to say she was bad, she was just not convincing in the part. Liev Schreiber didn't bring me into the film the way Gregory Peck did and there were only few moments where he managed to shine. The kid who played Damien... he was good but I think one of the problems with the film is that from the start, this kid is an evil little bastard. Yeah, he's the Anti-Christ and all that jazz but part of what made the original so creepy was that the kid really had no idea who he was and was seemingly innocent and ambiguous. The Damien of the remake gives dirty looks to everyone, shows up in people's nightmares and participates even more in his mother's demise this time around. I don't know why but I just preferred it when the kid wasn't outright evil like this kid was. The music in this film is sadly, nonexistent. Considering that Jerry Goldsmith won an Oscar for the original's score, they should have given the score a little more heft. Last but not least, the ending, while just about the same as the original, was not done right. All I can say is that they edited the scene wrong. It's not like the original, where you don't know exactly what happened to Thorn and his son until the very last shot. A little weak, in my opinion.
This was a decent remake and I liked the fact that they had respect for the original because it definitely shows. They stuck with what worked and tweaked some things here and there, even if they goofed with some considerably important elements. Worth a watch but it's nothing you have to run to the theater to see.
RATING: *** out of *****.