The Omen has been dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century, and the remake is not bad considering everything. There is a clever move to lock it into the 6/6/06 date, with a new prologue, and a general modernization of the story accordingly. The ingenious plot concerns a US Ambassador Robert Thorn whose "son" seems to cause some horrific deaths, and may be a Satanist child, the Antichrist as prophesied in Revelations.
It remains faithful by and large to the novel and the first movie that starred Gregory Peck. If it is less sharp in its pace, it adds a couple of shock cuts that work well. So while we might miss the tighter direction of Richard Donner, the effects are very good and the photography and editing also of a high standard with some suitably exotic locations.
Though Leiv Schrieber lacks the gravitas of Gregory Peck, who was older in the part at the end of his distinguished career, (though not his finest performance) Schrieber manages to deliver his lines with something of a resonance of Peck. Less satisfactory is Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick as Damien, who lacks the evil eye of the original's Harvey Stephens. While it was neat idea to have Mia Farrow as the malevolent governess Mrs. Baylock, (a reference to Rosemary's Baby which covered similar ground), her first appearance rather suggests Mary Poppins, and it seems hard for her to then make the role as threatening as did Billie Whitelaw.
Neither do Julia Stiles as Karen (the long suffering wife) nor David Thewlis as the photographer Keith Jennings improve on the performances of Lee Remick and David Warner. However both Postlethwaite and Gamon provide some strong characterization. You may well wonder why it took so long for Thorn to wake up about his daemonic son, you'd only have to look at the drawings by the kid pasted on the nursery walls of all places, to realize the lad has some serious problems.
In the early 1970s there was a sudden interest in the Devil and all his works, with films like Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist, The Omen, etc. mostly they were well made and with good casts and directors, its hard to improve on the originals even with today's film technology. So why do we bother remaking big features from the past, perhaps so a new generation can see them, but usually the revival is lacking the spark that set off the original idea, and sometimes the story has simply become old hat - just as Poseidon really sank itself the second time round. However in fairness The Omen 2006 is well worth a viewing, if you haven't seen the first version.
It remains faithful by and large to the novel and the first movie that starred Gregory Peck. If it is less sharp in its pace, it adds a couple of shock cuts that work well. So while we might miss the tighter direction of Richard Donner, the effects are very good and the photography and editing also of a high standard with some suitably exotic locations.
Though Leiv Schrieber lacks the gravitas of Gregory Peck, who was older in the part at the end of his distinguished career, (though not his finest performance) Schrieber manages to deliver his lines with something of a resonance of Peck. Less satisfactory is Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick as Damien, who lacks the evil eye of the original's Harvey Stephens. While it was neat idea to have Mia Farrow as the malevolent governess Mrs. Baylock, (a reference to Rosemary's Baby which covered similar ground), her first appearance rather suggests Mary Poppins, and it seems hard for her to then make the role as threatening as did Billie Whitelaw.
Neither do Julia Stiles as Karen (the long suffering wife) nor David Thewlis as the photographer Keith Jennings improve on the performances of Lee Remick and David Warner. However both Postlethwaite and Gamon provide some strong characterization. You may well wonder why it took so long for Thorn to wake up about his daemonic son, you'd only have to look at the drawings by the kid pasted on the nursery walls of all places, to realize the lad has some serious problems.
In the early 1970s there was a sudden interest in the Devil and all his works, with films like Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist, The Omen, etc. mostly they were well made and with good casts and directors, its hard to improve on the originals even with today's film technology. So why do we bother remaking big features from the past, perhaps so a new generation can see them, but usually the revival is lacking the spark that set off the original idea, and sometimes the story has simply become old hat - just as Poseidon really sank itself the second time round. However in fairness The Omen 2006 is well worth a viewing, if you haven't seen the first version.