The Omen

Released: 2006
MPAA rating: R
Run time: 1:50

"The Omen" is the remake of the 1976 film about the birth and rise of the anti-Christ on earth. The remake follows the original script very closely. While not a "shot-for-shot" remake (like the "Psycho" remake with Vince Vaughan), this is also not a reimagining. The original storyline is pretty much kept intact. Some of the deaths are slightly modified, but still very true to the original script. I am still not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. On the one hand, the original storyline was well done, so why mess with it? On the other, the original movie was well done, so why bother remaking it? The cast in the remake is led by one of my favorites, Liev Schreiber as ambassador Robert Thorn, who is unknowingly raising the devil himself in his son, Damien (Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick). Fitzpatrick does not really need to do much acting, but when he is called upon to do the cherubic/pure evil Damien smile, he nails it. If you're not familiar, when Thorn's child dies in childbirth, a hospital priest offers him the opportunity to take on an infant orphan and give him a good home. While reluctant at first, he becomes convinced when he is told his wife (Julia Stiles) will no longer be able to bear children. He agrees and is set on a course of evil he had no idea he was getting into. People start to die around Damien, in horrific ways, and usually in order to get them out of his way. When Thorn begins to be told what is going on, he does not want to believe it, but slowly realizes his "son" must be stopped. The movie was good, the cast was good, but it didn't really deviate enough from the original movie to be worth re-doing. If you saw and love the original, there is nothing new here to compel you to watch this one. If you have never seen either, the original is still probably the better way to go.

Grade: C

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