Reviewer Stephen Holden sums up my thoughts perfectly, calling it "supremely unnecessary." I wasn't surprised by the unfavorable review, which says, in part, "The incessant rumbling and flashing that accompanies virtually every other scene underscores the hollowness of a story that in the decades since the original 'Omen' has had any freshness trampled out of it by a rampaging army of Freddies, Jasons and Michael Myerses, not to mention assorted 'Omen' and 'Exorcist' sequels and knockoffs." He adds, "Yet I suppose an 'Omen' redux makes sense as a crass gamble in an age of tabloid theology and as a product shrewdly timed to ride on the coattails of 'The Da Vinci Code.'" ("Tabloid theology"--perfect description.) He then sums the movie up as "Revelation for Dummies."
Surprisingly though, the screenwriter is David Seltzer, the same guy who wrote the original; I guess that's why it's so redundantly faithful to the 1976 version, except that he's managed to "[sharpen] this remake's sour tang of exploitation" with scenes of the World Trade Center in flames and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
As for David Thewlis's performance as Jennings, Holden sums him up as "appropriately disheveled." (Is David Thewlis ever not disheveled?)
Anyway, I don't want to quote too much of it; read the article, if they haven't taken it down. It's pretty funny (I give it two thumbs up!), especially his description of Pete Postlethwaite and Michael Gambon. (Hey, David Thewlis and Michael Gambon, together again; it's a Harry Potter reunion! OK, when's DW gonna join that cast?!!! I vote for him to play Rufus Scrimgeour in Book 6! What do you think? The character seems to me like Rowling wrote it for him! I pictured DW in the part all through the book, and he played the role perfectly!)
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Date Posted:17:11:28 06/28/06 Wed
I'll probably go see the remake at the dollar cinema. The remake is almost a carbon copy of the original, but with less interesting lead actors. Okay, David Thewlis and Mia Farrow are not exactly chopped liver, but everybody has to admit that the original was perfectly cast.
