The Omen is yet another remake, and as far as I can tell, the primary reason for it having been made is because the sly marketing department thought it would be clever to release the picture on 06/06/06.

Based on Richard Donner's 1976 film, The Omen tells the tale of happily married Robert and Katherine Thorn. Robert is an American diplomat who finds himself appointed the U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain after a horrible misfortune befalls the true heir to the position. Things quickly escalate for the Thorns. They find themselves living a lavish lifestyle, and the announcement of a pregnancy brightens their lives even further. Sadly, complications arise during Katherine's delivery, prompting Robert to make an uncharacteristically unethical decision that might alter the well being of his marriage (and mankind for that matter). This unethical decision arrives in the form of their new son Damien, a seemingly normal youngster who quickly begins to exhibit odd behavior. Before long, Katherine begins to fear her own child, while outside forces begin to reveal a terrifying truth to Ambassador Thorn.

I'm a big fan of Richard Donner's version. The 70's take on The Omen is a classy 70's horror film. It was big in scope and managed to walk that fine line between high class and high camp, much in the same way Donner's Superman did a couple of years later. For the most part, this remake walks the same line, although director John Moore (Flight of the Phoenix-another remake-go figure!) does throw in a couple of pointless dream sequences (one of which features a glimpse of a creature that appears to have made it's way into this picture straight off the set of M. Night Shyamalan's The Village). These particular scenes don't really scare, but rather bring on headaches due to quick, MTV style editing and obnoxiously loud musical cues. Such business plagued the silly "An American Haunting." I'm happy to report, however, that for the most part, this re-do is shot in a traditional fashion. Save for the aforementioned moments, Moore allows the film to breathe. It isn't shot and cut to appease an audience with short attention spans (ala a Michael Bay movie).

David Seltzer's screenplay is character driven and doesn't allow CGI effects to take over the show. This isn't at all surprising given that Seltzer wrote the original film. With this update there are obvious upgrades. Photographers using digital cameras, Swat teams using guns with laser sighting etc. What's more, The Omen feels a little more relevant today given all the horrific events taking place as of late in the world. While we're on that topic, it should be noted that this film does go too far with gratuitous (and completely unnecessary) 9/11 imagery, but I did enjoy the nifty little twist at the end of the picture. It leaves itself wide open for a follow-up but in a much different political climate than the original. I suppose a second "Damien: Omen Part 2" remake will depend upon what kind of money this picture makes at the box office.

As for the cast, it's hit and miss. Liev Schreiber is all wrong for the role of Robert Thorn. While he plays the role in the same sort of low key manner that Gregory Peck did, he brings no sense of authority to the part. Peck had that maturity and legendary movie star stature making the character far more interesting. Julia Stiles has the less daunting task of filling Lee Remick's shoes, and while this isn't exactly a star making turn, I bought into her fear and confusion. As much as I hate to bash on a child actor, I can't really offer up any positive words for young Tomas Wooler. I wasn't creeped out by his Damien in the slightest. As I watched this young actor make faces, I couldn't help but feel like Moore was two feet away simply having the youngster mimic his facial expressions. What made Harvey Stephens (who makes a cameo in this version by the way) so chilling in the original was his natural, child-like presence (he is, after all, a child). Here, the film makers try to make Damien overtly creepy, and the mechanics of this performance hurt the tone of the film.

It is the smaller roles that prove to be the strongest. David Thewlis is terrific in a part originated by genre character actor David Warner. Thewlis livens up the proceedings as a working class photographer who seals his own fate by following the Thorns around with a camera. Pete Postlethwaite is solid as a manic Catholic Priest who sets Robert's whole mission in motion. Perhaps the strongest bit of casting though, is Mia Farrow. She's perfectly psychotic as Damien's nanny Mrs. Baylock. She's deceptively sweet on the surface, but pure evil underneath. Woody Allen should thank his lucky stars that he never saw this side of her. Perhaps he did during the divorce.

The effects work in this Omen are A-caliber. There are a couple of sequences that should make the gore hounds in the audience howl with glee. In particular, there's a death towards the end of the film that would make the creators of the Final Destination franchise proud. Not all the effects comes up roses however. The zoo sequence which occurs about halfway through the movie, is laughably bad, and features a cage full of gorillas going berserk. These primates don't look real at all.

This love letter to Richard Donner is neither a good omen nor a bad omen. Clearly, it's made for a generation of film goers who scoff at the notion of watching a movie that's older than they are. Oh well. It's their loss I suppose. Overall, this is a slick but pointless remake. I wouldn't call it pointless in the same way that Gus Van Sant's shot for shot remake of Psycho was pointless. Watching this new Omen is more like watching Michael Mann's Manhunter, then taking in a screening of Brett Ratner's inferior Red Dragon. There are similarities galore, but Manhunter had a much cooler style about it. Likewise, Donner's film had a sinister tone that this picture seems to be lacking. There are subtle differences (the strongest being the final confrontation between Katherine Thorn and Mrs. Baylock - I must say, the sequence in this version is far more effective), but for the most part, this is the same movie with different cast members and German Shepards instead of Rottweilers (the Weilers were a hell of a lot scarier). I'm hoping that Bryan Singer's love letter to Mr. Donner (I'm referring, of course, to Superman Returns), will be much more effective.