Movie Review: "The Omen" (2006)

DISCLAIMER: This review may contain spoilers.

This will be somewhat brief, much like the short story of "The Omen" remake at the box office as well as within the overall history of cinema during the '00s decade. Everything in this movie is wrong, from top to bottom, left to right. The 2006 remake of "The Omen" is nothing other than a page-for-page, line-for-line rehash of the original 1976 film.

Seriously, "The Omen" provides extremely (and this is a pretty extreme extremely) little variety from its original counterpart. When it comes down to remakes in general, I guess the main question, the very first question, is... Why. Why remake "The Omen"? The direction, script, acting, and soundtrack were all perfect the way they were. So why do it?

Usually, when you remake an older film, the reason is usually because the original was executed in an unjust way (i.e. poor script or direction) or someone found an interesting new twist on the original story. Mind you, I did not list special effects as a reason, there are many great older films with special effects that are passable or subpar but they are out-shined by the story, atmosphere, and characters.

"Dawn of the Dead" is a great example of an older film with not-so great special effects, but everything else about it overshadows this technical flaw. While the 2004 remake took the idea from the original and put a new spin on it in terms of story and characters, it still failed to do the 1978 version justice by turning it into a mindless zombie action flick. You can put a new twist on the original but you better not betray the elements that made the original so great to begin with. That's why the 1978 version has so much more depth and atmosphere than its remake.

The 1986 version of "The Fly" is a fantastic example of a new twist on an older film, a rather successful example I might add. But when a movie is remade to cash-in on the brand name of the first film and nothing more, then the remake should not exist at all. The only reason "The Omen" was remade was to cash-in on the fancy release date of June 6th, 2006.

This is the thought process behind "The Omen" remake:

Oh, the 6/6/2006 release date is around the corner? Come, let's remake "The Omen" ASAP. Now what happens in the first scene of that movie? Okay, quick, let's film that scene and move onto the second scene.

Talk about shallow. If you're going to remake "The Omen", at least give us a new twist on the original movie. You might as well watch the 1976 version. But then again, if the only reason to remake the first film is to make more money, then just re-release the original back in theaters. Isn't common sense great? But no, I'm assuming they're trying to cater to today's younger and timidly stupid audiences who won't go anywhere near a film that is 20-30 years old because that would automatically classify it as cheap in their poor little minds.