The Omen 666 Movie Review
I know, I know: 3 days late posting this. That was intentional for all those hexakosioihexekontahexaphobics out there (afraid of the number 666). So the 6th June has passed and nothing really, really bad has happened ( at least not to my knowledge).
It was a warm summer's evening last night, not hot as hell, but pretty warm in the packed cinema. How packed? Anyone's guess but I'd venture the high six hundreds, although I have been know to exaggerate.=P People were coming in during the trailers and even 5 mins into the start of the screening, standing up blocking views. An annoying woman was using her mobile phone intermittently throughout the showing. Not quick calls but one was quite lengthy, until thankfully she was warned by someone closer, before I did my fire and brimstone bit, breathing fire down here neck. No doubt the dialling code she used was prefixed with a +666. The chap directly to my right agreed with me and disliked this intrusion; unfortunately he had a "whistley nose", the type with bad sinuses who would probably snore like satan at the drop of a hat.
Anyway the plot as you probably know is a mix of babyswapping, politicians, numbers on heads, a small scary dark haired boy, and big scary dark haired dogs dripping saliva.
Nothing seems too surprising watching the movie, other than the few seat grabbing jumps. This is probably because I've seen the original, but it remains very watchable, due to the fine actors, Pete Postlethwaite, David Thewlis, and Liev Schreiber, who I last saw in the Manchurian Candidate. Schreiber plays the Gregory Peck part from the original, and Julia Stiles plays the Lee Remick character. Styles is a little, ok a lot wimpy in this. She just didn't seem to have a lot to do, or maybe I was a little annoyed that she didn't seem to have a inkling her Son had Satanic origins, when even the monkeys in the zoo could tell.
After a 'freak' accident in Italy, Schreiber takes on a job as ambassador to Britain. The couple move to a big house in England. "Bad big?"Stiles asks, no just "big big" says her hubby. But as we find out later, "big big" is definitely "bad big". Born or 'placed' into a political family, "the eternal sea" in prophecies, Damien is well positioned for world domination unless he can be stopped. Not really surprising that; whenever a politicain says that "there is nothing to be scared of, I promise," start to worry.
Nicely shot we see dusty hues of Rome, and stark red and white dream sequences. Red is also used in Thewlis' photography darkroom. More for production design I think than reality, as other light from windows is getting in. He uses digital and film cameras, so there should be no need to show darkroom shots, but there is still something magical about seeing an image appearing in a bath of developer. Jaws 2 always springs to mind when I see that in movies.
Using brief snippets modern day footage of the twin towers and floods seems to cheapen these events, just to use them in a marketing tie in is a touch indelicate in my view. Is this film essential viewing; not really, but enjoyable all the same. The updated effects make it much less hokey than the original. I'll bet a sequel is being made for next year, only when will they release it? on 06/06/07 or 07/07/07. Now is there a word for a 777phobic ?
It was a warm summer's evening last night, not hot as hell, but pretty warm in the packed cinema. How packed? Anyone's guess but I'd venture the high six hundreds, although I have been know to exaggerate.=P People were coming in during the trailers and even 5 mins into the start of the screening, standing up blocking views. An annoying woman was using her mobile phone intermittently throughout the showing. Not quick calls but one was quite lengthy, until thankfully she was warned by someone closer, before I did my fire and brimstone bit, breathing fire down here neck. No doubt the dialling code she used was prefixed with a +666. The chap directly to my right agreed with me and disliked this intrusion; unfortunately he had a "whistley nose", the type with bad sinuses who would probably snore like satan at the drop of a hat.
Anyway the plot as you probably know is a mix of babyswapping, politicians, numbers on heads, a small scary dark haired boy, and big scary dark haired dogs dripping saliva.
Nothing seems too surprising watching the movie, other than the few seat grabbing jumps. This is probably because I've seen the original, but it remains very watchable, due to the fine actors, Pete Postlethwaite, David Thewlis, and Liev Schreiber, who I last saw in the Manchurian Candidate. Schreiber plays the Gregory Peck part from the original, and Julia Stiles plays the Lee Remick character. Styles is a little, ok a lot wimpy in this. She just didn't seem to have a lot to do, or maybe I was a little annoyed that she didn't seem to have a inkling her Son had Satanic origins, when even the monkeys in the zoo could tell.
After a 'freak' accident in Italy, Schreiber takes on a job as ambassador to Britain. The couple move to a big house in England. "Bad big?"Stiles asks, no just "big big" says her hubby. But as we find out later, "big big" is definitely "bad big". Born or 'placed' into a political family, "the eternal sea" in prophecies, Damien is well positioned for world domination unless he can be stopped. Not really surprising that; whenever a politicain says that "there is nothing to be scared of, I promise," start to worry.
Nicely shot we see dusty hues of Rome, and stark red and white dream sequences. Red is also used in Thewlis' photography darkroom. More for production design I think than reality, as other light from windows is getting in. He uses digital and film cameras, so there should be no need to show darkroom shots, but there is still something magical about seeing an image appearing in a bath of developer. Jaws 2 always springs to mind when I see that in movies.
Using brief snippets modern day footage of the twin towers and floods seems to cheapen these events, just to use them in a marketing tie in is a touch indelicate in my view. Is this film essential viewing; not really, but enjoyable all the same. The updated effects make it much less hokey than the original. I'll bet a sequel is being made for next year, only when will they release it? on 06/06/07 or 07/07/07. Now is there a word for a 777phobic ?
posted by Bulbboy at 11:31 AM
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