I went into this skeptical, just waiting for some sign that this was going to turn out to be mediocre, and though my skepticism spiked right around the time the filmmakers swiped the "it's all for you!" bit from the original film (modifying it only by adding gasoline and fire to the equation), by the time the movie was half over, I realized I didn't hate it at all. In fact, there's a key philosophical difference between this one and all its predecessors that aligns more with my own morality that kind of makes me feel like if I'd seen this first, it might have been my favorite. I have more to say on this, but it's hard to talk about without spoiling the plot, so I'll give you a chance to tap out now. I'll just say that the only reason I don't feel like giving it 4 stars is that the original is one of the films listed as an example of a 3.5 star film in Thonscore and I don't want to rate this higher cause I feel like I already used up my Golden Buzzer in my review of Pearl. This is rather good though. It's shot and edited beautifully; Nell Tiger Free shines in the lead role and also has the name Nell Tiger Free which I'd award 5 stars in the yet to be published namethon.blogspot.com; and all the things that are supposed to be scary land where they're aimed. If I were giving it a straight thumbs up or down, it's thumbs up for sure.
Similarly The Omen is just about a shitty little kid who is destined to become Evil incarnate and will be protected in the meantime by mean-looking people and some large dogs. We never stop to think that anyone responsible for bringing Damian to the Thorn household would be any different. The First Omen decides to be more nuanced, presenting two conflicting factions in the Church itself, one more Humanist and one purely Liturgical, and shows preoccupation with fulfilling the word of the Bible can sometimes, even at best, lead to self-defeating and cruel practices, and at worst do the Devil's work for him.
All told, The First Omen is a reinvigorating addition to the series that does everything you'd hope a sequel will do while falling short in none of the ways sequels often do. Solid piece of work; worth a look.
2 comments:
Another solid review. I have been watching movies, but I haven’t written anything yet, including Terrifier 3 (great!) and Smile 2 (meh). I watched the first omen when it was first available to stream. I agree with your review for the most part. Beautifully shot, and great acting (although I was distracted the whole time thinking, “Russell Crowe got so fat”). Although enjoyable for what it is, knowing it’s a prequel, it’s frustrating because you know it’s not going to end well, because you already know how it’s going to end! There is a rosemary’s baby prequel available now and I have the same feeling. In the end, you know how things are going to go down. The first omen was supposed to be the first of a trilogy, but I’m not certain that is going to happen because I don’t think this did so well in the box office. There was a new exorcist film recently that I checked out and I found myself bored. I’m not sure these old classic properties need to be revisited. Having said that the first omen is definitely worth your time if you’re looking for something to watch during spooky season.
you were bored at the recent exorcist because it sucked dick.
i was worried this was going to also, and it totally didn't.
Post a Comment