What happens when the son of the devil is raised by an American politician and his young wife? Exactly what you'd expect: all hell breaks loose!
While I haven't seen the original Omen in a while, I remember a few key scenes clearly and I remember I liked it. This alone is enough to make me wonder why they remade it (why remake good movies when there are so many bad films to fix?). But they did good, keeping many scenes identical but making the story very 2006 appropriate.
My favorite thing about the film was the adaptation of the plot to fit around 9/11, and the space shuttle disaster, which were obviously missing from the original. This does seem to imply that American tragedies are more important than non-American ones, though. Many people really feel the apocalypse is coming, so this was an appropriate choice. I also like the move from English characters to Americans (though this really doesn't matter).
The demons were spooky and the new Damien is one goony looking little boy, which is great. I don't mind a Damien that looks like Batboy from the Weekly World News. The other actors were also decent: Mia Farrow, best known to horror fans from that other Satanic child film, "Rosemary's Baby", was the perfect nanny and Liev Schreiber has that level of fame that makes him great for starring roles of this sort (not too big to overshadow the film, but big enough to fill the shoes). See "Phantoms" if you don't believe me. The actors did many of their owns stunts, with Liev Schreiber even cracking a rib.
My biggest concern was Julia Stiles. I said to myself, "Self, this chick is known for over-acting in Shakespearean romances and teen comedies... can she tone it down enough for a horror film?" A few moments had Stiles poking her melodramatic head up out of the ground, but overall she played it straight and I think she was commendable.
The kid who played Damien in the original returns here as a reporter, but don't throw out your copy of the original Omen. But don't go out of your way to avoid this one, either. It is a solid horror film with more than competent directing and acting behind it.
