When I saw some footage from the new version of The Omen, I was impressed. Tense and sharply edited, the short segment I saw suggested that this remake could possibly live up to the 1976 original. Unfortunately, it turns out the rest of the film is not nearly as interesting or involving.

Everything in The Omen seems familiar, partly because this is the 4th Omen film and partly because most of this film is a shot-by-shot re-creation of the original. There’s no real passion or originality here. Granted, there are some interesting sequences, in particular the various death scenes, but for the most part The Omen fails to impress.

For a film with such a strong cast, the acting is not spectacular. Julia Stiles seems to sleepwalk through most of the film and Michael Gambon is wasted in a 5 minute cameo. Pete Postlethwaite is excellent, as always, and David Thewlis delivers in a good supporting role. Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick as Damien is underwhelming, though most of his performance consists of empy glowering.

Ultimately, this remake is irrelevant. The original Omen was so strong and influential that this version would’ve had to do something spectacular to even measure up. Unfortunately, The Omen (2006) is overly familiar and uninspired.