Omen - La nouvelle malédiction

I received an advance screener of the US DVD of this title. What an amazing surprise! A very personal film that was well acted, realistic and suspenseful, without ever becoming unbelievable. Without giving away too much, I have to say that I was blown away by the ending -my sister even cried! The story concerns three lifelong friends (played by Thai pop group D2B, who are apparently the Thai N*Sync) who've started their own graphic design firm. One of them is involved in a mysterious car crash and finds himself in the presence of an old woman, a soothsayer, who can seemingly predict the future. Her "omens" (hence the title OMEN) at first seem to warn the boys, allowing them to alter their fates, but more sinister happenings threaten their friendship (and their lives) when a girl enters the picture. The film has rich character development - way more than I've come to expect from Hollywood movies, and the plot intertwines Thai superstitions with spiritual issues like reincarnation, and many other paranormal anomalies that create a very creepy atmosphere. The DVD has a ton of features, including trailers, band bios, still galleries, and essays; according to one such essay, one of the actors had a real near-death experience after the film finished, and there is a tribute to him from his fan club on the disc. I was able to find two Easter eggs in the menus, too. One of them is a great Behind-the-Scenes documentary with interviews with the cast and Danny and Oxide Pang. Really cool packaging, too. I can't remember the last time I received such a pleasant surprise.

After the success of the directors other films, "Omen" comes as a big of a shock in just how poor it is. This film is hard to describe in that it is an unthrilling thriller and a tame spook-fest. Film centres round the happenings of 3 friends who chance upon an old lady whose prophecies come true with near fatal results, inter spliced by flashbacks of a set of boys playing with their dog from 50 years back! For a start this film lacks any bite at all. Direction is poor, acting is woeful and the scares are non-existent. In some ways its meant to ape the feel of "The Eye", but this simply does not have the storyline to match. When the mystery is all revealed at the end, you will burst out laughing and is simply the biggest nonsense I have seen in a while. Everyone in the cinema was laughing at what was meant to be a sentimental revelation and retelling.

Avoid this, and hope the directors disown this movie.

I'm never one to praise acting, as GREAT acting is always very subjective. However, at the very base requirement, you know an actor's done his/her job when you watch a movie and subliminally take for granted that he/she actually IS the person you see on screen, rather than an actor playing a character. *That* is the mark of a decent actor doing his/her job, earning his/her keep. That's all you need to do. Greatness beyond that base is subjective.

This movie fails at that basic premise of the craft. The movie fails to engage you into the characters. (As explained by the fact that the main characters are played by non-professional actors. Boy-band singers, no less.) Because of that, the more dramatic elements of the film felt completely contrived and, in short, like a joke.

There are a lot of good things to say about many low production value movies, ie. many independent movies. 'Omen', however, felt like a high-school project started at the last minute, filmed with a high-school allowance. The story was too contrived, to the point it was farcical. A few people in the viewing audience actually laughed when the plot-twist was revealed. (Many of us just sighed with exhaustion.) It felt like the writers (as accomplished and lauded as they are) felt they HAD to put a twist in there for it's own sake: convoluting just to surprise the audience rather than making a decent story.

I hate to dog on a movie, but this one I feel I have to warn people to stay away from.

It earns one star for having a decent premise (a mysteriously prophetic woman, albeit, somewhat cliché) which had so much potential, only to be floundered on silly casting/acting, an excessively contrived story and production values that would make a Visual Arts D-grade student cringe.

Danger Will Robinson, Danger!