| Overall Grade: |
C- |
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| Story: |
C |
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| Acting: |
C- |
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| Direction: |
C- |
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| Visuals: |
C |
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The Simpsons' parody was definitely more fun.
by Yahoo! Movies User (movies profile)
Apr 6, 2008
5
of
9 people found this review helpful
Charlton Heston stars as Robert Neville, presumably the only survivor of a plague that either kills its victims or turns them into albino, nocturnal people who now call themselves "The Family." These beings are sensitive to light, so Neville remains safe during the day and with the lights on in and around his "fortress" at night. He sort of just runs a daily routine of exploring during the day, until he discovers another possible survivor.
The Omega Man has a wonderful premise, one that could work on so many levels; as sci-fi, horror, drama, and/or action, but it fails on all counts, thanks to the horribly wrong decisions director Boris Sagal makes and quite a bit of unbearable cheese noticeable throughout the production.
Mistake number one is the score. The premise is about a man who believes he is the last of his kind on Earth. To accentuate quiet creeepiness, it would have been preferable not to implement any music whatsoever (or at least use it sparingly). But unfortunately, we have a score, and a terrible and terribly loud one at that. It's a constant distraction that's among the film's biggest mistakes.
Sagal attempts to deliver a few thrills here and there, but the action sequences are poorly staged and shot. A motorcycle ride that should have been exciting is instead made silly with choppy slow motion. And you have to ask yourself, if you had an entire arsenal, would you really only take one gun with you when you wander into dangerous territory at night?
The movie stars Charlton Heston, so acting is not exactly going to be one of its strong points. Heston himself isn't bad here, but he does little that makes him easy to sympathize with, and virtually every other actor here with the exception of Anthony Zerbe is terrible. Most laughable is a scene where Rosalind Cash actually pretends to be a mannequin.
The climax is actually not bad, one of the film's few laudable points. The last fifteen minutes are actually fairly suspenseful, and caps off with a pretty good ending. But then comes the final scene, with its blatant Christ imagery, which ends the film on the same sour note that's present for most of the picture.
Since The Omega Man, a lot of films have taken on a similar premise with arguably more engrossing results. There's George Romero's terrific Living Dead series and most recently, Danny Boyle's excellent 28 Days Later, which succeeds on the levels The Omega Man failed. |
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