'The day will come when everyone will know who you are but that day is not yet'
Great idea for a story line and a great follow up to the first film. It is seven years after the first film and Damien (Jonathan Scott-Taylor) is off to a cadet academy. It is there he discovers that he the the Antichrist and has the chance to accept who he is or he can reject the devil and do everything he can to reject him. It brings in new characters, giving him a new family and shows how he has grown up without realising he has these powers. Damien now lives with his 'father's' brother in the US and his cousin. His uncle is the head of Thorn industries.
For the first film, dogs were the key animal used through out. However, for this film (and as the poster suggests) they are not the key animal any more, instead ravens are. There is no real explanation for this change and when looking to the bible there are many references to ravens helping saints, which has confused me a bit. On the other hand, using ravens can lead to some very interesting death scenes, especially when the raven is attacking someone by itself.
As with the first film the acting is top quality and this time Damien has a much more vocal role. Taylor plays Damien almost as well as Stephens did in the first film. He is a very good actor, and it may just be the way he was written, but the delivery of lines can be patchy at times, especially when something unexpected has happened or is happening.
The locations chosen to shoot this film varies from the military academy to an expensive manor and to the main Thorn Industries building. All these sets look impressive and when the film cuts between them it doesn't seem strange like it does in some films. Most of the time there is a shot of the outside area or something that gives away where the scene is set so not to confuse the audience.
The script is once again well written if not for a few weak points then it would have been even better than the first film's script. It has some very clever lines placed in throughout the film and revelations are well placed and the lines are pulled off successfully.
Through out this film mythology plays a big part. Things are properly explained and the book of revelations is used though out explaining how the Antichrist will come to power and what will happen during that time. It makes the film better simply because it feels like it is thought out properly instead of ideas being plucked at random. The exception to this, as mentioned above, is the uses of Ravens. Although it is explained in the film, extra reading proved to me that ravens are more of a kind creature than an evil one.
There are however, some problems throughout the film. The main problem I had is that when Damien find out he is the Antichrist he only seems to have one moment of conflict and confusion where he runs from the academy out through the woods to a lake and stops at the end of the pier. After that moment he appears to just accept it. I get that he has never been shown to believe in God but this was still a really big topic which feels like it was just brushed aside and left alone as if it was unimportant.
The other problem is that from the get go, the Whore of Babylon is a common topic for the film. As explained by the film, she should be riding a seven headed beast who represents seven different kings who are suppose to rise up and kill her. However these kings are never clearly shown or pointed out and most certainly do not kill this 'whore' or anyone else for that matter.
The story is well written and it, like the first film, feels like a modern film. There is no over acting, the camera angles aren't out dated and most of the deaths are not over played or done using aged graphics. There are a few minor errors with a couple of bigger ones, but they do not distract so much that it really effects the film as I found myself getting caught up in the following scenes and forgetting about it till the film had finished. The ending of this film is done very well and I feel there are few modern films which have ended with such a good final shot or two.
Although it has weaker points the the first film didn't have, it is a better film because of the use of mythology throughout. It plays a much bigger role and because of this reason the film feels more thought out and properly researched making it more entertaining to watch.
The review for The Omen 1 can be found here
Rating 8.4/10
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