The Omega Man
Plot:
Charlton Heston is the last man on earth. Unfortunately, he is not alone. If you really needed me to tell you this, may I ask, what is it like living on the moon?
Comments:
This December will see the latest
incarnation of Richard Matheson's revered novella 'I Am Legend'. Despite
featuring a screenplay by uber-hack Akiva Goldsman, the film taunts us with a
glimmer of hope that it will avoid total crapulence.
Well I can't wait around on farts and promises; I need my post-apocalyptic
vampire fix now! So as you can see, it's the perfect time for us to examine
'Omega Man', the early 70's rehash of the 'last man on earth is not alone'
concept.
Now, the most common complaint against
'Omega', is that it's about as faithful to Matheson as a Republican congressman
in a Bangkok brothel. However, this is certainly no caveat to me. As much as I
admire the man's work, I always found the ending of 'Legend' an utter
disappointment. (And if you think I'm going to issue spoiler warnings for a book
older than my auntie, you've got another thing coming.) The entire story sets up
an agonizing and palpable tension. It's a story of one man verses fate, verses
despair, verses himself. At one point, Neville almost dies because he let his
watch wind down. Will he make another fatal mistake? Will he simply give up?
Will he, against all logic, find a way out?
Then out of left field comes a jarring deus ex machina. A society of not quite
vampiric undead, for which there was no previous evidence in the story (Not even
a note on someone's chest "Not really dead, please do not insert stake.
Thnx!") rises up and destroys the man, the air of carefully crafted
suspense, and any chance of the story having a real point. Others may disagree
with me, citing the circular nature of Neville's position and the irony of his
end. Well whoopty-damn-do. A twist ending is nice, but what's nicer is a
satisfying and fitting conclusion to a gripping narrative.
Many folks have shown concern that Goldsman will attempt to tack on a happy
ending for Will Smith's Neville. Frankly, I wouldn't mind a little ham fisted
Hollywood revisionism. (Note from future Boggy; Well I've seen the film,
remind me to shut my damn mouth more often.)
'The Omega Man' is a different critter all
together. From its opening shots of moldering skeletons to its final
blood-soaked tableau, the film certainly avoids an air of optimism. What is up
front and center is Matheson's concept of the old man being usurped by a radical
new society. Oddly, what appeared at the abrupt end of the original narrative
sets the stage here. Heston's Dr. Robert Neville faces not a mass of
cannibalistic corpses, but mutated survivors of the plague who have banded
together to create a new order. The cultish "family" is a collective
of robe clad photosensitive albinos, who seek his blood not for sustenance, but
societal catharsis. While his enemies are chatty, they unfortunately seem like
nothing the man can't handle. The film spends no time building up the horrible
'chess game with death' atmosphere of previous incarnations. Whereas Price's
superior performance in 'Last Man on Earth' displayed a heavy fatigue and
disheveled despair, Heston's Neville comes across as, oddly, much too heroic to
really care about. He spends the apocalypse driving around town in sports cars
and running laps to keep himself fit and shiny. To put it plainly, if Price is a
real scientist, Heston is the 70's American soap opera doctor. You get the idea
that he could knock down a ghoul by spitting chaw juice at them. (I like Heston,
and he's not bad here by any means. He's just well cast in a badly written
role.)
But arrogance can be costly, as the ghouls
turn out to be a much craftier nemesis than they first appear. While we miss out
on the whole claustrophobic vibe of the original, the scenes where Neville is
captured almost make up for it. Rather than being set upon and devoured, the
family slowly prepares for his immolation. Now this alone makes the movie worth
watching. (Even if there is very little else that catches my fancy.) These are
not lethargic zombies who lumber after Neville for his blood. These are people
who will look you straight in the eye and very calmly explain to you why they
have to torture you to death. On it's surface, "the family" would be
of course a reference to the Manson murders and the zeitgeist of fear they
created but it's very easy to find bits of diverse meaning attached to them.
Some have made a point that the creatures are communistic in nature, (A radical
collective, hatred of 'sinful' art and learning.) but trying to tack any
specific symbolism to them is missing the point.
Had the family been a straight metaphor, they would have eventually wound up as
aged and laughable as Neville's 8-track. (A minor complaint is that the film is
terribly dated. Bio-warfare with the USSR is what causes the fatal plague, etc.)
They represent faceless, hateful assimilation in its purest form, and this is
what I think makes them the perfect force of menace; they are almost
interchangeable with evil of any era. Don't believe me? Can you think of any
contemporary quasi-religious organization of fanatics who while proclaiming
total dominion over modern society, seek to simultaneously hurl in back to the
dark ages?
This is your fear, your life. Just fill in the blank.
But despite some intimidating
nuggets, 'Omega'
squanders the potential of being really horrific. Like Neville himself, it's
just way too macho to posses any greater depth.
There's an unfortunate emphasis on action rather than mood, and this is film's
major and fatal stumbling block. Like its predecessors, 'Omega' destroys its own
ambience of paranoid loneliness with the insertion of a group of radical
outsiders. The difference here is that Neville abducted by a jive talkin' soul
mama with an afro, a bad attitude, and chopper to match.
Excuse me, my sense of dread is rolling around on the floor, peeing itself from
all the laughing.
Yeah, the movie's bulk is all but hijacked by high-speed chases, explosions,
lame lab scenes, and one of the dopiest group of 70's stereotypes this side of a
'Shaft' film festival. In this way, 'Omega' manages to be much more pointless
than the novella, yet retain absolutely none it's ironic bite. (There's also
some really lousy end music that is thoroughly mismatched to the final scene.)
Sure, 'The Omega Man' is worth watching, but it's considered a classic more by default than merit. It's unique, but unique and smart are not always synonymous. While it is very enjoyable as a bit of cheese, there's no denying its shortcomings.
5.0