The Omega Code Review
by Frankie Paiva (SwpStke AT aol DOT com)June 20th, 2000
The Omega Code
rated PG-13
99 minutes
starring Casper Van Dien, Michael York, Catherine Oxenberg, and Michael Ironside
directed by Robert Marcarelli
A Video Review by Frankie Paiva
Never before in my life have I seen a movie worse than The Omega Code. This may sound like a strong statement, but it is completely true. So many things went awry with the first movie funded by TBN (the Trinity Broadcasting Network) that I seriously could sit here all day listing them.
Gillen Lane (Casper Van Dien) is a self-motivation and religious guru who lost his faith when he was ten. His mother died in a car crash when he was at that age and since then he's been trying to improve people's lives by teaching them to believe in themselves rather than a higher power. His ideas interest Stone Alexander (Michael York) a wealthy, but corrupt businessman who uses his work to promote peace in Jerusalem and other Middle Eastern countries to hide his work on cracking the bible code. Gillen and Alexander are both intrigued by this code. When the bible gets viewed in 3-D certain patterns emerge that predict the future. Hitler, the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and the death of Princess Diana were apparently all foretold by the bible. Whoever has control of the code and knows what's going to happen next can therefore claim themselves to be God. So Gillen must keep the code safe from double-crossing executives, bodyguards, and reporters. Along the way his faith may come back.
The main problem with The Omega Code is that it tries too hard to be two different types of movies. It wants to preach the lord, and spread the word of Jesus to African countries we've never heard of. However, the religious message gets overshadowed by all of the action. Writers Stephan Blinn and Hollis Barton tried to make this entertaining, but try not to groan when Gillen says things like, "I’ve got to do it! It’s my child!" Try not to laugh when a man runs away from a big Amish-like shooter guy with a long beard. Scenes like these are laughably bad. So is the acting. Casper Van Dien still shows no hope of good acting skills. Rather than this being amusing, as it was in Starship Troopers, it's just really annoying. Michael York is also surprisingly bad. The Omega Code is so utterly predictable it's scary. Gillen isn’t smart enough to figure out that almost no one is on his side. The movie also treats the audience this way. Whether you see one movie a year or one hundred, it's very likely you've seen all of this before. Fifth graders are producing better stories with better dialog than this. Sitting through five hours of TBN and watching modern-day Tammy Faye Bakkers bawl it out is by far a less severe punishment.
There was one joyous moment for me that involved this movie. That moment was when I returned the tape to the video store.
F
Frankie Paiva
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