THE OMEGA CODE A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 1999 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): *
"The Bible is actually a holographic computer program!" Dr. Gillen Lane (Casper Van Dien), a Tony Robbins-type of motivational speaker, tells his breathless television audience in THE OMEGA CODE. "Crisscrossing the Torah is a hidden code that reveals the future!" (The Bible's coded messages include the words "Princess," "Diana," "Paris," "tunnel" and the date that Princess Diana died.)
Robert Marcarelli's THE OMEGA CODE is like a passion play scripted by Mel Brooks, a Shakespearean tragedy performed on "Saturday Night Live," a James Bond spoof acted by Bill Murray, a car chase enacted by the Keystone Cops' stunt drivers, an opera without music choreographed by Barney's creators and an old newsreel shown late at night on a religious cable channel's infomercial. With the material for a great parody, the movie's worst sin is that the actors, who shamelessly overact, take it all quite seriously.
A marketing phenomenon, the picture was released to just 300 screens but rocketed to capture a spot on the top 10 box office list the week that it came out, thanks to local churches talking it up. The religious thriller, produced by the Trinity Broadcasting Network, can truly be called a thriller of apocalyptic proportions. Avoiding any sex, nudity and even a single "darn," the film, except for its gun violence, was carefully crafted in an attempt to appeal to a family audience.
Described as a Buddha-like figure, Chairman Stone Alexander (Michael York) presents himself as a world savior. Responsible for world peace and for skyrocketing stock markets due to his revolutionary idea of a single global currency, Chairman Alexander will, nevertheless, prove to have some serious character flaws. As a clue to his true identity perhaps I should mention that strange bombings, food shortages and epidemics have recently been striking the planet.
As the hackneyed dialog flies fast and furious ("I know that the worth of a real man will show up in the countenance in his wife's face." "These people need a beast to tame their savagery!"), we keep cutting back to evil computer nerds trying to decode the Bible's hidden messages. Their program has the 3D text dancing on the screen like a double-helix ballet. Typical of the messages it decodes is the one: "Wild Siblings Tamed by Beast."
Only as an old-fashioned B-movie, the type that got second billing on a kids' Saturday afternoon double feature, does THE OMEGA CODE have any appeal. The delight of those movie was that everyone could hoot at them, and some of the kids would even throw popcorn boxes at the screen, as we all roared at how ridiculous the picture was.
THE OMEGA CODE runs 1:39. It is rated PG-13 for violence. The film would be acceptable for kids around 10 and up, but most kids of any age are going to be bored stiff and confused by the movie.
Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com
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