As a somewhat seasoned movie watcher, nothing quite strikes fear into my hear like reading the words "The Asylum Presents" in the opening credits. With I am Omega, the production company behind such mockbusters as Paranormal Entity, Transmorphers and The Terminators are up to their old tricks, trying to work their brand of "magic" by reimagining/ripping off the 2007 Will Smith hit I am Legend.
Admission - I haven't seen the original Legend. I just know that it's a "last-man-on-earth-versus-zombie/vampire"thing. I am Omega borrows from that basic plot, and starts off as a one man show. But eventually (I would guess because they ran out of things for him to do alone, and also to get the film to feature length), they throw in some other survivors. So it's more of a "a-few-people-left-on-earth-versus-zombie/mutant" thing.
Renchard (Marc Dacascos) is the main guy. Some sort of viral outbreak has turned everyone on earth into these angry mutant zombie things that apparently make them want to kill non-infected people. (I've read that they cannibals in other reviews, but I'm not sure if I really ever saw them eat anyone.) We spend most of Act I just wandering around with Renchard, as he goes about his daily business, collecting food, killing zombies, breaking old furniture using his martial arts skills, and setting up bombs to blow up the city. The usual last-man-on-earth stuff.
Renchard's solo adventures are what passes for the highlights of the film. There is nothing particularly impressive about them, but these sorts of low budget mockbusters hide their cheapness best when no live actors have to interact with one another. Since there are no other people around, we miss out on the awkwardness and bad acting that plague the rest of the film. (Although there is a pretty funny part when he is driving around by himself and tapping on the wheel to the beat of the music. They clearly didn't have the soundtrack picked out while filming, so he looks like he has no sense of rhythm whatsoever.)
As you may have guessed, it turns out Renchard is *not* the last man on the planet. He still gets internet service, and one day gets a video distress call from Brianna (Jennifer Lee Wiggins), begging him to come into the city and rescue her. She says there is a commune in the mountains called Antiox, where thousands of uninfected people are living. He says "sorry, I can't" and hangs up on her. Then, *more* survivors show up at Renchard's house - they look like they belong in the Asylum version of Mad Max. These two (one of whom is actually the writer of the film and loves the word "compadre") talk Renchard into helping save Brianna by blowing up his house. (?) It turns out Brianna is uninfectable, and could be the key to a cure for the virus. So off they go!
Since every Asylum film I've seen is padded with footage of people in vehicles (they are cheap and easy sets), I was afraid when the three of them hopped in the van. But they get to their destination quickly - I am Omega is instead padded with them walking around a tunnel, or them in an abandoned building. At least it's something different. Will Renchard be able to rescue the savior Brianna and bring her to Antiox? Tune in to find out!
So you can probably guess from the overall tone here, but I am Omega is not very good. You are never really given a reason to care about any of the main characters. It's almost just as if the fact that they *are* the main characters is supposed to be reason enough. It's not particularly well shot or edited, and it looks pretty cheap. Lead actor Dacascos is okay - he fares better than anyone else, although he's also given the least amount of ridiculous shit to say and do by the script.
The horror stuff here isn't anything special. The mutants look okay - more often than not the seams on the makeup/masks are showing, but overall they look fine and seem appropriately gooey. But you never get a good look at them attacking anyone. Presumably they eat them, but this is never really shown onscreen. (Or, if you believe the prologue, they just punch you and then leave you alone.) Also, in traditional Asylum style, you only see one or two of them at a time. There are literally hundreds of them on the box art. The mutants are usually just dispatched by gunshot, so you do see some splatter periodically. But nothing to get too excited about.
So yeah, it's pretty bland and far from good, but it's not offensively bad. Just regular bad. It got me thinking about the cast and crew on one of these mockbusters though. It has to be a weird mix... some people just there for the check, some for the experience, and some living their dream, working on a "real" movie. But it's all in the name of piggybacking on a known property. I think there is probably a good "unauthorized story of The Asylum" book out there waiting to be written.
I didn't really like I am Omega. The best thing I can say? It could have been worse, I guess.
I would not recommend this film.
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