I Am Omega

I AM OMEGA (2008)

Directed by: Griff Furst
Screenplay: Geoff Meed
Starring: Mark Dacascos, Geoff Meed & Jennifer Lee Wiggins

So I Am Omega, a blatant rip off of I Am Legend. Well, yeah, kind of. It's produced by The Asylum the kings of cheap cash in movies that hit DVD just as the big budget counterparts are released in cinemas worldwide. 'Hits' such as Transmorphers and, erm, Snakes on a Train have kept the Asylum going for some years and no doubt lined the producer's pockets with quick and easy cash. I Am Omega is slightly different. Yeah, it's still a cash in but since Richard Matheson's source novel has been turned into a movie several times over the decades, what's wrong with another low budget interpretation? Plus it's got Mark 'Drive' Dacascos in it, the unsung hero of the action movie who is actually a decent actor and should have been in bigger and better things a long time ago. It's also, for a low budget movie, pretty well made and coherent which is something of a small miracle for a film produced by The Asylum.





Omega actually shares very little with either the novel or movie of I Am Legend, the first twenty minutes adhering to the lone survivor on earth battling hordes of undead/vampire like creatures. Dacascos is pretty good in these scenes, acting alone and getting to show some range. After the first twenty minutes or so the plotline throws all caution to the wind and abandons any real similarities to the original Legend story. Our hero starts meeting folks left right and centre (the whole last man earth idea going right out the window), then has to rescue a pretty babe with the flick then ending in a pretty cool kung fu battle. Don't remember I Am Legend or the book ending that way. So standard low budget zombie action all the way? Pretty much but not such a bad thing when there are plenty of fights, gore and chases on hand. To be fair the filmmakers have tried to inject some emotion into proceedings, which thanks to Dacascos' acting, works.



Flick is also shot well, all washed out greys and blacks and the main cast are always entertaining. There is also some fun to be had, with Dacascos taking out a bunch of zombies with some nunchuks and a cool chase in an abandoned parking garage. And any low budget movie that manages to show LA being blown up must be doing something right. So, action that is pretty good, some groovy zombies and the always watchable Dacascos make I Am Omega an enjoyable slice of hokum. Plus, compared to other Asylum films such as Transmorphers and AVH: Alien Vs Hunter it's a freaking masterpiece.