Want to talk about cynical cash-grabbing? This is a film which, no matter what anyone says, exists for one reason, and one reason only: the chance to cash in on the novelty release date of June 6, 2006. First screenings were reportedly held at 6.06 AM. As quirky releases go it's certainly a memorable one, but that's about the only thing that is memorable about director John Moore's utterly bland, nondescript effort, which sleepwalks its way through more or less the exact same steps as Richard Donner's 1976 original. A great cast including Liev Schrieber, Julia Styles, Pete Postlethwaite, David Thewlis and Mia Farrow are all squandered, given basically nothing to do but repeat what Gregory Peck, Patrick Troughton, Billie Whitelaw and co had done before. It's not simply that the story had been told better before (Donner's original isn't necessarily a masterpiece); Moore's film simply has no personality of its own.
