Reviews of Doomsday

A fun thrill ride of Apocalyptic action

Posted : 1 month ago on 7 October 2009 11:56 (A review of Doomsday)

''This is our city! Whoever they send here, we're gonna catch them, we're gonna cook them, and we're gonna eat them!''

A futuristic action thriller where a team of people work to prevent a disaster threatening the future of the human race.

Rhona Mitra: Maj. Eden Sinclair

After Dog Soldiers (2002) and The Descent (2005), director Neil Marshall seemed like the new maestro of British horror cinema. His latest, Doomsday, is a markedly different film from his earlier work – most clearly in it's inability to choose which genre it belongs to. Dog Soldiers clearly aimed in the direction of comedy while The Descent was a masterful lesson in claustrophobic horror, marred only slightly by a number of over the top action scenes in its final act. Doomsday has funny moments, horrible moments, thrilling moments and, more often, scenes filled with levels of absurdity which would not feel out of touch, in a full-blown spoof.

The year is 2033. A quarter of a century has passed since the outbreak of a fatal disease in northern Britain. Scotland has been cut off - segregated behind a barrier closely following the lines of Hadrian's wall. But the disease has returned, the south is threatened and a crack military team (led by Rhona Mitra) is sent into the contaminated zone to find survivors, and a cure. Throw in Marshall's proved abilities to create tension and a little offbeat humour and it sounds like the making of a minor classic, right? Well yes and no. The films' greatest strength is also its biggest liability – namely nostalgia.

Some films execute nostalgia extremely well. A random example being Superman Returns. The slow, majestic sweep of the title sequence served as a starter course, to reintroduce us to the universe of Superman (literally and figuratively). John Ottman's marginal reworking of John William's superb score was so evocative that it, in conjunction with the familiar (though now CG enhanced) starscapes created a near instant sense of comfort. Superman Returns is grateful homage, Doomsday is chaotic random hysteria.

Doomsday is Neil Marshall doing whatever he wishes, having a crazy laugh and mixing genres together. After only 2 features, Neil Marshall's track record was simply not strong enough to be allowed this kind of free reign. The result is a mess; the bastard child of a dozen or so 70's and 80's films – from The Warriors to Mad Max via Escape from New York. It also moves schizophrenically from one genre to the next: near future vistas give way to post-apocalyptic deserted cities (a la 28 Days Later) before moving on to psychedelic dancing cannibals, mobs of bikers and an extended, somewhat unnecessary, car chase. Did I mention there's a medieval section as well that comes off as a nice mixture of Robin Hood and Gladiator? As a knowing and self-referential piece of cinematic shlock this would be perfectly enjoyable but the fact is that Doomsday takes itself far too seriously,then at times, it does not.
This works, to a point, but it is missing that vital cue for the audience, how are we supposed to take this? In Dog Soldiers there was a healthy sense of the ridiculous, both on the part of the characters and the audience. Likewise in The Descent, we know from the outset that the film will not be lighthearted. Doomsday refuses to make that choice, veering from an overlong dance sequence which looks like the gag reel from a Prodigy music video to the genuinely shocking roasting of a live human being. The contrast of different styles can work within the structure of a film to make the relief of the comedy or the shock of the horror more powerful but when it vacillates this often and this wildly any such affect is lost.

One major point to remember is that the movies which Doomsday references are themselves a mixed bag. That's the thing with nostalgia, its better felt than examined. The original Superman comes across, to me, as strangely elitist these days and Escape from New York is an extremely uneven, dated film. So, in trying to bring these kinds of films together, Marshall has doubly handicapped himself: Firstly, by being limited to sources of varying quality. Secondly, by trying to reference so many other films, the continuity of Doomsday suffers. So much so that each scene begins to resemble a discrete entity, rather than part of the whole.

Doomsday is, however, a difficult film to truly dislike. There is a kind of manic energy to it, an undercurrent of gleeful nastiness that allows it to bulldoze through the clichés, plot holes and bloated editing. The action is generally well shot and presented and the whole film has a technical polish which we are not used to seeing in British cinema. The acting is generally good and Mitra makes an impressive leading lady, hopefully this will be a breakthrough role for her. As for Neil Marshall, this is without a doubt his craziest film to date, and alot of fun albeit lacking originality. Doomsday is a big mix of other inspirations.

''The hounds are hungry! It's feeding time at the fucking zoo!''

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Doomsday review

Posted : 1 month, 3 weeks ago on 19 September 2009 04:54 (A review of Doomsday)

Scotland is completely quarantined after a rapacious virus starts mowing down the Scottish population. Thirty years later a small group of commandos returns to the walled off death zone to look for a cure...

This one's a little tricky. It's really a B movie with an A movie budget, but make no mistake it's definitely an exploitation movie no matter how polished the picture on the screen looks. All the actors were fine (given the material), the action was great and there was a ton of blood and gore, but the script is just shoddy. It's always good to see Bob Hoskins and hey! haven't seen you in a while, Alexander Siddig (Dr. Bashir from DS9). Rhona Mitra is a perfectly good addition to the ranks of women action stars, though she's only made one other action movie since Doomsday, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009).

I don't mind picking out references/homages/lifts from other movies and also, it's not something that the movie gives you enough time to think about while your watching it, but afterwards, the more you think about it, the more you pick the plot to pieces. This is an example of the individual parts of the movie being greater than the sum of those parts. Not a good thing. Even so, its worth watching if you're expectations are set properly.

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Escape from new york with a twist

Posted : 1 year, 3 months ago on 7 August 2008 12:56 (A review of Doomsday)

Think Escape From New York meets V for Vendetta with a Twist. Neil Marshall's(the Descent)Doomsday Starts off with an opening reminiscent of John Carpenter's Escape from New York. with all of Scotland and part of England enclosed in what the Parliament calls "the wall" which was built over a period of 20 years while a blockade was held in place to keep the people who were infected with the Reeper Virus out. also like Escape from New york except there were criminals and exiles in carpenter's flick. THe rules are simple no one in no one out.this is all explained with Malcolm McDowell's excellent narration within the first 30 minutes. Rhona Mitra Plays Major Eden Sinclair(who gives Jenifer Garner a run for her money) who was recruited by Prime Minister John Hatcher to find Dr. Marcus Kane(Malcolm McDowell) who was said to have made a cure for the virus. within 46 hours which is really like 43 after everything is said and done. to cure the people and save the world. Doomsday is definately worth a look at

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