Doomsday - Tag der Rache

What an insane movie! I saw it in a criminally tiny Saturday afternoon audience (four people) and we all had a terrific time. Don't expect sense, great acting or original dialogue, just go for the kicks and enjoy. A totally deranged, over-the-top splatfest with hideous viral deaths galore, some of the best post-holocaust punk makeup and chase scenes since Road Warrior, brilliant use of 1980's dance music (Adam and the Ants, Frankie Goes to Hollywood--the placement of Siouxie and the Banshees' "Spellbound" and a Fine Young Cannibals track at the punk barbecue is simply inspired), a coliseum battle-to-the-death, a bizarre interlude in a Scottish fiefdom that feels as if the movie took a fast detour into the Shire, and the coolest star turn by a UK car since Harry Potter's posse made one fly. All of it snapping and crackling with so much kinetic energy and wild creative freedom that it's hugely exhilarating. We were still giggling like maniacs an hour after the movie.=) It's just such fun to see a director decide to go full-speed over the edge like this. It's not great art, but trust me, if you enjoyed Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, Planet Terror, Escape from New York/L.A., and/or any recent zombie movie, you can't miss this one.

Like Greg Mclean, director of "Wolf Creek" and another great white hope for the horror genre, Neil Marshall followed a very promising horror flick with a deliberately trashy project. Where Mclean directed his attention to a murderous crocodile, Marshall took a bow to two of his favorite movies, "Escape From New York" and "Mad Max". "Doomsday" is not just influenced by those two movies, it's practically a mash-up with the female heroine from "Underworld" thrown-in. So, the first thing you should forget about when you pop in this movie is originality. Marshall makes no excuses for paying homage to his heroes George Miller and John Carpenter (hell, he even named two characters in this movie after them).

Like "Escape From New York" and "Mad Max", "Doomsday" demands a lot of suspension of disbelief to be enjoyable. However, maybe sci-fi flicks could get away with more stupidity in the 80's or maybe Marshall's movie is just extra dumb. Sometimes it seems like the director wasn't even trying to fill plot holes or avoid laughable action scenes. If you're looking out for mistakes in "Doomsday", you'll find plenty to complain about.

So, no, this isn't the high profile follow up one would have wished for after the dense, claustrophobic "The Descent". On the other hand, "Doomsday" doesn't fail to entertain. It's fast paced and charmingly old fashioned. Who else dares to come up with a post-apocalyptic world in which punks and knights rule the country in this day and age? Marshall's love for the project is somehow transmitted to the viewer and actually gives you a very pleasant feeling.

If you're able and willing to turn off your brain, "Doomsday" can be a very entertaining, old-fashioned action movie. It may not be a masterpiece or even a good movie, but it can definitely be seen as a fun little interlude by a director that must not be written off just yet.

A lethal virus has hit the UK (we just can't get a break, can we?) and the Government has taken the drastic measures of quarantining the infected by shutting off Scotland and part of the North of England and simply leaving it to die. In terms of those outside of the quarantine zone the measures are successful – or at least it appears this way for several decades, until the virus again manifests itself in a major city. With evidence of survivors inside the quarantine zone, the authorities realise that some form of cure must have been found and dispatch a military unit led by Major Eden Sinclair, to retrieve it.

I can totally understand the bad reviews for this film and why generally it was not that well received but I think a lot of professional critics forgot that all Neil Marshall was doing was what plenty of Hollywood blockbusters have been doing for quite some time – eschewing logic in favour of pace, action and spectacle. This is what Doomsday essentially comes down to – a hope that the film will be sufficiently action-packed and entertaining that the majority of viewers will overlook or simply not care about the sheer disregard for logic or content. Those that like this film will generally have been won over by this approach, while those that do not will no doubt pick the film up for the very things that it deliberately omits as part of this gamble. This is not me praising or the attacking the film - this is just me observing it for what it seems to be.

It certainly is not a sci-fi rooted in reality, even if that is what the rather dry and serious opening section suggests it is going to be. It doesn't suddenly become something different though, it is a gradual drift into action silliness that starts with moments like Aliens, crosses into Mad Max 2, then into a world of swords and castles then finally into Mad Max 3: Beyond Thunderdome. The uneven tone is a problem and it does make for a strange film that never seems sure of what it is or what it is trying to do. The main thing it appears to be going for is sheer entertainment value and, in this regard, Marshall gets close to his target but just not close enough. At times it is wonderfully silly with great action sequences that throw everything at the screen except logic. These scenes do entertain and do prevent one worrying too much about the logic of a Bentley flying down a highway in a Scottish wasteland (for example) but the film generally doesn't manage to do this across the entire film.

The swords/castle section is part of this problem, as this feels too dry and out of place to really work. Another factor is the violence. OK, I'm not a gore fan at the best of times but I'm not totally against it either. Here there are plenty of gory effects but they do rather detract from the entertainment value of the film by being a bit off-putting in just how graphic and frequent they are. This aspect is also part of the product that contributes to the uneven tone and content. The cast also struggle a little with the uneven tone but mostly they do good work – albeit fairing best when the film gets into "balls-out action" stuff in the latter stages. Mitra deserves a lot of credit for her turn and it is a shame that Doomsday will not boost her career as much as she deserves. It is not that she delivers a great character, but that, as an action heroine she does all that is required by being sexy, strong, dark, fearless and attractive, and in doing it she drives the film and makes it work in a way that it may not have done without her. Alongside her the rest of the cast do not have as much to offer but are all OK. Hoskins, Lester, O'Hara, Pertwee, McDowell and others all do what is required of them – good enough but not great.

Doomsday is a strange film, which wears the reasons for its relative failure all over its running time. It is uneven, illogical and rather silly, with Marshall's gamble just not paying off sufficiently. Having said that though, the film does at times hit the spot with large action sequences and great pace/energy/style and there is enough to entertain if you are in the mood and willing to forgive it its weaknesses.

A deadly virus of unknown origin has spread rapidly through Glasgow, Scotland, killing its victims rapidly. The British government has built a 12 foot steel wall the whole length of the Scottish/English Border in super quick time, so that nobody can get in or out and so the Scots can rot away to their hearts content. 20 years later in London and there is another outbreak and so the government is forced to act, they know that there are still survivors beyond the wall and so they send a crack team of experts in, to find out if they possibly have immunity and to find the mysterious Dr Kane a scientist they believe might have been working on a cure. The leader of this expedition is Maj. Eden Sinclair, a one eyed woman who as a child had been saved by soldiers at the last moment before the wall closed for the last time. her motives are to see her family home and perhaps find her mother.

Like all films by Neil Marshall this latest effort came with a great air of expectancy, so does it deliver?…well it does and it doesn't. Its an apocalyptic tale along the lines of 28 days Later, but it soon spreads its wings and delves into many genres and plucks with its plagiaristic fingers ideas at will from many films. The overall feel of the film is a hotch potch of ideas, one gets the notion that Marshall doesn't have an original idea of his own at all. What is it about the future, that when all law and order has gone and people are struggling to live, find food and drink, some shelter not to mention avoiding a deadly virus etc…rational thoughts desert them and the first thing they want to do is build a car or a hotrod motorcycle with skulls on it?….well I'll tell you why, because they need transport to the local Cyber Punk Hair Salon, where they all queue for hours with photographs of their favourite member of Sigue Sigue Sputnik and discuss the merits of Adam Ant's Kings of the Wild Frontier, where they also tell the stylist "I want a Mohican like that...oh and could I have it in bright pink please? damn all out of bright pink, How about luminous aquamarine or cerise? Not only that, but they also live in Glasgow, I don't know if any of you have been to Glasgow, I have many times and its Effing freezing, so why do they all the men go around bear chested and all the ladies wear leather bikinis or less? Maybe its because they are at war with the devilish Dr Kane, who lives in a big Castle, where all the men wear suits of armour and all the ladies have wee lace bonnets and dress like old hags? One thing about a deadly virus it always gives people bad dress sense.

Marshall has made his own bed here and must take responsibility for a lack of imagination, I believe he has stated he wanted this one to be "for the fans", so they could "guess the films he was homaging", but it can't take away from the fact that he has single handedly stolen ideas from Mad Max, Escape from New York, 28 days later, Ivanhoe, Gladiator, Indiana Jones and a host of other genre films. So enough of the good things and on to the bad, oh I mean good, Well the film wastes no time in getting going and it goes along at a fair old pace, so fast you don't always have time to turn your eyes to heaven and tut. The special effects are really good, as are the fight scenes and the driving/chase scenes, the acting is a little stilted though, (ooops I'm back on the negatives again...oh well) the dialogue doesn't fare much better. From my comments you might think I hated this film....I didn't, I don't know why but somehow against my better judgement, I actually enjoyed it, its escapism and fantasy on another level, its not great by any means but if you want a mindless entertainment for a couple of hours, this one fit's the bill. 6/10

I recently rewatched the UK 🇬🇧 picture Doomsday (2008) on Tubi. The storyline unfolds in Scotland, quarantined due to a deadly virus outbreak, resulting in a world of violence and cannibalism. As a similar virus emerges in London 30 years later, evidence suggests the cure lies in Scotland, leading to a team sent to retrieve it at any cost.

Written and directed by Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers), the film stars Rhona Mitra (Underworld: Rise of the Lycans), Bob Hoskins (Danny the Dog), Vernon Willemse (Mad Max: Fury Road), and Alexander Siddig (21 Bridges).

While always a fun watch, the movie falls short in terms of overall execution. The plot combines elements of Mad Max, Death Race 2000, and Medieval Times, with a puzzling castle 🏰 and renaissance ending. However, the kill scenes shine with excellent gore, blood splatter, and exploding heads. The soundtrack, is very good, but falters at the end by using the same song as "28 Days Later," making the conclusion feel cheesy and somewhat of a ripoff.

In conclusion, Doomsday is a must-see for action genre enthusiasts and apocalypse fans. I'd rate it 6/10 and strongly recommend it.