Doomsday - Tag der Rache

It's April 2008, and a sudden viral outbreak has hit Scotland hard. To contain the deadly bug (dubbed the Reaper Virus), the British government works quickly to build a containment wall around the afflicted country. The possibility of the disease spreading to the rest of the world appears to have been effectively stopped in it's tracks. Fast forward 30 years and the virus has reappeared, this time in London. Satellite monitoring has picked up images of apparent survivors in the hot zone, which leads the government to suspect the potential for a cure. Desperate to put an end to the reborn plague, the Brits send a team of soldiers into the walled off country in the hopes that they can find the cure that may not even exist.

The third feature film from British filmmaker Neil Marshall. I thought this was a fun time at the movies, but don't expect anything new here. Doomsday is a pure love letter to Escape From New York and the Italian post-nuke films of the 80's. There are homages all over this thing, and I would like to think that I caught most of them. Hell, even Nightmare City seemingly gets a nod with the look and behavior of the infected. Watch the scene where one of the infected axes his way into Hatcher's compound and see if Lenzi's trash classic doesn't come to mind. Marshall knew what he wanted to do with this film, and he does just that. I have to admit, it was somewhat surreal watching such a film on the big screen, particularly the extended Sol/feast scene, which gets pretty nutty.

Rhona Mitra plays the team leader of the squad sent into the hot zone. She's a gorgeous woman with a killer accent, but she also comes through as a believable action star. I've long been a fan of her's, so it's nice seeing her get a role like this. Craig Conway is warped as the over-the-top Sol, but he lacks menace. He did get me to hate him, but that had more to do with the fact that I found him annoying. The considerable talents of Malcolm McDowell, Bob Hoskins and Alexander Siddig provide solid support despite what little they have to work with.

My biggest gripe with the film is the wall to wall use of music. It seems like there's never a scene that doesn't have some form of music blaring, and that becomes tiresome. A little more subtlety in that area would have been most appreciated. Also, some of the scene transitions feel awkward, and the film itself feels quite rushed. We don't get much down time or quiet moments, it's all very busy.

Still, I must admit that it's decent fun. Original? No. Flawed? You bet. That aside, if you have a certain affinity for this brand of entertainment, you should eat it up. And for the record, I'll take this one over The Descent any day. Mitra puts the wannabe badasses in that clunker to shame.

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.

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.

This thunderous picture begins in Great Britain, 2007 . A deadly virus spreads causing hundreds of thousands infecting . The government evacuates people and builds an impregnable wall along with the Wall of Adriano, impeding the access . London, 2035 recent time, the reaper virus breaks out again. Then , various authorities, P.M (Alexander Siddig) and Canaris(David O'Hara)decide to send a specialists team. Nelson(Bob Hoskins) assigns the dangerous mission to Major Eden (Rhona Mitra). She along with a crack group (Adrian Lester, Sean Petwee, among others)are urgently dispatched into quarantined Scotland to meet Doctor Kane (Malcolm McDowell)who allegedly has a cure. In the near-future Glascow city, they'll have to fight against cutthroats, a band of depraved crazies thirsty for blood and survive some battles to-the-death.

This exciting movie is packed with noisy action, unbelievable car stunts, tension, thrills, chills, and lots of blood and gore, including throating-slit ,beheading, impaling and cannibalism. The story is a blend of classic Sci-Fi movies as ¨Escape from N.Y.¨, ¨27 Days/Weeks later¨ and of course ¨Mad Max¨, taking parts here and there. Thrilling musical score fitting to action by Tyler Bates. Colorful cinematography reflecting splendidly the Scotland outdoors in which resides the Doctor Kane and where he has built a medieval world. The motion picture is well directed by Neal Marshall (Descent, Dog soldiers) but with no originally because he has copied previous films. This remarkable action film appeal to science fiction buffs

It's "Escape From New York" meets "The Road Warrior" by way of "28 Days Later" in "Doomsday". Director Neil Marshall's ("The Descent") post-apocalyptic homage to the above mentioned (and more) plays it pretty fast and loose with plot and logic, never once slowing down for character-building as it jumps from one wild set piece to another. It's a film that seemingly has no attention span, never feels terribly cohesive, and yet never fails to entertain.

It's the year 2035 and a virus has all but decimated Scotland. In an attempt to contain and control the virus, the government builds a wall separating the ravaged country from the rest of Britain. Presumably, they made Scotland's ravaged population pay for the wall themselves. Enter hardened officer Eden Sinclair, as played by Rhona Mitra. Part Sarah Connor, part Snake Plissken, Sinclair (and her faceless team) is tasked with re-entering the ravaged region to hunt down a possible cure for the virus. Along the way, she matches wits with the locals who include but are not limited to a group of "Mad Max" rejects and a game Malcolm McDowell (who also provides the film's lengthy expository narration). Butts are kicked and blood is shed, to say the least.

Marshall knows what kind of film he is making and he also knows you've seen this film a hundred times before. Appropriately, he takes glee in his film's excess, going full Paul Verhoeven at times in embracing over-the-top gore and laugh-out-loud ultra-violence. This is a film made for the genre fan whose bread is buttered by '80s action, sci- fi and horror. It's pure homage of the highest order; a grindhouse- esque onslaught of tackiness and titillating tension. "Doomsday" never quite rises above its source material, and that's OK. As far as mindless, late-night entertainment goes, few modern films get the formula down as well as this glorious cheesefest does.