Doomsday

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.

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.

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.

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 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.