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Doomsday
2008 Directed by : Neil Marshall
After the deadly Reper Virus wipes out the Scottish population, the British Government decides to enclose Scotland with a concrete wall.
Several decades later, the virus resurfaces in London, short on ideas, a crack team of military & scientists are sent back into Scotland to search for a cure after life is discovered there.
Doomsday is what happens if you take your favourite moments from post apocaliptic films like Escape from New York, Aliens, Mad Max, 28 Days Later, throw in a pinch of the Warriors and blend all together. In short its a film of little homages to the previous mentioned films, high on style but low on substance.
Its a shame, Neil Marshall is a decent director, his films have always entertained even if made on the lower budget afforded to the afore mentioned Hollywood blockbusters.
The film starts quite well, I was enjoying it until about 50 minutes in when it totally looses the plot and turns into an overlong version of Duran Duran's Wild Boys video, unfortunately, its all downhill from there and the film goes from cliche to cliche.
So, what are the major downfalls of Doomsday, well firstly the lead villan is terrible, he is everything I hate about Scottish acting, more of a clown than someone who would put the fear of God into you after the world around you had fallen to pieces, secondly Malcolm McDowall rehashes a role he's played several times before, the dialogue is woefull, the action sequences are poorly executed and lacking any real tension and there are several plot holes that are never properly explained.
Its not all doom & gloom, as hairdressers the world over will be relieved to know that in a post apocaliptic world they will at least be kept busy tending to everyone's multi-coloured mohawks, whilst those that partake in battle re-enactments will be the very height of fashion, and Glasgow will become sub-tropical, it probably hasn't seen as much of the sun since the big bang!!!
To sum up, Doomsday is a missed opportunity, it could have been as good as 28 Days / Weeks Later, but instead comes across as a poor man's Beyond Thunderdome, especially the woefull decision to introduce Frankie Goes to Hollywood's Two Tribes to try and inject some life into a film that is going into terminal decline.
Rating 2 /5 the film gets an extra half a point for the gorgeous Rhona Mitra, and the fact that about 8 of my colleagues worked on it!!!
2008 Directed by : Neil Marshall
After the deadly Reper Virus wipes out the Scottish population, the British Government decides to enclose Scotland with a concrete wall.
Several decades later, the virus resurfaces in London, short on ideas, a crack team of military & scientists are sent back into Scotland to search for a cure after life is discovered there.
Doomsday is what happens if you take your favourite moments from post apocaliptic films like Escape from New York, Aliens, Mad Max, 28 Days Later, throw in a pinch of the Warriors and blend all together. In short its a film of little homages to the previous mentioned films, high on style but low on substance.
Its a shame, Neil Marshall is a decent director, his films have always entertained even if made on the lower budget afforded to the afore mentioned Hollywood blockbusters.
The film starts quite well, I was enjoying it until about 50 minutes in when it totally looses the plot and turns into an overlong version of Duran Duran's Wild Boys video, unfortunately, its all downhill from there and the film goes from cliche to cliche.
So, what are the major downfalls of Doomsday, well firstly the lead villan is terrible, he is everything I hate about Scottish acting, more of a clown than someone who would put the fear of God into you after the world around you had fallen to pieces, secondly Malcolm McDowall rehashes a role he's played several times before, the dialogue is woefull, the action sequences are poorly executed and lacking any real tension and there are several plot holes that are never properly explained.
Its not all doom & gloom, as hairdressers the world over will be relieved to know that in a post apocaliptic world they will at least be kept busy tending to everyone's multi-coloured mohawks, whilst those that partake in battle re-enactments will be the very height of fashion, and Glasgow will become sub-tropical, it probably hasn't seen as much of the sun since the big bang!!!
To sum up, Doomsday is a missed opportunity, it could have been as good as 28 Days / Weeks Later, but instead comes across as a poor man's Beyond Thunderdome, especially the woefull decision to introduce Frankie Goes to Hollywood's Two Tribes to try and inject some life into a film that is going into terminal decline.
Rating 2 /5 the film gets an extra half a point for the gorgeous Rhona Mitra, and the fact that about 8 of my colleagues worked on it!!!