DOOMSDAY is one huge mess of a movie, but in a good way. Neil Marshall, the Scottish director of such low budget but entertaining fare as DOG SOLDIERS and THE DESCENT, apparently decided to make a good old-fashioned post apocalypse movie while paying tribute to his favourite movies along the way. Some might call this film a rip off of the popular '80s sci fi films, some might call it a pastiche, while others might call it a homage. For me, DOOMSDAY is original enough to be entertaining throughout, even if the story is all over the place and frequently unbelievable (even by genre stakes) and the epilogue is a damp squib compared to what's come before.
For the record, this movie references THE LORD OF THE RINGS (in a strange feudal interlude, the armour is the same as that of the Orcs in Jackson's opus); GLADIATOR (there's a fierce arena battle that doesn't disappoint); ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK (you can sense it in the get-in-there-and-do-the-job vibe as well as stuff like the walled-off area and streets brimming with thugs); THE WARRIORS (the punk-inspired bad guys); DISTRICT 13 (the revamped 2000s action vibe, and the film that no doubt convinced Marshall to make this); MAD MAX 2: THE ROAD WARRIOR (again, the punk bad guys as well as the climatic road chase) and also 28 DAYS LATER (infected zombies running amok). There are probably plenty of other references I either didn't get or didn't notice at the time.
Anyway, the main reason I liked this film was because it's fun, and a whole lot of fun. Genre fans will have a ball. Marshall throws in plenty of crowd-pleasing stuff and the movie never stops moving. There's a ton of action and it's also very gory, with lots of heads being severed, as well as limbs and arterial sprays of god-knows-what. Marshall is a guy who shows a rabbit being machine-gunned for a laugh and who doesn't shy away from showing cannibalism in graphic detail, either. The cast are champions, sharing fun, hard-ass dialogue and it's great to see the likes of Bob Hoskins and Malcolm McDowell giving authority while letting the likes of Rhona Mitra and Adrian Lester have some new-found glory – Mitra and Lester are both fine, by the way. Sean Pertwee pops up yet again for an exceedingly unpleasant demise and there seems to be no end to the budget, with tons of shoot-outs, chases, explosions and more.
I'm not really sure why this film gets a lot of flak, because it sets out to be a fun romp and never pretends to be anything else. It's gory, funny, action-packed and well-choreographed; I didn't find a single thing not to like, and that's great. If TAKEN and RAMBO are 2008's best serious action thrillers, then this is the tongue-in-cheek flipside of the coin.
For the record, this movie references THE LORD OF THE RINGS (in a strange feudal interlude, the armour is the same as that of the Orcs in Jackson's opus); GLADIATOR (there's a fierce arena battle that doesn't disappoint); ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK (you can sense it in the get-in-there-and-do-the-job vibe as well as stuff like the walled-off area and streets brimming with thugs); THE WARRIORS (the punk-inspired bad guys); DISTRICT 13 (the revamped 2000s action vibe, and the film that no doubt convinced Marshall to make this); MAD MAX 2: THE ROAD WARRIOR (again, the punk bad guys as well as the climatic road chase) and also 28 DAYS LATER (infected zombies running amok). There are probably plenty of other references I either didn't get or didn't notice at the time.
Anyway, the main reason I liked this film was because it's fun, and a whole lot of fun. Genre fans will have a ball. Marshall throws in plenty of crowd-pleasing stuff and the movie never stops moving. There's a ton of action and it's also very gory, with lots of heads being severed, as well as limbs and arterial sprays of god-knows-what. Marshall is a guy who shows a rabbit being machine-gunned for a laugh and who doesn't shy away from showing cannibalism in graphic detail, either. The cast are champions, sharing fun, hard-ass dialogue and it's great to see the likes of Bob Hoskins and Malcolm McDowell giving authority while letting the likes of Rhona Mitra and Adrian Lester have some new-found glory – Mitra and Lester are both fine, by the way. Sean Pertwee pops up yet again for an exceedingly unpleasant demise and there seems to be no end to the budget, with tons of shoot-outs, chases, explosions and more.
I'm not really sure why this film gets a lot of flak, because it sets out to be a fun romp and never pretends to be anything else. It's gory, funny, action-packed and well-choreographed; I didn't find a single thing not to like, and that's great. If TAKEN and RAMBO are 2008's best serious action thrillers, then this is the tongue-in-cheek flipside of the coin.