|
|
|
Doomsday
(2008)
Doomsday looks far more interesting in advertisements than it is in
actuality, in large part due to a stunning lack of originality.
2035. Twenty-five years after the Reaper Virus ravaged Scotland and
the British government built a wall across the north of England to
keep the infected and dying inside, the virus reappears in London.
The government knows that some people survived in Scotland, so they
place Major Eden Sinclair (Rhona Mitra), who as a child was one of the
last people to make it out of Scotland, in charge of a team to go
there to locate a possible cure. When the team reaches Glasgow, they
discover it's now under the control of a gang of cannibalistic punks
calling themselves the Marauders. Can Eden and her team survive the
Marauders and find a cure before it's too late?
Writer/director Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers, The Descent) tosses
Mad Max, Escape from New York, Resident Evil, and 28 Days
Later into a blender and pours a tall glass of unpleasant cinematic
mess for the audience. Marshall the director has a certain flair for
action scenes, but Marshall the screenwriter lets him down with a
derivative story and worse, one that takes itself far too seriously.
Tongue planted firmly in cheek, it could have been campy fun.
Marshall's earlier films were creative genre films, which makes this
one even more disappointing.
Marshall works with some familiar creative personnel from Dog
Soldiers and The Descent, including cinematographer Sam McCurdy,
who delivers some stylish lighting, and production designer Simon
Bowles, who creates a convincing post-apocalyptic Scotland. The score
by Tyler Bates (The Devil's Rejects, 300) is adequate.
Mitra, a former live action model of Tomb Raider's Lara Croft for
public appearances and promotions, is surprisingly credible as a
female Snake Plissken (the anti-hero from John Carpenter's cult classic Escape from New York), but
she's consistently undermined by the poor writing. Craig Conway is
energetically over-the-top as Sol, leader of the Marauders, but his
schtick quickly becomes tiresome. Bob Hoskins and Malcolm McDowell
appear to be just picking up paychecks as, respectively, Eden's boss
and a rogue scientist.
The cast also includes Alexander Siddig as the British Prime
Minister, David O'Hara as the real power behind the government, Darren
Morfitt and Sean Pertwee as two scientists sent on the mission, MyAnna
Buring as the rogue scientist's daughter, and Lee-Anne Liebenberg as
Sol's beloved, Viper.
Doomsday is an inferior post-apocalyptic action film that copies
much better films without understanding what made them entertaining.
Do yourself a favor and go watch those films instead.
-Danielle
Ní Dhighe
|
|
|
|
All contents ©
2004-2007 Thoughtsonfilm.com |
|
|
 |
Director:
Neil
Marshall
Writer: Neil
Marshall
Starring: Rhona
Mitra, Craig Conway, Bob Hoskins, Malcolm McDowell, Alexander Siddig
Distributor: Rogue
Pictures
Runtime: 105
min
Rating: R
Release Date: March
14, 2008
|
|
 |
|
