Doomsday Review

Posted by Bryan Kristopowitz on 03.17.2008

Both excellent and frustrating

"Doomsday" Review

Rhona Mitra- Eden Sinclair
David O'Hara- Michael Canaris
Bob Hoskins- Bill Nelson
Alexander Siddig- John Hatcher
Jon Fallow- Captain Hendrix
John Carson- George Dutton
Rick Warden- Chandler
Adrian Lester- Norton
Les Simpson- Carpenter
Sean Pertwee- Dr. Talbot
Darren Morfitt- Dr. Ben Stirling
Lee-Anne Liebenberg- Viper
Craig Conway- Sol
Malcolm McDowell- Kane
Directed by Neil Marshall
Screenplay by Neil Marshall
Distributed by Rogue Pictures
Rated R for strong bloody violence, language and some sexual content/nudity
Runtime- 105 minutes
Website: http://www.doomsdayiscoming.com/

Writer/director Neil Marshall's latest effort, the sci-fi/action/horror flick "Doomsday," is both an exciting exercise in genre homage and spectacle and a frustrating experience in director overindulgence. While the futuristic dystopian movie is chock full of knowing nods to a bevy of classic genre efforts and brilliantly realized gory effects work, Marshall crams way too many ideas and settings into his story, resulting in the movie slowing down at the point where it should be speeding up. By the end, the flick fizzles out, and instead of leaving the theatre exhilarated, you're likely to leave wondering what the heck Marshall was thinking.

It's the future, and Scotland is beseiged by a nasty super bug called the Reaper virus. The Reaper virus is highly contagious, there is no cure for it, and the government of Great Britain decides to wall off Scotland from the rest of Brittain to keep the virus "contained." Anyone or anything that tries to get out of Scotland will be destroyed. The British military guards the wall, making sure nothing gets over the border, and watches the remaining survivors of Scotland destroy themselves. Years pass, and the noise and destruction and great fires that had dotted the landscape from the outset of the outbreak disappear.

Flash forward to 2035, "Now," and London is in chaos. There's rampant overcrowding, growing violence, and something no one expected to see ever again: another Reaper virus outbreak. Prime Minister John Hatcher (Alexander Siddig) figures he has to do something but he doesn't know what. Michael Canaris (David O'Hara), either just a really rich guy or some kind of defacto government official, says that the government should wall off a section of London and keep the infected there (Hey, it worked in Scotland, didn't it?). But Bill Nelson (Bob Hoskins), some kind of national police commander or some such (I'm not really clear what exactly Hoskins is. He must be some kind of government official. He's always hanging out with the PM and no asks him to leave), tells Hatcher that walling off another part of Great Britain won't work. He tells the PM there's got to be another way.

And so there apparently is. The government has been watching the Scottish ruins for years via satellite, and about three years ago there was evidence of a thriving populace. If someone can go into Scotland and capture a survivor and bring the survivor back, a possible cure could be found. Both Hatcher and Canaris agree to the essential plan and ask Nelson if he has any advice on who should lead the team into the Scotland to find a survivor.

In walks Eden Sinclair (Rhona Mitra), a tough as nails commando cop with a bionic eye who also happens to be the last person flown out of Scotland before the wall was finished. She's sort of Nelson's protoge, and according to Nelson the perfect choice to lead the mission into Scotland. She's told that her team has less than forty-eight hours to go in via ground (the government wants to keep the operation as low profile as possible and figures that the easiest way to do that is by ground and not air), find a survivor, and get back. If they are unable to complete the mission in any way, they will be abandoned and London will go into lockdown.

Now, at this point we've got homages to the original "Dawn of the Dead," "Escape from New York" and "Escape from LA," and "Aliens." Once Sinclair's team gets into Scotland proper, there's more "Escape from New York" and "Dawn of the Dead," some "Planet of the Vampires" and "Vampires," and then eventually some "Zulu" and "Ghosts of Mars" and, most importantly, the "Mad Max" movies. It's fun seeing Marshall weave all of the various classic conventions into the story. Nothing is all that original, but you don't mind because at this point it's a blast. It's fun. The action, the violence, the Carpenter-esque music is amped up to a fever pitch. Watch as main bad guy Sol (Craig Conway) and his gang of lunatic street thug cannibals wreak havoc on the "invaders." Again, it's just a blast watching it all.

But then things turn south once we're finally introduced to Malcolm McDowell's "Dr. Kane," one of the original Reaper virus researchers and, as we find out, one of the survivors of the plague and the man basically responsible for the "rebirth" of what used to be Scotland. The world he inhabits is vastly different from the world the movie spent ther first hour or so exploring. We're still in "Escape from New York" land, but the jump of settings is so distracting and abrupt that the flick's forward momentum slows considerably. The flick doesn't stay in McDowell's world for too long, but by the time Sinclair and her friends leave, it's too late. The flick doesn't regain its footing, despite a nasty fun "Mad Max"/James Bond car chase and its "Escape from New York"/"Land of the Dead" riff ending.

What would have helped? Well, besides altering the specific world McDowell exists in and making it matter more to the first part of the movie, the "ticking clock" that Sinclair and her team are apparently under isn't there for us to follow. At no point during the mission into Scotland are we given any indication as to how much time the team has left. It's a little strange considering how much Marshall rips off "EFNY." No watch with a time clock, no bionic eye POV where we see how much time is left, nothing. And it would have helped, too, if we knew a little more about the British government of this time and place. Who or what exactly is Canaris? He's a great villain, sure, but, again, who is he? Why does he have so much sway? And then there's Sinclair's "last person out of Scotland" back story. It doesn't really work. Sinclair inhabits the "ultimate bad ass" character type for the movie. She's Snake Plissken (she wears a freaking eye patch at various times in case you don't get it ahead of time) and a "Resident Evil" video game heroine (was I the only one thinking she kind of looked like Jill Valentine?). She doesn't need much backstory to work so why have the level of backstory that we do?

At least Rhona Mitra works as Sinclair. She's believable in the action scenes, she's nice to look at, and she gets through the slow part without being boring. I don't much care for the hairdo, though. It's a little too video game for my tastes. David O'Hara (who I remember from his stint on the Craig T. Nelson cop show "The District") is excellent as the slimy Canaris. His gravelly voice, his glee at showing complete and utter disdain for people, it's just spectacular. Bob Hoskins as Bill Nelson is great, too, although I wish I knew exactly what his government position was. Rick Warden and Adrian Lester, as Chandler and Norton, are the best parts of Sinclair's invasion team (Warden is hilarious, and Lester is a fine back up action character). Sean Pertwee should get some kind of special MTV movie award for what befalls his Dr. Talbot (I bet his nickname will become "finger licking good"). And McDowell, despite his character's unfortunate position in the story, makes the most of it and does a fine job as Kane. Craig Conway, as cannibal thug punk leader Sol, is great when you can understand him, and merely pretty good when he's screaming loudly. And Lee-Anne Liebenbergis Viper character, the one with the tattooed face, the double swords, and the wagging tongue, is destined for cult figure status regardless of the flick's box office success. You will remember her.

So, should you plunk down the cash for a ticket to "Dommsday"? Absolutely. Despite its glaring flaws, you're probably not going to see a movie as audaciously violent (in a fun way) and brazenly genre oriented for a while (at least one this obvious). It's a movie that is extremely happy to be what it is. It's Snake Plissken with boobs going into the Scotland prison island with Dead Reckoning to stop the Duke of Glasgow and pseudo Wez from destroying the world. I just wish Marshall didn't decide to shift gears in the middle of the movie and kill the flick's momentum. Where's the ticking clock? And where's the real resolution?

Go see "Doomsday." It's not as much fun as it could be, but it's more fun than you've likely seen at the movies in a long time.

So what do we have here? Gratuitous Malcolm McDowell opening narration, gratuitous "Escape from New York"/"Escape from LA" homage, a big ass wall, zombie make up, a soldier killing a bunch of people, exploding head, a riot, neck snapping, multiple hand crushings, welding, a note, a bionic eye with a surveillane watch, shimmying across a rope, a naked chick with a shotgun, cutting off a hand to get a briefcase, a woman with a huge afro, exploding head via shotgun (doobage city), gratuitous Bob Hoskins, a high level government meeting, gratuitous "Aliens" and "Planet of the Vampires" homage, a GPS tracker, more riots, an exploding rabbit, gratuitous cows in the road, spray painted numbers on houses in Scotland, a pay phone jump scare, gratuitous Sinclair wearing an eye patch, pick axe to the head, "Ghosts of Mars" homage, using a desk drawer as a weapon, Molotov cocktails, throat slitting, a grenade dildo, a "foam" grenade, multiple running over people with nasty results, arrow through the throat, a wild flip, baseball bat decapitation, a soda can, a bondage beating, ear biting, gratuitous guy in a leather S&M outfit, gratuitous Thunderdome homage, gratuitous Fine Young Cannibals song with ensuing orgy party, ass slapping, a mosh pit, actual cannibalism, paper and plastic plate throwing, gratuitous tattoo faced chick sticking her tongue out, gratuitous "Dawn of the Dead"/"Day of the Dead" homage, ripping out a nose ring, sword throwing, motorcycles with skeletons attached to the front, a train ride, punching a guy for no reason, an underground military facility, gratuitous "Raiders of the Lost Ark" reference, gratuitous knight in shining armor, gratuitous Malcolm McDowell, gratuitous "Lord of the Rings" homage, blood to the face, eating a gun, swinging mace to the face, exploding castle tower, gratuitous James Bond homage, arrows to the back, driving a car on the wrong side of the road (this one is strictly for Americans and Canadians), gratuitous "Mad Max" showdown, car off a cliff, bad chase music, exploding van, exploding masochist, saw blade throwing, asking for a cigarette, and a broken side mirror.

Best lines: "You've got to let us through!," "You fuckers!," "You pricks!," "Sinclair, whatever you do, don't shoot!," "Whatever happened to a good cause?," "It's the Reaper virus! It's back!," "Bloody hell, George. What's got your knickers in a twist?," "Are you talking about people or pound notes?," "Get in the car, it's pissing down!," "So much for low profile," "Yeah, they may be ugly but they move like shit off a shovel," "Shove it, Carpenter!," "We're not getting out that way," "Check your corners! Check your corners!," "Oh, lady, I could eat you right up," "Nice watch," "Ladies and gentlemen, I have a rare surprise for you! Medium fucking rare!," "If you're hungry, why don't you try a piece of your friend?," "Wasn't so painful, was it?," "Sorry to piss on your chips but we don't have time to be safe," "That is one fucked up family, man," "Jeeze, what do they have in here, the lost Ark?," "You really don't give a fuck, do you?," "In the land of the infected, the immune man is king," "Tell me, what is it like out there? Same shit, different era," "Bullocks," "Daddy wants to see you!," "Hold on, we're going for a ride," "Your shit is our bread and butter," "You'll have to forgive Stanley. He's a little involved in his work," and "I suppose you don't have a cigarette?"

The 411: "Doomsday," despite its glaring flaws, is a pretty good genre homage romp. As I said above, you're probably not going to see a movie like this again for a while. It's action packed, it's gory as heck, it's fun. I just wish Neil Marshall would dialed back the homages and cut some of the Malcolm McDowell stuff. I don't think it really fits with the rest of the movie. Not quite a classic, but close enough.

Final Score:  7.5   [ Good ]