When I first heard about Doomsday, I was very excited: Director Neil Marshall had already made two of my favourite horror films of recent yearsDog Soldiers and The Descentand I was sure that he possessed the talent to successfully deliver a perfect platter of UK-based post-apocalyptic mayhem.
Unfortunately, rather than making a serious (and original) attempt at filming Britain's answer to Mad Max and Escape From New York, Marshall has opted to deliver a deliberately camp exercise in self-indulgent excess: a big, dumb, gory, and gleefully OTT homage to his favourite post-apocalyptic movies. Whilst it's undeniably a 'fun' movie, Doomsday is a far cry from being the end-of-the-world action masterpiece that I had hoped it would be.
The story, which borrows heavily from several genre classics, sees a deadly virus sweeping across Scotland, forcing the British government to seal off the infected area (via a huge metal barrier) in order to prevent the disease spreading to the rest of the UK. Years later and those people abandoned behind the wall are presumed dead and the virus is consigned to the history books.
Then, much to the government's horror, the virus makes a comebackthis time in London. However, all hope is not lost: satellite photography shows that there are still survivors in the quarantine zone and a team of soldiers, lead by sexy Major Eden Sinclair (Rhona Mitra), is sent in to see if a possible cure can be locateda job made extremely difficult by the gang of cannibalistic punks that now controls the area.
Just as many bands struggle creatively with their third album, so it seems to me that Neil Marshall has suffered from 'difficult third movie' syndrome, where a combination of a bigger budget and the pressure to perform has led the talented director to temporarily lose sight of his primary objective: to tell a decent story.
To many, it will appear that Marshall has developed this movie 'arse about face'. In other words, rather than starting with a solid plot and then working on the visuals, he has taken a collection of 'cool' ideas inspired by his favourite movies and attempted to mould a story around them, the result being nothing more than a series of spectacular special effects, impressive stunts, and (admittedly) exciting set-pieces that unfortunately fail to gel together to form a satisfying whole.
One thing is for sureaudiences wishing to get the most from Doomsday should approach the film with a willingness to relax and go with the flow, because dissecting the story, examining the plot holes and questioning the film's logic will only lead to disappointment.
6.5 out of 10, generously rounded up to 7 for IMDb.
Unfortunately, rather than making a serious (and original) attempt at filming Britain's answer to Mad Max and Escape From New York, Marshall has opted to deliver a deliberately camp exercise in self-indulgent excess: a big, dumb, gory, and gleefully OTT homage to his favourite post-apocalyptic movies. Whilst it's undeniably a 'fun' movie, Doomsday is a far cry from being the end-of-the-world action masterpiece that I had hoped it would be.
The story, which borrows heavily from several genre classics, sees a deadly virus sweeping across Scotland, forcing the British government to seal off the infected area (via a huge metal barrier) in order to prevent the disease spreading to the rest of the UK. Years later and those people abandoned behind the wall are presumed dead and the virus is consigned to the history books.
Then, much to the government's horror, the virus makes a comebackthis time in London. However, all hope is not lost: satellite photography shows that there are still survivors in the quarantine zone and a team of soldiers, lead by sexy Major Eden Sinclair (Rhona Mitra), is sent in to see if a possible cure can be locateda job made extremely difficult by the gang of cannibalistic punks that now controls the area.
Just as many bands struggle creatively with their third album, so it seems to me that Neil Marshall has suffered from 'difficult third movie' syndrome, where a combination of a bigger budget and the pressure to perform has led the talented director to temporarily lose sight of his primary objective: to tell a decent story.
To many, it will appear that Marshall has developed this movie 'arse about face'. In other words, rather than starting with a solid plot and then working on the visuals, he has taken a collection of 'cool' ideas inspired by his favourite movies and attempted to mould a story around them, the result being nothing more than a series of spectacular special effects, impressive stunts, and (admittedly) exciting set-pieces that unfortunately fail to gel together to form a satisfying whole.
One thing is for sureaudiences wishing to get the most from Doomsday should approach the film with a willingness to relax and go with the flow, because dissecting the story, examining the plot holes and questioning the film's logic will only lead to disappointment.
6.5 out of 10, generously rounded up to 7 for IMDb.