Review of Doomsday (2008) by Matt C — 03 Dec 2009

This was a great movie and ahead of its time. I really don't understand why everyone gave it negative reviews. When I first saw it, I knew critics whould hate it, but thought that it would become a cult movie, which it so far hasn't.

One of the main reasons I enjoyed this movie is because Neil Marshall paid homage to some of my favorite films, instead of ripping them off. This mainly includes the Mad Max series, Escape from New York, The Warriors, and the Omega Man. He was able to combine multiple genres such as post-apocalypse films, zombie movies, gang movies, horror, action, medieval, and dark humor effortlessly into a fun movie to watch instead of a corny mash-up.

The acting was all well done. Bob Hoskins was great, so was Malcolm McDowell as a King Lear/Col. Kurtz type of character. Rhona Mitra was good as a female action lead, but Craig Conway as Sol was probably my favorite. I really enjoyed his take on a gang leader raised in a city that had been destroyed and ravaged by disease. He rocked out to older rock music, gave funny speeches, and threw great parties before he horribly barbecued and ate his enemies.

I consider this movie in the same vein as The Warriors; it was ahead of its time story-wise and visual-wise. Instead of 28 Days Later where everybody flees or dies, the population is trapped inside the quarantine zone. The younger generation turns into wild people where they make their own rules in the city while Malcolm McDowell turnw to the older medieval times of Scotland and brutally protects himself in a rural castle/village while mirroring the insanity of his son. Like the scene in the Warriors where an urban gang fights a group of silent, painted baseball players and black kung-fu experts, Doomsday presents soldiers fighting knights in a gladiatorial arena and fleeing a bus fool of cannibal psycho punks in a Bentley (a great chase scene by the way).

Throughout the movie, I was always entertained and that is the most important thing. Sure, zombies killing the prime minister and soldiers fighting knights sounds like a B-movie, because THAT is what this is. But when it gets down to it, is the idea of Greenpeace freeing crazy monkeys and releasing the Rage virus in 28 Days Later an intellectual idea either? I enjoyed both movies but I prefer Doomsday. It is unrelentless, gory, and fun. If you love great thriller and zombies movies, car chases, and hardcore action movies of the past like Road Warrior and Escape from New York, then you will probably love this film. If you want a big message in your movie or hate bullets and gore or want every critic to agree with you, then stay far away from this movie...preferrably in a quarantine zone.