Doomsday is a 2008 science fiction film which owes its heritage to a variety of prior science fiction cinema. Rhona Mitra was the lead and had a pretty top notch supporting cast with Bob Hoskins, Malcolm McDowell, Sean Pertwee, Alexander Siddig, David O'Hara and others. It is definitely in the "action film" genre and the gore level can get a bit high.
The premise is that Scotland is stricken by a horrible plague and isolated (literally - behind a modern version of Hadrian's Wall) from the rest of the world. 27 years afterward the plague reasserts itself this time in London, and also recon satellites detect living people in the Scotland quarantine zone. Based on the hope that the presence of survivors means a cure was found in the hot zone, a scientific-military team is sent in to investigate.
Stylistically the movie feels like a blending of Excalibur, Escape from New York, The Omega Man and Mad Max. At least for me it worked decently well, probably because the shifts in the film were handled well and foretold in the plot. Plus, as far as I know it is the only film where you have Mad Max style savages alongside modern military alongside medieval style knights.
Acting overall is pretty good. Mitra knows exactly how to play this part and does it - she comes off like a slightly less criminal Snake Plissken. Craig Conway plays Saul as a brazen lunatic and it works okay if a bit overdone. Also, to me David O'Hara's depiction of Canaris was brilliant. He was both practical but had chilling undertones and to say his motives were shady is an understatement. Malcolm McDowell plays a character who has been driven partly insane which for him is normal.
Pacing is good, the film doesn't really drag. The action scenes are well filmed and choreographed.
Which brings us to the plot.
The best way to describe the plot may be to say that while it's overall arc is fairly logical it has a number of places where it's details are a bit unbelievable. Things like Saul's "rock concert" in the film could have used even a little exposition on how these savage state survivors learned how to operate the equipment not to mention generating power. Is it s show stopper? No. But to me it was noticeable.
Overall, the film is good as a fun diversion. However it is VERY adult and not a kid film at all.
The premise is that Scotland is stricken by a horrible plague and isolated (literally - behind a modern version of Hadrian's Wall) from the rest of the world. 27 years afterward the plague reasserts itself this time in London, and also recon satellites detect living people in the Scotland quarantine zone. Based on the hope that the presence of survivors means a cure was found in the hot zone, a scientific-military team is sent in to investigate.
Stylistically the movie feels like a blending of Excalibur, Escape from New York, The Omega Man and Mad Max. At least for me it worked decently well, probably because the shifts in the film were handled well and foretold in the plot. Plus, as far as I know it is the only film where you have Mad Max style savages alongside modern military alongside medieval style knights.
Acting overall is pretty good. Mitra knows exactly how to play this part and does it - she comes off like a slightly less criminal Snake Plissken. Craig Conway plays Saul as a brazen lunatic and it works okay if a bit overdone. Also, to me David O'Hara's depiction of Canaris was brilliant. He was both practical but had chilling undertones and to say his motives were shady is an understatement. Malcolm McDowell plays a character who has been driven partly insane which for him is normal.
Pacing is good, the film doesn't really drag. The action scenes are well filmed and choreographed.
Which brings us to the plot.
The best way to describe the plot may be to say that while it's overall arc is fairly logical it has a number of places where it's details are a bit unbelievable. Things like Saul's "rock concert" in the film could have used even a little exposition on how these savage state survivors learned how to operate the equipment not to mention generating power. Is it s show stopper? No. But to me it was noticeable.
Overall, the film is good as a fun diversion. However it is VERY adult and not a kid film at all.
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