28 August, 2008

"Doomsday" Film Reviews

Doomsday

I saw Neil Marshall’s film “Doomsday,” last April 4. Comic fans might confuse the film to the character Doomsday from DC’s Superman, but they have nothing to do with each other whatsoever.

(Potential Spoilers)

The film Doomsday is a futuristic tale about a plague called “The Reaper” that has spread in Scotland. The government then decided to quarantine and close off the infected place from England. 25 years later, the Reaper is somehow back again and is beginning to spread in England. The main protagonist is a woman named Eden, she is an agent that was assigned to go cross the borders of the previously quarantined Scotland and find a cure, because there have been sporadic reports of survivors.

(End of potential spoilers)

I actually liked this film, despite its flaws and boring plot. It has a “Madmax” and “Escape From New York” feel to it. However, Eden is no Snake Plissken, for one thing, she is a hell of a lot prettier. Eden’s character didn’t really have any dramatic improvement, and she didn’t do much to get the audience to sympathize with her. Loads of kudos to Rhona Mitra as Eden for pulling off some tough-as-nails action scenes. Mitra’s face-off scene was a let down though, because the editing didn’t focus on or capture any of her eye-catching stunts. Still, she was a believable quasi-anti-hero.

Bob Hoskin was a treat to watch as Bill Nelson, Eden’s police chief. Neil Marshall initially wanted Sean Connery to play the scientist Kane, but wasn’t able to convince him out of retirement, however Malcolm McDowell didn’t do a bad job at all. He sort of made me respect him as a “King” and still made me want to slap him silly, which is not an easy feat, so kudos to him. Craig Conway was crazy as hell as Sol, and even though his character didn’t have any redeeming qualities (at all), he was still an enjoyable wacky villain. David O’Hara as Canaris was a scene-stealer for me, even as he was always stoic and uptight, you knew that he was still someone to watch.

Overall, Doomsday had some plot holes, for one thing, Eden’s mission could have been contrived in a much better fashion. And the uber-strong vehicle they used had surprisingly very weak glass to have been broken under human strength, for all their futuristic technologies, haven’t they ever heard of bullet-proof glass? Anyway, there was a lot of gore and blood, but not as gory as films such as George A. Romero’s “Land of the Dead,” there were decapitated heads and amputated arms being thrown all over the place, but it was really mostly a lot of blood.

Doomsday is a great film if you just want to enjoy a good, fast-paced action film. The action scenes were constantly lively and rapid, but it doesn’t wear you down with its mindlessness.

Don’t expect any profound plot twists and character developments from Doomsday, but it can definitely be an enjoyable film nonetheless.

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