Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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47 of 54 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great after-the-crash flick, March 15, 2008
You've seen all the pieces before. The country has fallen into lawlessness, where warlords with bad haircuts rule their fiefdoms (as in Mad Max, to name just one of many). There are the government officials trying desperately to save his bu... I mean, career (My Fellow Americans). There's the insanely contagious and deadly virus (28 Days Later). And there's the way-cool babe with a gun and an attitude (Resident Evil) leading her small but brave band through it all. Oh, and a little comedic banter (any Bond film), but not enough to change the tone of the film. If you want novelty, or even plausibility, you probably ended up in the wrong theater by mistake.
So just take it for what it is: commodity entertainment, a bit bloodier than some but not off the charts, and where people keep their clothes on. Some days, I just want an adventure flick with nothing much to think about, except maybe how good Maj. Sinclair looks in that tight outfit. If that's what you're after, then "mission accomplished."
--wiredweird
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Leave your brain at the door and ENJOY, May 19, 2008
What a gloriously stupidly great film. Yes it stitches up bits from Escape From New York, The Mad Max trilogy, a number of Zombie flicks and throws in a bit of medieval nonsense, but it's entertaining, silly, bloody, ridiculous FUN. It's one of those movies that if you `'get it'' and are willing to forgive it a multitude of sins, not least some woeful acting from Bob Hoskins and Darren Morfitt you'll have a whole lot of old fashioned exploitation fun.
I mean in what other movie do you have a gleaming black Bently Coupe being chased by a rag tag band of evil punks in the cars from The Road Warrior all set to Frankie Goes To Hollywood's Two Tribes. Great.
Americans have not taken to Doomsday for some reason, maybe the audiences where expecting something serious and in the vein of Marshall's last film, The Descent, but Europeans who appreciate that Neil Marshall's tongue is firmly planted in his cheek are lapping it up. Enjoy
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Is this what happens when you give Neil Marshall a big budget...., October 1, 2008
Yes, this writer/director has been responsible for two of the best low budget horror movies of recent years. In Dog Soldiers, he melded the combat film with the werewolf movie and came out with something startlingly good. In The Descent, he crafted what was quite simply one of the scariest films of all time. So what then are we to make of Doomsday? This futuristic shocker features an amalgam of scenes lifted wholesale from other (frankly better) films -to be specific, 28 Days Later, Aliens, Escape From New York, Army of Darkness and Mad Max 2;The Road Warrior. They're all here and all of them are instantly recognizable, so much so that you cannot pass it off as coincidence. Some viewers will utter the word 'homage,' but the less charitable among us will prefer to say 'rip-off.'
As you watch Doomsday unfold, you can't stop asking yourself what Marshall hoped to accomplish here. The film must have had a decent budget and it looks great. Furthermore, he has an undeniable flair for action sequences. But though the film can never be accused of being dull, neither does it feature anything that is remotely surprising, largely because you've seen it all before. In the case of the climactic car chase, it is quite simply, Mad Max 2, down to the last detail. It's as though Marshall decided to recreate key scenes from all his favorite movies and while you grudgingly admit, he's done a fair job of copying them, you can't help yearning for a bit of originality, something that his last two films had in abundance.
The star of the movie Rhona Mitra plays it straight as tough as nails warrior who leads the charge from segment to segment. I have never seen a woman take so much pain and only have few scratches. A few more positive reviews and big American star (like Will Smith) could have push the movie over the top. Unfortunately we won't see a sequel and this is one that could have spawned one if it could have topped $40 million mark. After all they have made four SAW movies.
This feels like a serious hiccup in his career - and some murmurings about a planned sequel to The Descent don't bode well for his next offering either. The suspicion is that he's mirroring John Carpenter's career, a director who was brilliant when he had no money, but whose output became increasingly dismal as his budgets grew in size. It's a shame because few British directors get the autonomy to make films on this scale. My fingers are crossed for his future career, but on the strength of Doomsday, my expectations are not high right now.
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