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Doomsday

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Doomsday (2008)

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Reviews Counted:63

Fresh:30

Rotten:33

Average Rating:5/10

Consensus: Doomsday is a pale imitation of previous futuristic thrillers, minus the cohesive narrative and charismatic leads.

Rated: 18

Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins

Genre: Action/Adventure

Theatrical Release:09-05-2008

Synopsis: Writer/director Neil Marshall earned the respect of horror devotees with his first two features, DOG SOLDIERS and THE DESCENT, refreshing and scary twists on the werewolf and expedition-gone-wrong... Writer/director Neil Marshall earned the respect of horror devotees with his first two features, DOG SOLDIERS and THE DESCENT, refreshing and scary twists on the werewolf and expedition-gone-wrong genres. Where those works exemplified a respect for pure horror, devoid of the tension-spoiling comedy that infects most fright films, DOOMSDAY is Marshall's love letter to the post-apocalyptic action-exploitation films of the 1980s. Bubbling over with action, gore, and dark humor, his third film has all the bases covered for a fun, knowingly corny viewing experience. After a deadly plague results in the quarantine of the entire country of Scotland (in a scene reminiscent of I AM LEGEND), a wall is built around the country preventing anyone from going in or out. Thirty years later, the British government believes everyone within the wall to be dead, but when they find signs of life and learn of the possibility of a cure, a team of specially trained agents led by Eden Sinclair (Rhona Mitra) become the first outsiders to venture inside the country since the epidemic. They discover that there are plenty of survivors who have splintered into fierce, warlike tribes, living in a lawless society where cannibalism and murder are the order of the day. Astute viewers will have a blast playing "spot the influence," with loving, obvious nods to ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, ALIENS, 28 DAYS LATER, and the MAD MAX films. At the film's halfway point, Marshall switches gears, transforming the film from a punk-informed futuristic action film into a medieval-style chase film, utilizing Scotland's castles and sumptuous green landscapes to the fullest. Mitra is an exciting physical presence as Eden, a female version of NEW YORK's Snake Plissken, and the great supporting cast includes Bob Hoskins and Malcolm McDowell. [More]

Starring: Rhona Mitra, Bob Hoskins, Adrian Lester, Alexander Siddig

Starring: Rhona Mitra, Bob Hoskins, Adrian Lester, Alexander Siddig, David O'Hara, Malcolm McDowell, Sean Pertwee, MyAnna Buring, Nora-Jane Noone

Director: Neil Marshall

Director: Neil Marshall
Screenwriter: Neil Marshall
Producer: Steven Paul, Benedict Carver
Composer: Tyler Bates
Studio: Rogue Pictures

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Reviews for Doomsday

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21 - 40 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

As the crowd screams and pounds their chests, the camera shows Eden's back. It's a grim resolution, even in the post-apocalypse.

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
03/21/08
Cynthia Fuchs
Cynthia Fuchs
PopMatters

a debacle that achieves the rarified air of being so terrible it's great.

Full Review Source: Gazette (MD) | comment Comment
03/21/08
Jeffrey Lyles
Jeffrey Lyles
Gazette (MD)

Nothing about Marshall's grab bag has much to do with anything else...it may be aimless and arbitrary, but at least it's mostly fun.

Full Review Source: Antagony & Ecstasy | comment Comment
03/20/08
Tim Brayton
Tim Brayton
Antagony & Ecstasy

Doomsday is an anarchic trip down memory lane.

Full Review Source: Reel.com | comment Comment
03/20/08
Rudy Joggerst
Rudy Joggerst
Reel.com

Writer/Director Neil Marshall’s entertaining, sorta-cheesy, if at times derivative homage to post-apocalyptic cinema delivers exactly what action fans of the genre crave.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
03/20/08
Pete Hammond
Pete Hammond
Boxoffice Magazine

[Director] Marshall cribs whole sections from other movies (Aliens and The Road Warrior, most blatantly) so baldly that you have to wonder how he'd like it if someone ripped off The Descent this egregiously.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
03/19/08
Gregory Kirschling
Gregory Kirschling
Entertainment Weekly

When people complain that Doomsday moves from one 'what the hell?' moment to another, they're overlooking the fact that that's pretty much the idea.

Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) | comment Comment
03/18/08
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

With my apologies to Tina Turner, "Mad Max" gets a big dose of girl power, and the results aren't pretty.

Full Review Source: Sean the Movie Guy | comment Comment
03/18/08
Sean McBride
Sean McBride
Sean the Movie Guy

I still believe with all my heart that no movie with real car stunts, a tough-chick hero, and a severed head that thunks directly into the camera can be all bad. But this is pushing it.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
03/18/08
Jim Ridley
Jim Ridley
Village Voice

Most fantasy-action films blow their budgets in the first half-hour, and limp home with their makeup smeared. Doomsday is unusually patient, smartly saving most of its fireworks for the later innings.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
03/18/08
David Hiltbrand
David Hiltbrand
Philadelphia Inquirer

(Neil) Marshall, once regarded as a filmmaker to watch, is inching precariously close to being one to forget.

Full Review Source: San Antonio Express-News | comment Comment
03/18/08
Larry Ratliff
Larry Ratliff
San Antonio Express-News

If you're in the right mood, though, it's also hugely entertaining.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
03/17/08
Ethan Alter
Ethan Alter
Film Journal International

The acting is better than adequate, and Rhona Mitra is very good as the jaded heroine. As loud, relentless, chaotic, brutally violent and gory B-movies go, this one is a keeper.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
03/17/08
Liz Braun
Liz Braun
Jam! Movies

If you can accept this farrago of nonsense, and enjoy simulated beheadings and lopped-off hands and massive spurts and splashes of blood, this may be the movie for you.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
03/17/08
Philip Marchand
Philip Marchand
Toronto Star

Much as one might admire the British health care system as presented in the documentary Sicko, even Michael Moore would have to admit they have a hard time over there coping with apocalyptic viruses.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
03/17/08
Jan Stuart
Jan Stuart
Newsday

Attention, apocalypse-hungry filmgoers: Doomsday may be the blue-light special you're looking for.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
03/17/08
Alex Markerson
Alex Markerson
E! Online

Let's just say that I've built more climactic medieval battles with a set of Legos during my childhood.

Full Review Source: Bronsonfive | comment Comment
03/17/08
Michael Ferraro
Michael Ferraro
Bronsonfive

Totally earnest but in complete awe of its predecessors.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
03/16/08
Rob Humanick
Rob Humanick
Slant Magazine

If Marshall's goal was to deliver a no-nonsense, tongue-in-cheek, mega-violent "throwback" action flick, I'd say he's done a damn fine job of it.

Full Review Source: FEARnet | comment 3 Comments
03/16/08
Scott Weinberg
Scott Weinberg
FEARnet

Doomsday is frenetic, loud, wildly imprecise and so derivative that it doesn't so much seem to reference its antecedents as try on their famous images like a child playing dress-up. Homage without innovation isn't homage, it's karaoke.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
03/16/08
Matt Zoller Seitz
Matt Zoller Seitz
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
21 - 40 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 >> >|
all

Latest News for Doomsday

July 28, 2008: RT on DVD: Harold & Kumar, Doomsday and Dark City Director's Cut
Since we're all still recovering from Comic-Con 2008, and tons of new home video details dropped at the Largest Nerd Gathering in the World, it's time for RT on DVD: Geek... More...

July 25, 2008: Team of specialists sent to quarantined Scotland in post-apocalyptic sci-fi adventure. Opens in new window
More...

May 14, 2008: UK Box Office Breakdown: Speed Racer Tanks
Cripes! The bloodthirsty summer movie season has its first big-budget flop of the summer, and we're only two weeks in. The disappointment, no scrap that, disaster in question... More...

May 06, 2008: Neil Marshall's 10 Post-Apocalyptic Picks
The Doomsday director runs RT through the movies that inspired his cyber-punk vision of a dodgy future. More...

See All

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