Made a 2nd attempt to watch Doomsday last night as the first copy I got from Netflix was damaged. They did a good job of getting me the disk within a day. Story goes like this, huge virus hits Scotland, entire country is walled off. 30 years later, the virus shows up in London. Turns out there were survivors in Scotland, so they send a special forces team in, a couple doctors, and a female hero that narrowly escaped the first virus.
It’s like a cross between Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome and Resident Evil Extinction, minus the zombies. Seriously, much of this movie is just completely bizarre, and outright senseless. Case in point – cannibalism. One of the major scenes involves char broiling one of the special forces guys, and tearing the body apart. Ok, there’s no food, people are starving, etc. The very first thing that happens when they cross the wall in the tanks – they hit and kill a cow. The set off a flare and you see THOUSANDS OF CATTLE. Stupid.
The acting of the people in the cities is where I get the mad max vibe. Silly haircuts, tattoos, makeup, it looks like the front row of a Motley Crue show at the Whiskey in the ’80s. Not to mention the “This is our city!” line. This is shouted in a closed little arena area, not the gates of Sparta, and no offense bro, you may be Scottish but Gerard Butler could out-act you in his sleep.
This movie is the result of throwing money at a formula, and then modifying it so that people claim that you’ve stolen ideas from a half dozen other films to try and come up with your own. Having Malcom McDowell as the doctor that was left behind, and is now in charge of a medieval castle was an interesting touch – but to be perfectly honest, the role was a waste of his talent… Also, Bob Hoskins, what were you thinking!?
I’d say rent it, but only during a free trial.