Doomsday (2008) ***
Doomsday (2008) wears its influences proudly on its sleeve and writer/director Neil Marshall is perfectly okay with that. It's an intentional mashup/homage, but in the best sense (the way the Italians did so often in the '80s), effortlessly swinging from genre to genre, as good exploitation films do.
Doomsday cribs liberally from three cult classics from 1981—Escape From New York (review), Mad Max 2 (review), and Excalibur, and throws in a bit of 28 Days Later (2002) (review), Aliens (1986) (review) and The Warriors (1979) (review) for good measure.
It would be a better film if the characterization weren't so thin, the tropes so heavy, and the action/editing so quick-cut. I wish the production design, costumes, and vehicles had more time to shine. And yet I always have a good time with this movie, which never seems to take itself too seriously. It's loud, it's gory, it's fun, and, yes, it's silly at times, but it continues to entertain me and it holds up on repeat viewings. Throwing Bob Hoskins and Malcolm McDowell into the mix to provide gruffness and hamminess, respectively, doesn't hurt either.
Doomsday cribs liberally from three cult classics from 1981—Escape From New York (review), Mad Max 2 (review), and Excalibur, and throws in a bit of 28 Days Later (2002) (review), Aliens (1986) (review) and The Warriors (1979) (review) for good measure.
It would be a better film if the characterization weren't so thin, the tropes so heavy, and the action/editing so quick-cut. I wish the production design, costumes, and vehicles had more time to shine. And yet I always have a good time with this movie, which never seems to take itself too seriously. It's loud, it's gory, it's fun, and, yes, it's silly at times, but it continues to entertain me and it holds up on repeat viewings. Throwing Bob Hoskins and Malcolm McDowell into the mix to provide gruffness and hamminess, respectively, doesn't hurt either.
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