Doomsday

Lacking any sense of proportion, common sense, and higher filmmaking ambition, Neil Marshall commits the craziest cinematic theft on the m2 film box. But he also damn well entertains us for a hundred minutes, lecturing at the High School of Grindhouse in a latex suit, punk haircut, and sword in hand, in a distinguished British style. Hopefully someone will attend the class and learn something. (05/07/2008)

The creators of the film probably thought that the post-apocalyptic sci-fi genre was currently trending at the time and that they could contribute to it. Do film fans like car chases? They do, so we'll throw some in there. Do they like dark medieval settings? Undoubtedly, we'll accommodate them. Do they like bloody gladiator games? They're already in there. Do they like horror-inducing punks? You got it. And there will be an army of them. What works 100% is bloody violence, so we won't spare that. We'll add some special effects and decent set design - we managed to get the money for that - and to ensure guaranteed success, we'll use a number of tried and true genre clichés and scenes that fans already know from other movies. We just have to mix this whole pulpy concoction properly, and because we are aware that we have created (crap), we will act confidently and disarm any criticism by presenting it as our creative intention. This was probably how things played out during the shooting of  Doomsday, and the results speak for themselves. At times, it is even attractively B-movie-like, but the overall lack of originality and stupidity just ooze from the film. If we're talking about a sympathetically low-budget B-movie, I would bet on Carpenter's Escape from New York, who managed to make a significantly better film with considerably less money. Doomsday is essentially a rip-off of Mad Max and older Carpenter films like Escape from New York or Escape from L.A. Overall impression: 20%. (06/10/2009)

Slightly above average B-movie crap, which is lucky that it moves fast (something is practically always going on) and entertains, so you almost don't even stop to think about how unoriginal it is. Neil Marshall takes something from many famous (and better) films, throws it in the pot and cooks up this post-apocalyptic stew. It's not a bad meal, but as I said - you can eat it on your own. Leave your brain somewhere better for now. Best scenes: The ambush in the "deserted" town, the feast, Malcolm McDowell's speech (the guy is seriously the devil) and of course the whole final Bentley scene, which is so over the top it's brilliant. (08/17/2010)

Doomsday offers absolutely nothing new in the post-apocalyptic genre, but it’s still entertaining. I especially appreciated Rhona Mitra's hilarious hi-tech eye. It was interesting to see the effects of the virus on the Scottish population – turning them back into savage Picts with cannibalistic tendencies. No wonder they have always been perceived as a threat by the English. A fun action movie. (06/25/2016)

It's as if Neil Marshall is making fun of the whole world. He's got a lot more money than he's used to and he's totally off the rails. There's a lot of gloriously uncompromising violence, badass one-liners, and a perfectly cracking atmosphere. It has its charms and you can tell it doesn't take itself seriously at all, but unless you grew up on Escape from New York and watch Mad Max twice a year, it's probably not going to work for you. The editing could be less chaotic. (04/03/2008)