Doomsday
Dir: Neil Marshall
2008
***
I really liked the idea behind Neil Marshall's Doomsday, it's not particularly original but I thought having Scotland as a segregated viral zone was quite an interesting premise. It was fun for the most part too, a bit silly in places but overall it was entertaining. The thing that annoyed me about it though was the tribal aspect. How many post-apocalyptic cyber-punks tribes have we seen now? I know it is part love letter to films such as The Warriors (anyone else spot the Baseball Fury?) and Mad Max but it comes off as poor imitation rather than tribute. The medieval tribe thing was handled particularly badly in my opinion, making it not such a great film by the end, which is a huge shame as the story had so much potential. However, Rhona Mitra makes the leap from my bedroom wall during my collage days to getting her first leading role rather well. She should have been Lara Croft. Sci-fi fans are also treated to other good performances from Malcolm McDowell and Alexander Siddig as well as everybodies favorite, the great Bob Hoskins. It's a bit formulaic and a bit too similar to the films that inspired it but it's good fun and entertaining throughout.