R

***1/2 out of ****

2008

I was VERY excited to see Doomsday, the latest film by Neil Marshall. I loved The Descent, and although I wasn't quite sure what to expect from Doomsday, I was pretty sure it couldn't possibly be bad. And I was RIGHT!

Premise: Scotland. A vicious, deadly bug called the Reaper Virus is sweeping through the country. To keep the virus from spreading Britain quarantines the entire country, building 30 ft walls and placing computer controlled gun turrets to keep anyone from going in or out. Twenty five years later or so, the Reaper Virus appears once again, this time in the middle of London. Desperate to find a cure, the Prime Minister sends an elite military team into Scotland to question the survivors. Mayhem (and hilarity) ensues.

So this movie was basically part 28 Days Later (without the zombies of course), part Mad Max, part Braveheart, and part Deathproof. If you're looking at this and shaking your head while muttering "that sounds stupid" you would be both right and oh so very wrong. Silly as it sounds, the movie doesn't take itself too seriously, and if you like action movies, this will blow you away.

Tough as nails Eden Sinclair (Rhona Mitra, my new favorite action hero) and her team venture into Scotland to find a cure for the killer virus, and their first encounter is with a group of survivors turned post-apocalyptic punk (oh, and they're cannibals). When they escape, the next group they find is a neo-fuedal society run by Malcom McDowell. Escape from there, find a random Bentley (no I'm not kidding...), high speed car chase with the punks, and back to London.

This movie includes every aspect of a great action movie. On-foot chase scenes, gun fights, sword fights, martial arts, and car chases. The acting and writing is mostly sub-par, but for this film it definitely doesn't matter. The focus here is on all the crazy things that happen and the awesome action sequences. And like I said before, this is one movie that definitely does not take itself too seriously.

It's difficult to criticize the movie because it's just so damn enjoyable. Sure, the acting isn't fantastic, but this isn't a film that even pretends like it's trying to win any Oscars. Sure, the writing isn't amazing, but it's an action movie in every sense of the term, and the writing is more than adequate for what it is. Yes, the story line has some serious plot holes, but why would you spend too much time thinking about that when you're watching a Bently drive through a punked-out bus? I guess if I had to choose one thing to be picky about, it would be the graphic nature of the first half. I just don't think it's all that necessary to watch the cannibals slice away pieces of blackened flesh from a freshly roasted corpse. YUCK.

All in all though, AMAZING movie. I loved it. I've now seen it twice in the theater, and I'll definitely be purchasing it the second it comes out. ^_^ And even though we all know about my quibbles with the female action hero, Rhona Mitra is my new favorite heroine. Even if she is too skinny. <3