Doomsday
Dear Diary –
Chicken tortilla soup again! Ugh. I need a raise. Sat down today to write reviews of American Zombie and Miss Pettigrew, and found notes in my own handwriting on a movie called Doomsday. Forgot I had seen it – hadn’t heard of it before we saw it, and apparently hadn’t heard of it afterward either. I do not recall seeing ads for this on TV or in Entertainment Weekly. When laundering jeans, found ticket stub, so clearly I saw it. Diary, please tell me why movies are so forgettable!
After reviewing my little pad, I recalled M and I picking this wheat from a pile of mid-March chaff, and even feeling pretty pleased about it. It was written and directed by Neal Marshall, who made The Descent and a lot of other one- and two-word vaguely spooky titles I never heard of. You don’t often see apocalypse/zombie/virus movies with an arthouse credit roll, nor many movies that closely resemble the opening video for Rock Band. It is super Britisy though, so maybe that’s it Apparently in 2035, a horrible virus called the Reaper virus will cause the total quarantine and ostracism of Scotland. The scenario of the governmental response was sufficiently merciless and Cheney-esque to make me want to note it here. When I’m 65, I’ll have to reread you, dear diary, and see how prescient Mr. Marshall was.
After they blow a bunny to smithereens (aiming straight through a plot hole), I knew all bets were off. Considering the situation – an incredibly deadly airborne virus turning everyone into crashing virus bomb and festering piles of flesh – I would have thought responses would be different. The virus is so horrifying that it reduces hard core punks who roast outsiders alive for a snack, to being riled up by Good Thing by the Fine Young Cannibals. Horrors indeed. When Frankie Goes To Hollywood starts his insane screeching, though, you know you’re gonna have a human head fly off and smack the camera lens. I wished Adrian Lester-Norton was Twofer from 30 Rock, but as in many other things here, I was disappointed.
I read back over my diary, and it seemed that M & I walked out in giggly “that was fun & stupid” post-show analysis, generally pleased but mostly just not offended. Upon consultation, I was told I actually enjoyed it at least a Rentals worth. I fear, dear Diary, that I may have to immortalize the unmemorable with a bit less generosity in the final mix. Gained weight from too much soda – say what you will about the economy and snack prices, but $4 sure buys you a heck of a lot of soda. Maybe I need a new hobby.
MPAA Rating R-strong bloody violence, language & sexual content/nudity
Release date 3/14/08
Time in minutes 105
Director Neil Marshall
Studio Universal Pictures
