Over-the-top, Seen it all before, Boring.
Doomsday tells the of so generic tale of a near future virus wrecking havoc and spreading around the world causing people to get bloodthirsty, no cure, oh no, blah – it’s really nothing new. The story begins in April 2008, and a few cities in Scotland are suddenly under duress from a mysterious virus that destroys flesh and spreads like the common cold. These cities go under martial law, and get quarantined, and all hell breaks loose behind these barriers. The British government has trained one of their satellites on these cities for thirty years now, moving the time of the story to around 2035. At this time, there is still no cure for the virus and it’s been spreading again, showing up in various English cities. The Prime Minister’s suspicious advisor suggests an immediate martial law / quarantine for these towns, while simultaneously sending in an elite commando unit from the Department of Domestic Security into Scotland to try to find the lone scientist who was near finding a cure.
Sound familiar? It is. And it’s still pretty lame. Emma Cleasby plays your typical beautiful, got-a-cigarette, ready to kick ass heroine, who even has a false eye that she can throw on the floor and use as a camera that wirelessly connects to her wristwatch. When she’s done with that she can pop her eye right back into place; some may beg to differ, but that’s just goofy, not cool.
There are plenty of dark, rainy scenes, and scenes that are supposed to be suspenseful and scary but instead just make you wonder why you’re still watching in the first place. There is also plenty of in-your-face violence including vehicle manslaughter, decapitations, and close range gun blasts, but if it’s supposed to make the heroine seem tough or the film seem hardcore, it doesn’t. I didn’t find anything at all redeeming about the story or how it played out to be quite frank.
On the Bright Side
Doomsday on Blu-ray does look quite good. Being a new film, this isn’t too surprising, but nevertheless, it’s good to see. Dark scenes, backgrounds, facial textures, everything looked crisp and very clean, I was impressed. DTS-HD audio makes waves as the effects include many explosions, screams, and everything else you would expect in a film of this style.
As far as extra features, there aren’t much. You get an audio commentary track with four cast members and the director, and then several U-Control extras. These U-Control extras are available during the movie, so as the film is playing you can pop these right up:
Reaper Virus Files – This feature allows you to view “DDS Intelligence files” to view various information about the film, cast, and plot.
Tech Specs – This feature gives you information on the Bentley used late in the movie and on the “outrageous weapons” seen. Yay.
Picture In Picture – This is fairly interesting, as it allows you to access behind the scenes footage and cast interviews as the film is playing. Good for fans, won’t mean much to the rest of us.