Doomsday - Thoughts

Publicity and promotional activities for Doomsday was limited, and if my memory serves me right this movie was never released in the theatres in Chennai. I came across the High-Def trailer about a year ago and since have been meaning to watch it. Adding appeal to it was the fact that it starred Rhona Mitra in the lead. For the unacquainted, Rhona Mitra was the first ever Eidos Lara Croft model, who has subsequently starred in TV serials such as Boston Legal and The Practice.


The movie wasn’t too serious and was generally a fun ride. Don’t go into it with the expectation of something intense and meaningful. The introduction and first 10 minutes reminded me of Resident Evil. Being a fan of that franchise my appreciation was instant. As the movie progressed there were Madmax elements; and just when I thought I had it all figured out, some knights and horses were thrown in to completely mix things up. While there was a lot of action, and some intense violence in certain scenes, there was enough comic relief to still keep things light. The one constant question I kept asking myself was under the proposed circumstances, what was the impact of the rest of the world on such a situation in Europe?

Rhona Mitra as Major Eden Sinclair portrayed the role of a hardened Special Forces agent well. She looked the part and the fight sequences were believable. Adrian Lester as Sergeant Norton played a good supporting role and probably would grow onto the audience over the course of the movie. Malcolm McDowell as Dr. Marcus Kane was perfect as the senile old man who believed that it was time for change and a new world order. Sol the leader of the crazed post apocalyptic biker gang did a good job of being Sol, and couldn’t have come off any more crazy. David O’Hara as Michael Canaris was perfect as a politician, who didn’t so much care about the people, as seeming to pose as though he cared for the people. As opposed to Sgt. Lester, over the course of the movie the audience would have slowly developed a sense of disgust towards his character.

The DVD I was watching was a Region 1 US release. Picture quality was good, and very sharp. Skin textures were quite clear throughout. Most of the movie was either indoors or at night, and thus dull scenes comprised the bulk of the footage. The predominant tones were yellow and mustard brown; some of night scenes having blue and grey tones. There were never any vibrant reds or greens. The audio was a standard Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track, and was ample throughout.

My Recommendation: Watch It (If you’re in the mood for some wacky action or are a fan of Rhona Mitra)