Review - Doomsday

Doomsday
dir. Neil Marshall
2008

After having success with Dog Soldiers and, to a larger extent, The Descent Neil Marshall brings us Doomsday. While not as inspired as The Descent, Doomsday deftly skirts the line between a tribute and a blatant ripoff.

Doomsday begins in 2008 with a plague, named the reaper virus, breaking out and killing virtually everyone in Scotland. Opening narration by Malcolm McDowell paints the horrific picture of the cannibalism and violence that breaks out after the rest of the UK walls Scotland off using the old Roman Wall as a line across the country. Our heroine is shown to be a child at this point who by her mother's sacrifice has escaped Scotland just before it was sealed off. Our main plot then begins 27 years later in England.

By this time England, which the world has turned its back on just as England did to Scotland, has been cut off from much of the world and has large problems with overcrowding and food shortages. Our heroine, Eden Sinclair, is shown to be a hard-nosed military agent who can handle herself in combat in a quick battle against criminals. The government learns that the reaper virus has appeared again in London and plans are set in motion to abandon the city, but a small team led by Eden is sent into Scotland to see if there are any survivors and if a doctor who had been working on the virus had discovered a cure before Scotland had been left to fall apart.

At this point the film plays out just as one might imagine it to: Eden and a small team, most of whom are destined for death, go into Scotland and find survivors who are none too friendly. Eden is captured by two different groups of survivors, one which is straight out of Mad Max, and another group which had decided to restart medieval civilization in a Scottish castle. She and a continually smaller number of her team escape from each location while always being chased. There is a lot going on in Doomsday, but much of it including government corruption, critiques on modern society, and more are barely touched on.

The film has two obvious sources of inspiration, or imitation if you prefer, in Mad Max and Escape from New York. Eden is the consummate badass character and is in many ways a female Snake Plissken, even going so far as to be missing an eye after her escape from Scotland as a child. Marshall attempts to draw from these two and other films for touchstones while not relying too much straight imitation. There are definitely some unique and strong scenes and, for the most part, the action and special effects are done quite well. In the final scenes the callbacks to Mad Max are perhaps too strong, but for the most part the film manages to draw upon the past without plagiarizing it. Doomsday is not strong enough to stand up against the sources of inspiration, though Escape from New York has aged rather poorly, but it is a good hard R-rated action film that does effectively recall a time when screaming leather clad villains in a post/near-apocalyptic setting was reason enough to go to the theater.

Verdict: 3 1/2 stars out of 5.

Review - Duma Key

Duma Key
by Stephen King
2008

Whether you like him or not, Stephen King is one of the giants of American fiction for most of the last thirty years. Your reviewer has found both enjoyment and annoyance in the many works of Stephen King, and has read most of his novels and short stories. The writing career of Stephen King can be split in many different ways, but most would agree that his work has seen rather large changes twice in his career: first after he stopped his substance abuse problems and, more recently, after his near death accident involving a van while he was walking the roads of Maine. Some prefer the earlier Stephen King while others prefer his later works, but anyone who has read several of his works will see many of King's touches, some would call them cliches at this point, throughout Duma Key. While the protagonist is not an author, there is extensive foreshadowing, arguably a weak ending, long stretches without any touch of suspense of horror, unexplained or barely explained supernatural phenomena, and many more trademarks.

While Duma Key is covered in many King trademarks, there is a strength to the novel and it certainly does play as an interesting contrast to Lisey's Story, from 2006. While Lisey's Story was the story of a marriage, Duma Key is the story of the divorce of Edgar Freemantle and his movement into the next part of his life. Freemantle loses an arm and suffers brain damage in an accident and the problems that arise during his recovery drive him and his wife apart. His accident and the divorce are handled quickly in the first few chapters as this is truly the story of his new life on the small island of Duma Key off the western Florida coast. Edgar leaves Minnesota and his previous life as the head of a construction company and stays in a rented house on this small island. Here he begins to paint quickly learns that his paintings start to take on a sort of power on Duma Key. Slowly we learn of the history of the area, the source of the power, and the horror that lies around our protagonist. As with many King novels there are some terrific scenes and King never shies away from killing a character to heighten the emotional impact of his narrative. To discuss the plot any further would ruin it for anyone wishing to read it, but suffice it to say it is thoroughly King-ian but with enough differences to keep it mostly fresh.

Because of King's trademarked foreshadowing this reviewer felt that too many of the major plot points were obvious long before they happened, but this isn't something new to Duma Key as it has plagued many of King's works for years. Also, the novel could have perhaps been a bit tightened as it takes a good amount of time to start to build momentum. Still, Duma Key is King at what he does best and this reader, and many others, are still along for the ride and any more that he has in store.

Verdict: 4 stars out of 5.