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"If You're Hungry, Have a Piece of..." Doomsday

Movie Review: Doomsday starring Rhona Mitra and Bob Hoskins

Despite its B-level campiness, Doomsday is a top-notch feminist horror/sci-fi gorefest. I haven't had this much fun watching a bloody flick since... well, since Director/Writer Neil Marshall's last flick, The Descent. (If you like gory movies - but still want it to have a feminist twist - be sure to check it out.)

For starters, Doomsday stars the fabulous Rhona Mitra as an ass-kicking military Major named Eden Sinclair. She is a bad-ass, chain-smoking military leader who pulls off the role with a haughty - but not whiny - vibe, managing to be beautiful without being sexualized. To top it all off, her character comes complete with a delightfully campy fake eyeball that she can take out, roll down a hallway, and make recordings of her surroundings with. It is awe-freakin'-some - in the way that only a campy, B-level sci-fi flick can be.

In addition to the blood and gore - which is so over the top that it comes off as hilarious rather than disturbing - there are several laugh-worthy moments throughout the film, not the least of which is a scene in which a decapitated head screams while sailing through the air. Marshall is, in a few words, the Tarantino of sci-fi horror, and - in a way - the Joss Whedon of the gore genre. This is not to say that his heroines are necessarily overtly witty or even girly - but it is very clear that he respects gender boundaries and doesn't use a gory movie as an excuse to demoralize women or to create a form of 16-year old boy torture porn. It is quite evident that he loves his craft and - in Tarantino fashion - Doomsday provides a very obvious outlet for Marshall to explore and pay tribute to classic apocalyptic films such as the Mad Max trilogy.

Overall, what impressed me the most about Doomsday was its lead character. Rhona Mitra's stint as Major Sinclair solidly established herself as one of my favorite female protagonists of all time. She was strong and smart, capable and honorable: the perfect heroine. And - most astonishingly - her character wasn't sexed up. She wasn't about tits and ass; she was about kicking ass and taking names. She wore a modest haircut, sensible clothes and shoes, and small stud earrings. And the only part of her body that was shown off was exactly what you'd see if a man had been cast for the role: muscles. (Damn, she's built!) And this is precisely what brings me to the point that Doomsday could easily be considered a feminist movie: at any one point in the film, the lead character could have been of either gender - male or female - with the exact. same. result.

How's that for gender equity?

Okay, so I'm not pretending that Doomsday is a miraculous movie. The plot - which revolves around a virus that kills off most of the population of Scotland and leaves behind some truly psycho human beings - has more than a few holes. But this isn't a movie that is meant to be intellectual; it is a film that must be seen for one reason and one reason only: pure, raw entertainment value. Doomsday isn't for the faint-hearted; if you have trouble watching heads chopped off, bunnies being blown up, rampant cannibalism, and f-bombs a-flying, then this isn't the film for you. Then again, if you're capable of going into the film with your eyes wide open, your brain turned off, and your sense of humor ready to go - then then you'll love Doomsday... camp and all.