Doomsday opens in 2008, where we learn that a plague, known as "The Reaper Virus", spread through Glasgow, Scotland, decimating the population. In order to contain the virus, the British government erected an 80-mile long steel wall along the Scottish border and completely sealed off that part of the country. No one is allowed in or out, the seas are mined, and no planes can fly over the area. The story then leaps ahead to the year 2035. London is a dirty and crowded place, and due to the virus, much of the world has severed ties with England. Police administrator Bill Nelson (Bob Hoskins) is informed that satellites have detected a human presence north of the wall. Therefore, the assumption is that a cure has been found for the virus. At this same time, the virus suddenly resurfaces in London. Nelson is ordered to assemble a team to travel to the ruins of Glasgow and search for a vaccine. Nelson puts Major Sinclair (Rhona Mitra), a tough woman with an electric glass eye, in charge of the mission. They have just 72 hours in which to complete it. Little do they know that Scotland has become a dangerous and savage place.

When I first learned of Doomsday, I was intrigued. Writer/director Neil Marshall’s first film Dog Soldiers had been campy, but entertaining, but his second film, The Descent, is one of the most frightening movies of the last decade. (Seriously, if you haven’t seen it, stop reading this and go watch it right now.) So, I was interested to see what Marshall would do next. But, when I saw the trailer, the film looked somewhat like The Road Warrior. Well, as it turns out, I was half right. Some of the film looks like The Road Warrior, but the remainder looks exactly like Escape from New York.

And when I say exactly, I mean, “Hmm...I’d heard that a remake of Escape from New York was being considered, but it looks like Marshall beat them to it.” exactly. The two films share too many commonalities to be ignored; Both open with narration explanation the situation; both then cut to computer animation showing where a wall has been built around an island; both have seas that are mined; both have main characters with an eye patch; Sinclair has a countdown watch, just like Snakes; both have punk-looking savages; both have men dressed as women dancing on-stage (although, to be fair, in Doomsday, the men are wearing kilts); in both the main character is captured and forced to fight a champion; in Escape from New York, Snake was looking for “Brain”, here, Sinclair is looking for Kane. Even the font in the opening credits is the same! Escape from New York is one of my favorite films and I sat there watching this movie thinking, “Does John Carpenter know about this?” (There’s a character in the film named Carpenter, so there’s another nod.) Again, a homage is one thing, but a note-for-note copy is something else entirely. And, as noted above, once the movie stops being Escape from New York, it becomes The Road Warrior.

All of this could be seen to imply that Marshall is lazy, but that clearly isn’t the case. Doomsday is his biggest film thus far and in the audio commentary, he talks about he worried about working with scenes involving huge crowds. The movie features huge sets, special effects shots, tons of stunts, and a long car chase. All of this is well-staged and executed. The action scenes are very well-done and the crew has done a great job of making the scenery look old or, in places, medieval. So, Doomsday is no cheapy (it cost an reported $30 million) and it’s clear that Marshall and co. put a lot of work into making the film.

And yet, it’s impossible for me to look at the movie and not see a rip-off. (I didn’t even mention the fact that Mitra’s outfit makes her resemble Kate Beckinsale in the Underworld films.) This is one of those films which one might enjoy if they've never seen another action film set in a nihilistic future. Because, again, the movie is well-made. But, any sci-fi/action fan worth their salt is going to compile a comparison list like the one I've made above, and once the action has passed, never give this film another thought...or pop in Escape from New York.