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Doom movie review
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Written by: David Callaham and Wesley Strick
Directed by: Andrzej Bartkowiak
Films based on videogames are not doing themselves a lot of favours at the moment. The genre has been in decline ever since the release of Super Mario Bros. – and while there has been the odd decent adaptation (Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil, Resident Evil 2: Apocalypse), it has never been able to escape that rut.
The nadir for this type of movie is a certain director who recently brought us such cinematic monstrosities as House of the Dead, Alone in the Dark and BloodRayne. His future endeavours do not look any better (seriously, hunt down the trailer for In The Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale), and I cannot wait for the time when people stop throwing large sums of money at him.
Mars Attacks?
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The outcry was huge, but all involved in the production made it clear Doom was definitely going to take place on Mars. But in watching Doom you get the sneaky suspicion this was a load of rubbish – and that a second writer was brought in to fine tune the script to add Mars to the existing elements. After all, we barely even see the red planet save for the admittedly cool opening Universal credits (the Earth is replaced by Mars, basically) and there are no sequences which take place outside.
Once the characters reach the UAC Olduvai Research Facility its guns in the air and straight down to business.
There's a Plot?
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But something (the story never reveals what) wiped them out. But not before a select few were able to create a portal and hitch a ride to Earth. At this point the story raises the question as to whether these visitors were the catalyst for humanity, but again the film skimps on details.
Now in the year 2046 a research facility has been created to study the remains located via an archaeological dig. Except something bad happens and within a minute of the film beginning we already have two people killed and character lose her arm (which reprises later in one of the best scenes in the film). That area of the facility is quarantined and a special forces unit called the Rapid Response Tactical Squad is despatched.
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Out of the Silent Planet
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But as was mentioned, this character development comes at a price: the first half of the film is incredibly boring. Bartkowiak is a director who certainly shows a flair for action. But where the horror is concerned he is an absolute amateur. For well over half an hour all we get to see are the squad members slowly walking through identical corridors, pointing their guns here and there.
Every now and then we see evil POVs of the monsters we so dearly want to appear and mutilate people, but the director insists on building an atmosphere and getting to know these characters. The only appealing aspect of which is the dynamic between Sarge, Reaper (Urban) and Samantha (Pike). The latter two are brother and sister who once followed the same interests in science but later went their separate ways after the accidental death of their parents.
Out of the Frying Pan
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Speaking of which, when the action finally steps up a gear it happens in such a wonderful way that it is hard not to laugh at the things you see on screen. Any fan of Neil Marshall’s wonderful Dog Soldier’s will remember a scene towards the end where a soldier goes mental with a frying pan and takes on an eight foot werewolf in style. Well there is a similar sequence in Doom that had me grinning like a big kid.
Hearing about such characters as Dr.Carmack and Dr.Willits also serve to highlight the fanboyisms inherent in Doom and never fail to raise a smile.
BFG
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But above all else, one of the films crowning achievements is nothing but complete and utter fan service: The BFG. As fans of first-person shooters know the BFG was a gun designed as a joke by the boys at id and it quite literally stood for ‘Big F**king Gun’. There is a scene in Doom when The Rock lays his eyes on the BFG and even announces those words. Suffice to say The Rock’s look and reaction to one of the biggest and most beautiful weapons he has ever seen is fantastic.
And it’s even better when he gets to fire it.
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First Persion
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Elsewhere he aims his last bullet of the clip at a fire vent and causes the explosion to engulf a large beastie standing nearby. Finally, the last section involves a fight with the beautifully imagined pinky demon where the Reaper’s only weapon is a chainsaw. As soon as the character raised this there was an immense cheer from those in the crowd I saw the film with.
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The best film based on a videogame yet? Sure, why not.
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| References to other articles | |
Doom III: Resurrection of Evil reviewWe return to Mars via Xbox wondering if there's more on offer this time than cheap closet scares...
Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil reviewThe long-awaited expansion pack jumps upon us like a cacodemon from the dark. But it only brings two new weapons and three new monsters to the fray.
Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil screensA few mega-sized Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil screens have been released.
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Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil - Done Quick MovieSomeone said that Resurrection of Evil was short-term entertainment, maybe the person was right?
Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil screenshotsA couple of very high-res screenshots from Doom 3 expansion Resurrection of Evil.
Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil trailerIn-game action - they've even turned the lights on in some places.
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Boomtown.net
What, did you expect some sort of easter egg?
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I've never seen this film but it seems that it looks familiar with doom *g*
Althought visually, Doom has a lot in common with the game, Doom 3, there's nothing else to really connect it. Personally, I didn't think that it had enough to warrant the use of the games name.
As for the story, well, let's face it, it was existant, but it was terrible - I mean REALLY terrible. You could probably sum it up in two or three lines. Unfortunately, this made the majority of the film very predictable and mind-numbingly dull to watch.
The action sequences, despite appealing to some are completely uninspiring, and whilst the first person sequence is a novelty, it does nothing to improve the quality of any of the film.
There are a great many flaws in the film, some of which include a variety off odd things included in the film - such as the inclusion of an unexplained beavertooth in the final sequence versus, what I must say was a beautiful CG pinkie. What was it doing on mars? Were they going to cut down some martian redwoods? There are numerous inconsistencies like this throughout the film for those that wish to nitpick.
The only reasonable section of the film was the opening sequence, after that, it went downhill very, very quickly.
For gods sake, somebody stop this idiot, before he goes on to ruin all the other titles that he's bought the rights to. I don't want him to ruin Fear Effect for me too...
I'd give the film a 3/10, being generous...
I also agree with you on many points, but I found it hard not to let the audacity wash over me. This is a very stupid film, but it seemed to celebrate the fact. That's why I enjoyed it. And there was more character development in Doom than the average Paul Anderson monstrosity.
Semper Fi!
Freelance Writer
www.boomtown.net
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