DVD Reviews
DVD Review: Doom
By Patrick Luce
Feb 9, 2006, 14:10 GMT

Joining the fate of other less than stellar video game to screen adaptations, Doom is a predictable “kill everything that moves” kind of film that starts out halfway good and quickly goes downhill after the first 45 minutes of “plot” runs out of gas. With that said, it is also a entertaining film that requires little thought, and a movie with a high body count, lots of action, and halfway decent special effects

The movie, which was directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak, stars The Rock, Karl Urban and Rosamund Pike. It is based on the popular Doom series of first-person shooter games from ID Software.

The movie’s “plot” borrows elements of Aliens, Resident Evil (another game adaptation), and practically every zombie movie that has ever been made. It follows a squad of Marines as they head to Mars to conduct a search and destroy mission after a distress call from a scientist there. Once there, the group – which includes The Rock and Urban – discover they might be in over their heads thanks to strange creatures that are basically tearing everyone apart. The action heats up as the group learns that they are not up against your average enemy and even some of their own members begin to change into the strange creatures that they are trying to destroy.

The Rock plays Sarge – the leader of the group and the one man determined to do whatever it takes to keep the threat they face on Mars from returning to Earth. Of course, this also means he is willing to kill everything in his path (including his own men) to ensure he succeeds in his mission. When he comes to realize the true nature of what they are up against, he takes it upon himself to break into the lab’s armory and get himself the “BFG” – which is a big gun that pretty much can rip a hole through anything.

Urban, who plays Reaper, and Pike, who plays his twin sister, quickly learn the true nature of the creatures they fight, and the difference between who may or may not be infected. This takes the two on a collision course with Sarge’s plan to just kill every single person at the lab to be on the safe side.

Although the movie has a “shoe string” plot that we have all seen before it is fun to watch if you enjoy the kind of movies that require you to shut off your brain. The film tries to match the scariness of Aliens and the gore factor of the Resident Evil/Zombie movies. It is shot with lots of dark corners, quick glimpses at the “aliens,” and lots of action.

The Rock fills the role of Sarge, and manages to deliver the same quality of performance we saw in Walking Tall and The Rundown – whether that is a good thing or bad thing is for you to decide. He does a good job at being both the good and bad characters of the film. He also fits into the role of the leader of a group of tough Marines made up of strange and unique characters – which seem like they were cut straight from 1987’s Predator.

Urban and Pike are good in the film, but you don’t really enjoy a film like Doom for the brilliant performances. If you like the movie, it is because there is a lot of cool stuff getting blown up on screen, and lots of freaky creatures getting shot to hell.

While Doom delivers the action and atmosphere needed to adapt the bloody video game, it looses a lot of momentum when it switches to a first person camera angle towards the end of the movie. I know the filmmakers did this technique because it is how the game is presented and ties the film even more to the game - but it really doesn’t work in the movie.

There is no reason for the switch and it ends up feeling like a cheesy stunt because the filmmakers ran out of ideas. This might have worked if they would have done it throughout the movie. Instead, they save it for the end then switch back to regular filming for no reason. The first person filming might be funny, but just didn’t really work for me.

The DVD comes loaded with special features that Doom fans will enjoy. They include a first-person shooter Sequence that is longer that what was on the DVD and shows how it was created; Game On! – a feature that gives you strategies and hints on a beginner’s tour of the actual game Doom; Basic Training With The Rock – which shows you what the actors went through to get ready for the movie; a look at the make-up process that went into making The Rock into a creature at the end of the film; and a feature that lets you play Doom 3 on your Xbox system.

I enjoyed Doom for about the first hour, but the film quickly went downhill. It borrows elements from other films (like Predator or Aliens) but that didn’t really bother me – it is still better than an Uwe Boll video game film. The cast does a good job, but the film just looses all the momentum that is built in the first 45 minutes. Instead of suspenseful, it turns almost comical towards the ending, and is filled with some really cheesy dialogue – mostly from The Rock.

It does have a high body count, lots of blood, cool action, and halfway decent special effects. If you like movies that require you to just turn your brain off to enjoy then I recommend it to you. It isn’t Shakespeare, but parts of the film are kind of fun - if you enjoy watching monsters get torn apart by a wide variety of cool weapons.

Doom is available at Amazon. As of yet, there isn’t a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD’s database for more information.