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Printer-Friendly ModeGame movies still Doomed
October 31, 2005 —
Here is a movie that does almost nothing right, but almost gets away with it due to (perhaps unintentional) humor and mindless entertainment value. Almost, but not quite. Doom begs the question: were the filmmakers serious, or just having some fun? If they were serious, what were they thinking? If they were just hoping to make a campy, amusing horror film, then they apparently either didn't know how, or lacked the clout with their superiors to take it all the way to the realm of cheese.
Based on previews for the movie, it looked as though the main star of the film would be Dwayne Johnson, also known as The Rock, of professional wrestling fame. However, as the movie gets underway, we begin to realize that John Grimm, played by Karl Urban, is the real main character. Urban, who played the character of Eomer in the Lord of the Rings films, has a great look about him. Something about his face looks as though he has been through terrible experiences, and knows something we don't. He is perfect for this role, although the rest of the movie doesn't really fit together.
As most people have probably gathered, Doom is based on the video game franchise of the same name. The game was one of the first of its kind, and really was truly frightening for the time. What made it frightening were two things. One was that, you were being pursued by countless demons from Hell, and you had no choice but to fight. The other was the sense of isolation the game had. You were trapped on another planet, and you were the only human being. You were totally alone with these creatures from Hell.
The movie eliminates both of these ideas. The demons are replaced by some sort of genetics experiment gone wrong. Doom also eliminates the idea of isolation, by introducing scientists who have survived the initial horrors as well as a team of soldiers, of which Johnson, or "Sarge," and Urban are a part.
Eliminating the isolation is understandable; a movie consisting of only one person, with no other characters, would be rather difficult to make well. But why turn the demons into science experiments? Combining that with the premise and setting of the movie removes any element of terror it may have had.
Despite these problems, Doom does have good points. There are legitimate and surprising twists and some decent action as well. There is an extended first person sequence that is jaw-dropping, not because it is done so well, but just that it was done at all. What if the entire movie was made in first person? I'd wager it would be a better movie, or at least one of the most daring movies we've seen in quite some time.
Generally after reviewing a bad movie based on a game, it is to be said that at least fans of the game will enjoy it. However, that cannot be guaranteed with Doom, because it resembles the game so little. As a standalone film, it provides some entertainment, but not enough. For me, though, the incredulous feeling I had when the first-person sequence began made the whole ordeal worth it.