DOOM movie review

DOOM

Well after resident evil and alone in the dark taking there whack at survival horror adaptations universal decided to throw there hat in the game with Doom. Doom 3 had been released 1 year prior and had a horror theme mixed with its traditional action and universal decided to take this route for the movie did it pay off? Read on to find out.

Doom is about a group of marines who go to mars to help evacuate a research facility and while there encounter different kinds of monsters who one by one kill the marines until the final confrontation at the end of the film.

Ok to start off doom does a lot right where other video game movies don’t. First it went for an R rating witch aloud for the movie to keep the violent atmosphere of the games. Second they went with almost 100% practical effects for the monsters instead of cheeping out with cg. The actor that they picked to play Grimm looks almost exactly like the face that is your health meter in the original game.

Every enemy type is in the movie zombies from 3, imps, a baron and the pinky demon. Also just about every weapon from the BFG to the chainsaw is present it seems the only guns that are missing are the plasma weapons. The facility is owned by the U.A.C like in the games.

The acting is pretty good besides the rock it’s mostly b actors but I think they all do a good job getting across the different personalities they are supposed to have. Now while it’s not really scary to people used to watching horror movies the tension and suspense are done rather nicely and not until the end do you really ever see the monsters in full lighting.

The biggest complaint I hear from people is that the monsters are the result of an infection not demons from hell. Now while that is technically true there are several references to mars being hell and the monsters being demons. Goat one of the marines refers to mars being hell and so does Grimm. Now while theses are only metaphorical references still they are there.

There are a few quick references to the game such as Samantha asking for a med kit which is the primary method of replenishing your health in the game also the rock refers to the BFG as a big fucking gun which is what the original acronym stood for in the original game. There is a pretty funny line that the rock has where he says “I’m not supposed to die” while being killed.

Now I’d like to talk a little bit about the coolest sequence in any video game movie ever the first person sequence. About 15 mins until the end of the movie Grimm is injected with the virus that mutated everyone else but because he’s good hearted it gives him super strength speed and healing. So anyway right after he wakes up from the injection the movie shifts to first person witch of course is a throwback to the games.

Right at the start Grimm looks in the mirror witch if you’re like me is one of the first things I do when playing a first person shooter. Then its nonstop action as Grimm wonders the halls taking out zombies and imps then at the end he kills a baron then a pinky demon with a chainsaw. Also during this sequence Grimm reloads which is very similar to the reloading sequence in the games and at one point he shoots his reflection witch again is something I always do while playing a first person shooter.

Now at first I didn’t realize it was a baron that he killed and I thought the rock was supposed to be the baron but after realizing he wasn’t it made the movie even more enjoyable for me. The final fight scene between the rock and Grimm is actually pretty good it uses wires to show off the strength of the two men fairly decent and I wasn’t really disappointed with it at all.

The atmosphere is set up nicely the sets are dark and cold like in the games and they help to amplify the creepiness of it all. By using very little cg and mostly practical effects for the monsters and implementing old school horror techniques like showing the monster in the dark or only showing a hand here or leg there it makes them more mysterious until the full body is finally revealed.

Another thing I thought that was done well was the weapon design. Each marine used a different weapon whether it be the shot gun or assault rifle, SMG, minigun or pistol and when each marine first picks up there weapon it announces there handle or nickname. Two of the characters names are a credit to the co-owners of ID software too.

As far as characters from the game there are 2 plus the monsters. Grimm is supposed to be the hero and is even listed in the credits as doom guy and the rocks character has the same name as the Sarge from doom 3 although his attitude is not the same.
The way Sarge tells the marines of the plan is similar to a video game in the way he states the mission objectives witch I thought was pretty cool. The banter between the marines is also funny at times as almost all types of personalities are present including the newbie, the pervert, silent and strong, and wisecracking and once the rock looses it you have the psycho.

How I would do it. Well there’s not much I didn’t like but the few things I would have changed was probably giving the baron more screen time and changed him to be more like the original game with the horns and what not also I probably would have the monsters come from hell and switched the experiments from science to supernatural which would explain the opening to hell.

Ok so now for the scores. Overall I give the movie 8 out of 10 big fucking points. The atmosphere was great and the first person sequence was amazing.

The acting gets 8 out of 10 as well. I thought all the marines did a good job of acting like their personalities where supposed to be.

The plot gets 7 out of 10. It was based more on doom 3 then anything and was pretty close but they changed it from hell to an infection which is why it didn’t get a ten.

And the content gets 9 out of 10. It had a good portion of weapons and monsters from the games as well as a few in references and the hero kind of looked like the face from the original doom especially at the end when he was all beat up.

Ok so we are making good progress I think. One more boll movie and boy howdy is it a stinker then I get to do 2 movies I thoroughly enjoyed silent hill and dead or alive. Will you agree? Maybe. Will they be 2 of the best video game movies ever? Possibly? Find out all this and more next time on video game movie reviews same review time same review channel.