Review of Doom (2005) by Zachary M — 28 Dec 2011

Lets just but out and call it even?

Doom. I remember as a much younger man playing the game of Doom, I have no idea what version they are up to now, but really it's a game that redefined the first person shooter genre, and it was obvious that one day a film would be made, I suppose the real question is, is Doom a Half Life or are we in for a System Shock?

Everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE has spoken on one part of the Doom movie, and that is the "first person shooter" scene, this is where I should probably start off, I know it's received some praise, but for me this scene doesn't work, it is FAR too contrived, and while I appreciate that Andrzej Bartkowiak is trying to do something inventive and unique, he wasted his time, the real crime isn't that this part of the film fails, it's that it's the only moment of inventiveness in the entire affair.

OK, I'll admit Doom was never going to win awards for originality, but to simply custom ship parts of other films is a little bit too much to swallow. For chunks of Doom I found myself thinking "why am I not just watching Aliens or Predator?" because that's what Doom is, it's Aliens meets Predator (no not Vs), it takes the custom pack of army stereotypes from ANY film, splices a few shards of characters from Predator and then slaps them all down in the middle of Aliens for one all mighty sound off against what seems to be monsters who strongly resemble The Swamp Thing. It's a surreal experience to see a film that reminds you so much of other films that you start to wonder if it is in fact just a remake of those films.

It's a shame because the film did show potential, VERY limited potential but potential all the same, it had nice little pockets of ideas, for example ignoring the stereotyping to have a lover in space, the film instead has a sister, I liked that, however Andrzej Bartkowiak all too quickly wants to tie the film up and have his cast picked off, and so we are not really given enough time to care for any of the characters, I think that's the downfall of a lot of "survival" movies, you never get to know who is on the screen through the blood and bullets.

Another problem with Doom is that it falls to that which all game movies suffer from, which is that some things are going to be included from the game, for the gamers, and without explanation or reason. Sarge's BFG gun would be a prime example of this, no reason and no point to it, it's just included for some reason, features like that really make you feel under valued as a spectator, like the film makers don't think you are important enough to let you in on the secret.

As far as the casting goes I felt it was unneeded to have Dexter Fletcher randomly cast as a wheelchair bound technician, and American. Along for the ride with the American accent is Rosamund Pike who isn't totally wasted, but close to it (she plays the Next character). The two main leads on the other hand are Karl Urban who gives his usual level of performance (Karl is most like Riply) and supporting Urban, but I'm not sure how much is The Rock. The Rock isn't so much a waste as totally without merit, however he takes on the role of Dutch (from Predator), and it's a role the fits.

I think, the temptation to make a BIG finish and to have everything tied up in neat little bow holds Doom back, when the final showdown happens you will have lost interested and switched off.

Doom is a film that starts out ok and just slowly falls downwards from the outset, ironically this is a film that was always... well... DOOMED!