Doom (2005)

Too much of everything

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Andrzej Bartkowiak has been the cinematographer on three films that were nominated for Best Picture Academy Awards: The Verdict, Terms of Endearment and Prizzi's Honor. But he may be better known for his films that combined hip-hop and action, like Cradle 2 the Grave, Exit Wounds and Romeo Must Die. He's also been behind two video game films: Doom and Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li.That said, Time selected this as one of the top 10 worst video game movies, along with House of the Dead, Wing Commander, In the Name of the King, Hitman, BloodRayne, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Double Dragon, Street Fighter and Super Mario Brothers. Trust me -- it's not that bad. And films like this (and a few others on the list) don't belong in the same wastebin as Uwe Boll films.After a Mars research station is attacked, Dr. Todd Carmack sends a distress call that is answered by a team of Marines, led by Asher "Sarge" Mahonin (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson). John "Reaper" Grimm (Karl Urban, Dredd) and his sister, Dr. Samantha (Rosamund Pike, star of Becca's go to DVD, Gone Girl) are there to retrieve critical info before the base is destroyed. We learn that they were born on Mars and their parents were killed here. All that remained after their accident were skeletons of genetically enhanced humans.Of course, all hell breaks loose -- literally. Demonic monsters attack, The Rock ends up being the bad guy, innocent people get killed, a long first-person sequence happens and there's plenty of action. Seriously, the movie is short on story and long on special effects and gore. It's like an Alien movie without the xenomorphs, I guess. Or much excitement. It's competently made, but an hour after it was over and I started writing this, all I could remember that I enjoyed was that the Rock played against his usual character and that Karl Urban got to be the hero.

This movie must be rated at least nine out of ten since the cast is well- suited for an action film, the plot is coherent and bears resemblance to the original game and acting is , in contrast to what other critics say, is actually awesome. The psychological and physical struggle between The Rock and Urban is well told throughout the movie, thus the climax is their final fight. Overall, a good plot and characters make a good sci-fi action adventure movie. This film is definitely worth watching twice.

OK, let me explain. This movie is the best video game movie ever made. Not because it's good, but because you will laugh your ass off at at this movie. It tries hard at points to be a gritty version of the DOOM games, like DOOM 3, but it also gets the fun tone of DOOM 1 and 2, and it uses that in some scenes too. the Rock is in this film, WHY?!?!?!?!? He makes this film just a joy to watch. Watch this film if you just want to have a fun 2 hours

Despite not having a whole lot to do with the video games, Doom is still a rush of schlock and awe silliness, getting more fun and ridiculous in equal amounts near it's nonsensical ending. Karl Urban and The Rock are the tough guys for the job when it comes to scoping out a Martian research base that's accidentally opened up a portal to hell, unleashing all kinds of lovely things. Rock is Sarge, stoic commander of this unit, and Urban is John Grimm (he lives up to his last name) a battle scarred badass who has personal stake in fighting these monsters. His sister (Rosamund Pike) is a scientist on the base, and is now in a great deal of danger. After a neat Google Earth type zoom in on the Martian surface (ironically the only shot in the film that suggests they're even on the red planet), it's off to dank corridors, vast bunkers and beeping control panels, an Aliens-esgue siege on horrors of the dark that quickly goes sideways on them. It's run of the mill stuff save for one stroke of brilliance: a pulse racing first person shooter sequence that showcases a POV of Urban shooting, slashing and chain-sawing his way through alien flesh. It's a bold move that pays off immensely and is quite fun. The rest of their team is forgettable except for Richard Brake as Portman, the loudmouth A Hole of the bunch, a refreshingly animated performance in a roomful of muted, grim characters. The monster from the game shows up, a hulking hell pig nicknamed Pinky that tirades it's way through everything until Urban gives it what for. This ain't no great flick, but as far as video game movies go, you could do way worse. There's definitely enough gore for the hounds, and it's adequately stylish in presentation.