From Deseret News archives:
Doom
Film review
"Doom" is an awful lot like the hit video-game series that inspired it. In fact, there's a stunningly incoherent 10-minute corridor-pursuit sequence that appears to have come right from the game — at one point, the camera even assumes a gun's point of view.
But unlike the game, this gore-heavy and moronic science-fiction thriller doesn't feature a player-control aspect. So there's no way to skip past the early dull moments, or to end the game — er, movie — early. Unless you decide to walk out. Of course, choosing to avoid the film completely is a far better option.
"Doom" is pretty shameless as it swipes ideas from other sci-fi movies, such as the miles-better James Cameron hit "Aliens," which featured a similar story line about unlucky Space Marines being sent on a rescue mission.
Leading the cannon fodder here is Sarge (former WWE wrestler Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson), a tough-as-nails Marine commander who's been ordered to take his men to a top-secret Martian research facility.
Several scientists there have gone missing, so it's up to Sarge and his troops to find any survivors and recover their research work. One of his men, Reaper (Karl Urban), also has a personal stake in the mission, since his twin sister Samantha (Rosamund Pike) is one of the scientists.
However, when they arrive, the Marines encounter hordes of bloodthirsty mutated creatures — the result of some biogenetic tampering, or perhaps something the scientists uncovered in an archaeological dig.
Among the bigger problems here is that the film is played entirely too straight-faced. Johnson eschews his usual one-liners and eyebrow arching, and, as a result, his performance isn't nearly as watchable as you might expect.
Not that his castmates are any better. Pike ("Die Another Day") spends most of her time trying to mask her natural British accent, and Urban (who played Eomer in the "Lord of the Rings" movies) seems uninterested and distracted — not that you can really blame him.
"Doom" is rated R for strong scenes of sci-fi action violence (including gunplay, laser blasts, creature attacks, some violence against women and explosive mayhem), graphic gore and goo, frequent use of strong sexual profanity, some drug content (stimulant use, as well as some hypodermic needle use), and some crude scatological humor and references. Running time: 100 minutes.
E-mail: jeff@desnews.com
