omething went wrong and so it has to be killed. That sums up the Doom game, and pretty much sums up the movie. Something went wrong at the Olduvai Research Station in a Martian science lab, where a wild genetic experiment went awry and unleashed monsters from hell. Before the demons can cause any intergalactic damage, a squad of deadly mercenary Marines is dispatched to the planet to take care of this Level 5 quarantine. Nothing is to get out alive.
The squad is the Rapid Response Tactical Squad, led by Sarge (The Rock), and just in case you don't know he's tough, he has the Marine insignia "Semper Fi" tattooed on his back. And to show how really tough he is, when they're sent one by one through the Arc portal from Earth, he's the only one who doesn't toss his cookies after being transported. Reaper, aka John Grimm (Urban), is interested in going to the planet because his sister is one of the scientists there. Sarge is hesitant to put Reaper on the team, but he lets him go, knowing he'll regret it. The sister/scientist Dr. Samantha, aka Sam (Pike), ends up joining the team, and they gather up all the weapons they can find to fight anything that isn't human. The only one without a gun is Sam, who is given a radio to protect herself.
The squad tries to figure out where the creatures come from and why they have been unleashed—but they end up having to kill them before they really figure it out, because the squad is getting picked off like ten little Indians. Each squad member is defined by his gun. The Kid (Weaver) uses submachine guns, Goat (Daniels) has a pump-action shotgun, Duke (Adoti) and Portman (Brake) shoot plasma rifles with torches, Destroyer (Oparei) has a giant chain gun with ammunition fed from his backpack, and Reaper (Urban) has a rifle with an outer casing.
The rest of the story is just figuring out who will survive. Sarge takes a strange turn when he shoots one of his team just because he's not following orders. The brutality is unflinching, just as in the game.
Not as good as the game
Avid fans of Doom may be as disappointed in this film as the fans of other video games that have been turned into feature films. For some reason, it just isn't enough to watch the characters do the same things they do in a game—and for a lot longer time. Even with good visuals and a decent cast, it takes so much more to live up to the game. A few inside jokes make this enjoyable, like how Dr. Carmack (played by Robert Russell) and Dr. Willits (Vladislav Dyntera) are references to John Carmack and Tom Willits, who helped create the game.
Then there are the cool special effects, like the wheelchair-bound communications officer Pinky (Fletcher), who has half a body because of a transporter accident. Another cast member explains, "He went to one planet and his ass went to another." (He's a more refined version of the Capt. Pike monstrosity in the original Star Trek.)
Rooms are all explored just as in the game: the Animal Lab, the Atrium, the Infirmary, the Observation Room, the Mudroom and even the Bathroom are used in the movie. The creatures—which seem to ooze into people's souls via a grotesque tonguelike organ that shoots cannonlike out of each creature's mouth—include Imps, Pinky Demons, Hell Knights, Barons and other assorted demons found in the game. Also from the game is a four-minute first-person-shooter sequence that recreates the reason Doom is so legendary. It's the first time that the game takes you to a place where you are shooting just as if you are there. Similarly, the camera in the movie winds its way through the corridors in a first-person-shooter style that lasts long enough that you're ready to get a bit nauseated.
One of the best fights is early on in an electric cell between Destroyer (Oparei) and the towering Hell Night. But everyone is waiting for a big climactic fight with The Rock, and that ends up happening with Reaper when they have superhuman power. Director Bartkowiak knows how to stage good action scenes and gun battles, with Romeo Must Die, Cradle 2 the Grave and Exit Wounds in his resume, but in this case he seems a bit unsure how to incorporate a story into the elaborate fight scenes.
Some classic gaming moments occur in this bloody battle. It's definitely as R-rated as the game, and so nothing is toned down. Ears get ripped off, monsters have lots of teeth, and not many characters survive. It's nice to see that, despite the avid gunplay, Sam the female scientist is left with no gun but her wits and determination to figure out how she will battle the demons. She plays it like Sigourney Weaver's Ripley in Alien, but with a bit more blond femininity. The Rock restrains himself from giving his wrestling caricature of the raised quizzical eyebrow, but he seems to hint at it—especially in the scene when he finds the BFG (Bio-Force Gun). Suspended in air, like in the video game, the massive cannonlike weapon is pretty awesome when seen live, and Sarge appropriately says, "Oh s---!" just like the audience does.
But why isn't hell explored like a "place" rather than a concept in the film? The game has hell as a level, but the movie goes into some convoluted explanation that involves soul, genetics and the existential philosophy of good versus evil that seems unnecessary. The monsters are rarely given good overall shots, and a lot of them are left mostly to our imaginations, which is frustrating.
Although the plot takes one surprising turn that may make it tough to create a sequel, overall Doom is somewhat disappointing. Take it for the roller-coaster ride that it's supposed to be, and don't expect much more. For those who hoped to see an expansion of the world in the game, it may be a disappointment. For those who never knew about the game, it could be a head-scratching gunfight.
