Welcome, one and all, to the "Video Game Movie Marathon" here on Reaction & Review. Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, I'm gonna be covering a sci-fi movie from 2005. That movie is "Doom".
Yes, guys, this is the second time this marathon that I'm gonna be covering another video game movie starring Dwayne Johnson. I honestly did NOT plan that when I was scheduling what movies to cover for this marathon. And if you read my review for "Rampage", you will know the reason why. And with circumstances being what they are, I figured it would be sorta cool to give Dwayne Johnson a bit of spotlight for this marathon, even if it was unintentional.
Now, for those of you that are new here to this "Video Game Movie Marathon", last month, I reviewed "Rampage". Which was a movie that was very loosely tied in with the video game franchise of that same name, and that it also starred Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Well, to make a long story short, the movie sucked hard. It sucked as an action movie, it sucked as a video game movie, and Dwayne Johnson was the worst actor in that entire movie. At least, to me, he was. However, as I just stated earlier, I am giving Dwayne Johnson a second chance here with tonight's movie.
And...I actually have a little bit more faith in this movie. Because unlike with "Rampage" where I didn't have a whole lot of experience with that franchise, DOOM, on the other hand, I actually have quite a bit of experience with. You see, my Dad use to own a very old PC, and one of the games that I use to play on it was the original DOOM. I loved it as a child, even though I never beat it. Mainly because, the game became harder later on and the game was REALLY long. Speaking of which, I remember picking up a copy of DOOM 3: BFG Edition for the Xbox 360, and that game was also really long. Mind you, both games are really fun, but I didn't realize how long those games really were. So yeah, even though I've only played two DOOM games, I really enjoy that series.
So, I'm REALLY hoping for this movie to be entertaining. I was gonna say that I'm hoping for it to be good, but considering how much "Rampage" sucked, I'm setting the bar on this one pretty low. But still, I want to have some fun with this movie. And who knows? Maybe Dwayne Johnson will improve on his acting here. It's kinda doubtful, but I still have some hopes. So, the only way I'm gonna find out if this thing is entertaining at all, is if I shut up, and I push play, and I'm gonna do that right now. So, without further ado, it's time to kick back, relax, and check out "Doom".
18 minutes later
You know, guys, the dark lighting in these shots here is actually helping build the atmosphere for this movie. I never thought I would actually get to comment on something like the lighting, but holy shit, this movie is doing a really good job at it! I'm rather impressed.
10 minutes later
O...K, that was kinda painful. I mean, just ripping off your fucking ear like that would probably cause you to scream with intense pain. But then again, considering what this doctor has been through, I think he's suffered more than enough pain as is.
10 minutes later
You know, guys, I was just gonna bring this up, but why didn't they kill this doctor before he fully turned into...whatever monster that he currently is? Because any sense of humanity within him is pretty much gone at this point. And the fact that he already escaped is gonna lead to more disaster. I'm just saying, maybe they should've had some common sense and put the doctor out of his misery. But hey, maybe that's just me.
6 minutes later
All right, you know what? Now that we've finally got a chance to see this monster that's been roaming around the sewers, I can actually say that the monster looked really fucking cool! And the buildup to it was actually rather creepy. I'm genuinely impressed by that.
15 minutes later
Well, guys, this movie teaches you a very valuable lesson. If you see one of your dead soldier friends come back to life and they're clearly not human anymore, just let them crash into a glass wall repeatedly until they're completely dead. You learn something new every fucking day, don't ya?
9 minutes later
You know what's satisfying, guys? Just seeing Portman getting his shit caved in from this fucking monster. Quite honestly, I am totally happy to see this. Oh...and The Rock just used the BFG....awesome! Anyway, I was gonna say that if the movie wanted to keep this up for a while longer, I would've been all for it. Portman deserved everything that came to him, you know?
16 minutes later
Well...somehow, within two movies this marathon, The Rock's character has become incredibly unlikable. I didn't think that was actually possible, but somehow, he totally nails it. And honestly, his reasoning for being unlikable here is actually for legitimate reasons this time. I'll talk more about that, though, when this movie is done.
7 minutes later
Guys, this first-person camera angle I'm seeing right now is fucking great. This really does feel like it came from the DOOM games. This is just awesome stuff.
The Review
Well, guys, that was "Doom". Let me shut the movie off...OK. Well...what to start with first? I guess, maybe, I should state that I went into this thing with low expectations. And I can actually say that my low expectations were far from what I expected. This movie was not too bad. Mind you, now, this movie isn't great, and it's certainly not a work of art. But I was pretty entertained for the most part. And on that end, it certainly surpassed my expectations.
So, I guess I should go into this by talking about the writing. I can tell you right off the bat that this movie pretty much falls in line with what the games intended. Where you destroy monsters, aliens, and all these bizarre fucked-up creatures that are inhabiting this science facility. And that's what this movie's plot is, in a nutshell, where The Rock and his team are sent out to Mars to destroy whatever is lurking around the space facility there. It is a very bare bones plot that is very self explanatory. And that's really all you need for a story involving DOOM. Because DOOM was never really known for it's strong writing. You just do what you need to do and destroy a ton of monsters while trying to survive at the same time. Unlike another FPS series such as Halo, where that thing is deep into it's story and characters, DOOM is nothing like that. It is straight to the point, and it knows what it wants to be. In fact, I should mention that this movie's atmosphere is fucking great. Because you really feel like you are in the world of DOOM. Where you feel isolated and you're cutoff from the rest of the world with very little communication from your teammates. This movie, on that end, accomplishes that tremendously. Now, I should also say that because this movie doesn't really have an enriched story, some people are gonna be turned off by this. And I'm gonna tell you, if you go into this movie, and if you're expecting a deep complex story in terms of something like Halo, you are not going to find that here. What this movie ultimately amounts to is a mindless popcorn flick. Where you can watch this thing knowing that it is a goofy mindless action film that's gonna entertain you from the moment it kicks off it's story, and it stays with you right towards the end credits. Now, I know I've stated before that I'm not a huge fan of plotless action movies, but with DOOM, it is a very rare exception, because I know that game's plot is very bare bones at best. And if you go into it, knowing that it's just some mindless popcorn flick, then you are going to absolutely adore this movie.
As with our characters, well...guys, this is an action movie. And much like with a lot of action movies, character depth is not something you're going be looking for with these types of movies. Just about everybody here has almost no depth to them. We have this one black soldier that has a thing for Sam, the scientist that is also the sister of John, which is Karl Urban's character in this movie. We have one soldier that is very timid, we have another solider that is kinda religious, we have another black soldier named Destroyer with absolutely zero character to him, we have another soldier named Portman, who is also a dick, and then there's John, who ends up becoming our Doomguy. A bit of a spoiler there, but again, DOOM's story is really non-existent. Like honestly, I could barely remember any names from this movie outside of a few soldiers, because that's how much their 'depth' really contributed to this movie. But I guess I could talk about the one remaining character in this movie, that being Sarge, which is Dwayne Johnson's character. Now, if you didn't read my review for "Rampage", one of my problems with that movie was that Dwayne Johnson's character had really unjustifiable reasons for disliking humanity. I won't go too deep into that, because I've said plenty about in my review for "Rampage", but one of the reasons was because that he hated what they did to George the gorilla's mother, and that somehow is enough of a reason for him to dislike humanity as a whole. Which, to me, is a very shallow and kinda stupid reason, to be honest. Now, with this movie, The Rock's character is basically a meathead soldier that is giving out orders to his team and destroy whatever is roaming around the facility. And the point where The Rock's character becoming unlikable actually makes sense here. Because we find out that these monsters are choosing to infect whoever they come into contact with. And when the timid soldier finds a group of non-infected humans hiding in some sort of bunker, he doesn't follow The Rock's orders to kill everyone that might be still alive. The Rock insists that he follows orders, because the monster has escaped to Earth and has killed a lot of people that came into contact with it. And some of them might be possibly infected. And when the timid solider refuses, because they AREN'T infected, The Rock decides to kills him because of insubordination reasons. Now...this is actually more of a reason to dislike Dwayne Johnson's character in this movie, because he comes across as a judgmental asshole that wants the entire place empty, regardless if they might be infected or not. Not that he knows this, because if the timid soldier actually did show The Rock that they were still alive, he probably would've killed them himself anyways. But regardless, this is definitely more of a justifiable reason to dislike his character in this movie, unlike with "Rampage" where the reasons there are rather half-assed.
So, characters, and character depth, are very much non-existent in this movie. And the writing, as a whole, is very one dimensional. But, once more, this is a movie based off a game franchise that doesn't really have much of a plot to begin with. So, on that end, it totally works for this movie. As for the acting, well, most of it here is OK. None of it is great, but it certainly is decent for what it is. The best actor for me, personally, has to go to Karl Urban. He is just great in this movie. He really turns in a showing that sounds legitimate and really makes this movie worth watching for him alone. Now, I should probably answer this, while I'm on this subject. Is Dwayne Johnson's acting better here than what was in "Rampage"? Kinda yes, but not exactly. I really feel like his meathead soldier mentality actually works for his kind of acting, because he doesn't really have to go out of his way to try and sound like he's phoning it in. It really sounds much better here, at least with what he had to work with for this movie. But at the same time, I also feel like he's overacting a bit when he has to shout his lines or when he's cursing up a storm. Which isn't a whole lot, mind you, but when he's trying to say something like "Fuck!", it just sounds like he's trying too hard to sound intimidating. But still, for what it is, the acting from Dwayne Johnson in this movie is still an improvement here, even if it's not saying very much. As for everyone else, the acting is decent, but it's nothing amazing, especially when you consider the script that was given to them. At the very least, they were able to take their incredibly shallow characters and run with it as best they can.
Special effects in this thing are really fucking good. In terms of blood effects, there is a lot of it in this movie. But then again, since with we're working with a video game movie that's based off a franchise such as this, it's to be expected. All of the blood effects are really good in terms of both practical and digital, what little digital blood is used for this movie. The gore effects here are really awesome. The makeup and costuming on the monsters are designed very well. The costuming on our soldiers are also really good, too. So really, guys, the special effects in this movie are just that damn good here.
There's one thing I need to make mention in terms of camerawork. I brought it up really late in the film, but there's one scene in this movie where it goes into first-person, and it is such an awesome scene. Because it looks like it came from the DOOM video games, and it is such an awesome thing to see here. It really makes the film all the more fun to watch. Granted, as I just stated, it's only for this one scene, but it's still totally awesome to see something like that incorporated into this movie. Lighting is also another thing I need to make mention of. And I don't often to get to mention lighting for movies, but this movie certainly deserves that. Because throughout a majority of the film, there is a lot of darkness in this movie. And it's counter-balanced with this blue lighting that you get to see whenever The Rock's team are trying to find the missing scientists. And the lighting during these shots helps build up the atmosphere and isolation in this movie. Again, it's not often I ever get to mention lighting for these reviews, but this movie definitely deserved that extra praise in lighting. Sound-mix here is mixed competently. The score here is pretty good, too. There are moments when the film wants to be silent, and it totally works there. When it's working in the horror elements, the score will usually work in some typical horror movie score, which also works, too. And then there are moments when the movie will want to play rock music, which is when we get to see some of the soldiers fight these bigger monsters, and that totally works, too. So, the score here for this movie works really well.
Ultimately, guys, can I recommend "Doom"? I can, as long as you go into this movie knowing that it's a mindless popcorn flick. If you go into it with that kind of mindset, then you are going to love this thing. If you're expecting a more serious film with a complex story, then you're not going to find any of that here. It is a dumb mindless popcorn flick at best. And again, I normally am not a fan of these kinds of films, but considering that this based off a video game franchise that has very little story, I'm willing to overlook that with this movie. It is dumb mindless fun, and I quite enjoyed this thing. I went into it with really low expectations, but it surprised me a bit by actually being a rather entertaining flick. And that's more than what I could ask for when it comes to movies like this. Now...seeing as how this movie starred Karl Urban, I'm kinda in the mood to watch "Dredd" again. It's also another movie that he starred in, and it is fucking awesome, too. So, I'm gonna go do that after I'm done putting this review together. And who knows? Maybe after I'm done with that, I might just go and replay the first DOOM game through DOOM 3: BFG Edition. Because it has been a long time since I last played that game, and I want to see if I can beat it this time. But for now, "Dredd" comes first.
And with that, guys, we come to the close of another Reaction & Review. Until next time, ladies and gentlemen, take care, and I will see you all later. Peace.
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