Doom (review)

Doom

Simply put, Doom is a loud and dumb movie that doesn’t have much substance. However, does anyone really care? It’s a movie based on a first-person shooter. I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve never had the pleasure of playing the videogame. I’ve never been a fan of first-person shooters. It’s not my thing. And, yes I entered the theater believing it was going to suck badly, and to my surprise, it didn’t suck that badly.

The movie opens up with a nice action/horror scene that serves the movie well. There is a very good CGI shot of the planet Mars and then it zooms in on one location. (Note: This was a shot William Shatner wanted for the opening to Star Trek: V, but couldn’t get the money for it.) The movie slowly builds on itself and doesn’t really show a monster for a while, which is a good thing. Never show your hand up front. The gore is very high, the way R-rated movies should be.

The acting in the movie is generally bad, and the only stand out person is The Rock. He seems to really enjoy playing the leader of that squad. The character is supposed to be way over the top. The music is horrible and not even worth mentioning. The movie starts to completely fall apart toward the end. I mean all logic and storytelling devices are thrown to the wind. Worst part of the movie is the First-Person “vision” we get as the main character dispatches the bad guys. Probably the worst part of the film.

Despite never paying off subplots and poor acting by some actors, the movie is a popcorn film and people shouldn’t debate the plot problems. It’s just a dumb American action movie, so have fun with it.

Grade C-