All Hell Breaks Loose (Doom (Extended Edition, DVD))

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Product:	Doom (Extended Edition, DVD)
Date:	01/02/06 (130 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some moments of inspiration, lots of gore, it's SHORT!

Disadvantages: Crap plot, silly idea, daft characters

Whose bright idea was it to try and make movies out of computer games? Find them and shoot them for me, will you, because I’ll be arsed if I can think of any good ones. Neither one of the Tomb Raider movies really lived up to the promise. Neither did either of the Resident Evil ones. Alone in the Dark was pants and the list goes on. The latest addition to the ranks comes in the shape of Andrzej Barthowiak’s adaption of the immensely popular horror / shoot ‘em up, Doom. Barthowiak’s track record doesn’t inspire excitement. He previously directed Cradle 2 The Grave (a dodgy Steven Seagal actioner) Exit Wounds (another quite dodgy Steven Seagal actioner) and Romeo Must Die (a pleasant, but still rather dodgy Jet Li actioner). And Doom is, without a doubt, another dodgy, if not rather gory, actioner.

In a remote space station, a band of scientists is conducting various secret research experiments. Something goes wrong and all that the endangered scientists can do is lock down a secure area before that “something” can get out. Cue “Sarge” and his merry band of knuckleheads who are drafted in to a to travel up to the space station and find out what has happened to the scientists. Their method of travel is a space portal, which beams visitors to the space station to and from the home planet. Their mission is to help the scientists, as necessary, but more importantly to secure the space station from whatever threat may have evolved up there. None of them, however, is truly prepared for what they find. It seems that all hell has broken loose. Literally……

If movie directors who convert video games into films are stupid then military scientists must be really, really dumb. It’s always the same. Messing around with who knows what, unleashing who knows what and time and again having to be rescued by a bunch of hunky American soldiers, intent on shooting everything in sight and generally ending up at the wrong end of a pair of teeth. It should all be hugely entertaining, but it has rather got to the stage now where it’s all getting a bit boring.

Part of the problem is that it all feels so unlikely. Whilst these scientists normally have a fairly respective cover story, it’s pretty evident that at the core of it all is something much nastier, much more dangerous and far less likely for a government to own up to. Suffice it to say, therefore, that if any such research facilities existed, these governments wouldn’t bother with rescue missions. Said research facilities would just “disappear” from sight, with everyone and everything inside disappearing in an equally silent, but deadly manner.

But no, instead, the military opts instead to send in a crack squad of soldiers (usually no more than about five) to try and rescue the scientists, in spite of the security and safety risks. To make matters worse, these troops are often slightly unhinged, carry a heavy cargo of personal issues to contend with and generally bicker amongst themselves enough to make it quite clear that the government might just as well send a group of hormonal teenagers.

It’s a formulaic recipe, but in Doom, it happens all over again and what you essentially have is a messy film about science gone wrong, paced and comprised like a weaker, and less characterful sequel to one of the classic Alien quadrilogy. The personal issues this time crop up between one of the soldiers (John Grimm) and a scientist on the space station (Samantha) who is, of course beautiful and demure but, thankfully, not the normal love interest. Add to the mix a new kid, a drug addict and a few other wasters, and you have the perfect recipe for a stalk and slash actioner.

Having never really played any of the Doom games, I’m not really able to comment on the transition from game play to movie action, but I’m reliably informed that the plot of the film is based loosely on Doom 3, albeit with some of the key plot elements changed somewhat. In Doom 3, the portal into the space station actually turns out to be a portal to hell, through which unpleasant beasties are being transported. In the film, the portal is simply a means of transportation between the space station and the home planet and has a very different focus. The beasties in the film are actually the by-product of some of the research being conducted. For the larger part, Doom still feels as though it could be played as a game. The troops have lots of exploration to undertake and plenty of dark secrets to uncover and at the heart is a basic mission, which changes and becomes more critical as the film hurtles along towards its conclusion, a bit like if you were playing it as a game.

The only real “gaming” feel to the film, however, comes in a surprisingly good first person sequence towards the end, where John Grimm cuts loose against hordes of demonic foes. During this sequence, the action actually shifts to that “what’s that round the corner” type of movement and action as Grimm swings left then right and rounds one corridor after another. Clearly, this style of filmwork could not have been maintained throughout Doom, but is a refreshing change from the rest of the film and demonstrates that game play CAN actually be converted into film action successfully and skilfully.

Doom can also be appreciated for it’s gory nastiness. The monsters are effectively created through computer-generated special effects and pick off their prey in various suitably unpleasant ways. Technology aboard the space station is also used creatively in abundance with all kinds of gadgets and gizmos. You can see the inevitable coming a mile off. When a reinforced steel door can be set such that people can walk through it, you just know that someone or something is going to get stuck in it. When supposedly dead people are left under black plastic sheets, you just know that the sheets are going to start moving of their own accord. Dexter Fletcher pops up too, as a pleasant, yet cowardly character whose lower body is actually a futuristic wheelchair. You also know, of course, that he’s doomed.

The cast is as unmemorable as you might expect. Karl Urban’s turn as John Grimm is arguably the strongest of a very weak bunch as all he really needs to do is wander round with a big gun in his hands, looking troubled. His sister Samantha (Rosamund Pike) could be Dido’s twin sister, but she does the helpless female well enough. The Rock continues his efforts to take over where Annie left off in his title as “Dodgy Action Flick Champion” and is thoroughly unlikeable (intentionally so) from start to finish.

With hindsight, Doom probably had the potential to be very good. That first-person sequence towards the end is great fun and when you’ve got zombies, mad scientists and horrific, mutant monsters on the loose it must be hard to make a film that isn’t at least exciting. Throughout Doom, Barthowiak is often quite successful in these aims, but is really let down by a poor script, dodgy plot and weak cast. Doom could have been so much better, but as it is, must relegate itself as yet another filmed game to film transition.

Not recommended

Summary: Reasonable enough actioner, but nothing you haven't seen 20 times before