Post by Mr.HoRrOr on Nov 4, 2005 18:36:45 GMT -5
Plot:Based on the hit computer game about Marines sent to investigate what went wrong on a space station, only to face a far greater evil unlike any other.
Cast:
Karl Urban
Rosamund Pike
Deobia Oparei
Ben Daniels
Razaaq Adoti
Richard Brake
Al Weaver
Dexter Fletcher
Brian Steele
The Rock (Dwayne Johnson)
My Thoughts:Uh did I miss something?
Review:I can't really say "Doom" disappointed me really but I can't exactly say it lived up to my expectations either.After a very high potential showing beginning,"Doom" falls into the trap of bad acting,and a missing strong lead character."Doom" is of course based on the popular video game series which pits commandos against hell birthed monstrosities with a taste for blood. The creatures in this film are certainly nasty looking enough,certainly not something you'd want to encounter in a dark alley on any given night. But the film doesn't give us enough of them and instead relies on actual acting! Now normally I wouldn't say that having the requirement for the actors to do some actual acting in a horror movie is a bad idea, but it sure as hell is in "Doom". This is a movie with The Rock,a supporting cast member from "Ghost Ship",and a bond girl in it for christ sake,and when you have commandos with big fucking guns,and pissed off creatures crawling all over a research facility,you'd better use that to your advantage considering you aren't exactly kicking ass and taking names in the acting talent department with this particular cast.The good news is the bond girl (Rosamund Pike) as Samantha Grimm does a pretty good job in her scientist role and the fact that shes good looking doesn't hurt but it's really painful watching the other commandos try to act once they become the focus of the film.Theres a subplot involving Urbans character and his sister Samantha that never goes anywhere.All we learn is they seem to hate each other and something bad happened to their dad which John hasn't gotten over yet.The plot follows the game a bit but not much.In the game the creatures are from hell but in this movie they are the offchute of a scientific experiment gone horribly wrong. I won't give away how it goes wrong but when you see the movie those who haven't seen it yet,you'll see how much catastrophe stupidity can bring when it's revealed what exactly created these beasts.Anyway,these beasts have overrun the facility and Sarge (Rocky) and his boys which include his second John Grimm (Karl Urban) and third Duke (Raz Adoti) in command are called in to terminate the threat and evac. any survivors.Like I said early in the review,the creatures are very underused here but their usage picks up as the film goes along.Most of the first half of the film is shadows on the wall and one or two commandos getting taken out by the doom monsters.I was expecting the creatures to be cooler than they were to be honest but they were your usual horror movie monsters,just with a more gruesome outerlook.The worst part of all is that the creatures actually run from the commandos! I am not kidding,there are atleast 5 scenes where the beasts show fear when encountering a solider with a gun,despite being 4 feet taller than their human counterparts and posessing the ability to heal themselves rapidly as pointed out in the films early dialogue.Now I'm sure by now you think I really hated this movie. Well not exactly.The second half despite two stupid turn of events one of which includes a main character turning to the pervervial *dark side* for no apparent reason,does show alot of potential when Sarges team gets dwindled down to single digits after various encounters with the creatures.Theres even a nice video game like scene at the end that involves a character going through the ship and blasting whats left of the creatures but this leads to an ending which makes absolutely no sense whatsoever considering what happened before the monster blasting scene."Doom" suffers from alot of ailments but a few scenes such as one soldier going toe to toe hand to hand style with one of the monsters,two main characters having a huge fight near the films climax,and the monster blasting scene I mentioned does keep it from being a total loss.
Pros:Nice fx work on the monsters,the dark settings give them film a nice "something bad is lurking about every corner" feel to it.Karl Urban does a good job snatching the lead character role from The Rock near the end.
Cons:Ok rule number 1 and this among all horror movie rules is one of the few that hasn't been mentioned yet,so consider it a new one.MONSTERS SHOULD NEVER RUN FROM A HUMAN...EVER! Especially when they are almost 8 and 1/2 feet tall and act as the films villains. Giving the monsters a method to their madness was also a bad idea,no matter how much of a human face you try to put on their reasons.Oh and after they've killed close to your entire squad,trying to have mercy on them because of a late revelation is simply idiotic.The editing was really bad,worse than "House of the Dead". Lastly,the ending.Come on,an explanation wouldn't hurt.
Overall:A mixed bag and a perfect example of what happens when you try to work a movie backwards when you have all the tools necessary to make an albeit brainless,fun and badass action/horror movie.If you've always wanted to see the Rock say the F word a bunch of times, you'll love "Doom".