Susan Granger’s review of “Doom” (Universal Pictures)
Is it really fair to review a movie based on a videogame? When the movie tops the box-office charts the week it’s released, you bet. Remember “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” and “eXistenZ”?
A bit of background: on Dec. 10, 1993, id Software launched its technically-dazzling “Doom” franchise. Unique back then, it introduced the “First Person Shooter” interactive concept in which players eliminate their enemies through the eyes of their on-screen incarnations: ultimate role-playing. This movie endeavors to transfer the feel and spirit of that PC device to the screen.
So, at the remote Olduvai Research Station on Mars in 2026, something has gone terribly wrong. Experiments have ceased and communication has failed. It’s at Level 5 Quarantine, and the only group allowed in or out are the Rapid Response Tactical Squad (RRTS), led by hard-headed Sarge (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson). After a somewhat intriguing exposition involving a soldier (Karl Urban), his estranged sister (Rosamund Pike) and an extra chromosome, they rely on their arsenal of weaponry to combat monsters: demons, Imps, Barons and Hell Knights.
With his cinematographer background in martial arts movies (“Romeo Must Die,” “Exit Wounds,” “Cradle 2 the Grove”), director Andrzej Bartkowiak and writers David Callaham and Wesley Strick concentrate on the violent battles and gory visuality with minimal dialogue. But only near its conclusion does the story minimally utilize the game’s first-person perspective. Too bad there’s no interactivity. It’s strictly, “Kill ’em all, and let God sort ’em out.” On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Doom” is a blasting, shoot-’em-up, blood-splattered 3, targeted directly at those who enjoy playing the sci-fi horror game and boys who can sneak into an R-rated movie.
