Tanya Batson-Savage, Freelance Writer
Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson is Sarge and Karl Urban is Reaper in 'Doom'. - CONTRIBUTED
DOOM is an action flick doing part-time work as a monster flick. Unfortunately, it is a good rendition of neither genre.
The film is written by Dave Callaham and Wesley Strick and directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak.
It follows a group of marines who go into deep space on a rescue mission when a scientific exploration goes awry.
Their mission is to save the survivors, as well as those back on earth, from the monsters within. Alas, there is no one to save us from this flick.
Like many an ill-conceived action flick, Doom works off the idea that mayhem is sufficient - which, of course, it is not.
BORROWED ELEMENTS
Doom tries to borrow several elements from its predecessors.
It has touches of the zombie movie, while being slightly reminiscent of Alien and also has touches of Predator, but it is not as fun as either flick.
Alien had great suspense and Sigourney Weaver, who made a beautiful heroine.
Predator had Arnold Schwarzenegger who (bless his barrel chest) can at least deliver that one-liner for all its worth.
THE ROCK
Doom hangs its fortune on The Rock.
The Rock, wrestler turned actor, has made his movie fame using exactly what allowed him to become a famous wrestler.
He works because he is big. He is beautiful and he can raise one eyebrow and effectively look both charming and menacing. To top it off, he has beautiful teeth.
These assets helped much in Return of the Mummy, worked beautifully in The Scorpion King and were more than sufficient in The Run Down.
None of this helps him much in Doom and so that quickly seals the fate of this movie.
Additionally, all the earlier movies were fun, while Doom is in large part a dud.
Karl Urban's presence as a co-star does not help either. Urban is, however, working his way toward his chance at stardom and he does sufficiently well in Doom to show that he has earned it.
However, he is probably better off keeping his roles in The Bourne Supremacy (Kirill) Chronicles of Riddick (Vaako) and The Lord of the Rings (Eomer) at the top of his résumé.
UNINSPIRING SCRIPT
The script is uninspiring, with remarkably unforgettable dialogue. The fight sequences are equally forgettable.
Though the marines have high-tech guns (including one dubbed a BFG - which means exactly what you are thinking) all the screenwriters can only muster up for the monster are the succinctly accurate descriptions like 'It's big! Really big and fast!'
Worse yet, just as the action should have got to its pinnacle and at least made up for what had transpired earlier, it devolves into the genre from whence it came and looks exactly like a video game.
Unfortunately, it is a video game at which you are not at the controls, so it is merely unsatisfying and unremarkable to watch - even when the movie tries to dig into Rock formula and give a wrestling match for the final fight.
So, it is that after a good run, The Rock finally gets a smack down, brought low by the hollow thud of Doom.
