Doom

Directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak

Universal Pictures

**1/2





For those of us who have spent countless hours hunched over a computer in total darkness, walking through narrow underground halls accompanied only by an image of a machine gun in the bottom right corner of the screen, the announcement that the “Doom” videogame series had been converted into a movie was news indeed. For those who are a little rusty on their computer game history (or are not complete dorks), “Doom” popularized the “first-person shooter” style, in which you see through the eyes of your character. Unfortunately, for any viewer—regardless of general video game dorkiness— the film is something of a disappointment.

The story runs along these lines: a team of elite marines are dispatched to Mars in order to rescue a team of elite scientists, confront a team of elite monsters, and die some elite deaths. One of the game’s greatest strengths was creating an atmosphere so real and frightening that it blurred the line between the screen and reality. After an hour or so of play, you felt as if the monsters were coming for YOU, not Sarge or John Grimm or Goat. It gave you an incentive to play as if your life depended on it.

By casting The Rock, Dwayne Johnson, as the morally suspect Sarge, the movie ruins any personal involvement in the action. It takes the focus away from the inherent fear in the environment; this man is clearly not going to get hurt.

“Doom” the movie also ignores perhaps the most crucial part of the game series: losing. For every time you are triumphant, surviving the onslaught of countless bad guys, there are a thousand times where you can’t quite anticipate the movement of that horrible alien-creature-thing, and you slowly fall to the ground, a red film covering the screen as teeth, claws, and chainsaw blades meet your flesh. While it may have been impossible for the film to include “game over” screens, it could have made an effort to emulate the character’s frustration and futility in fighting these seemingly invincible monsters.

When discussing the acting in this movie, most critics would focus on bashing The Rock, noting his previous career as a professional wrestler, discussing his tremendous back muscles (of which we are treated to a thirty second close-up early in the film) and comparing his performance to his admittedly horrible turn in “The Scorpion King.”

I beg to differ. While it is no Oscar-winner, his committed-soldier routine is very believable, and at times very menacing. This is much more than one can say for any of the other marines, who, for the most part, thankfully get killed off one by one. The movie also makes a ridiculous attempt at a reunion subplot between John and his estranged scientist sister Samantha (played by Rosamund Pike, of secondary Bond girl fame in “Die Another Day” and soon to be Jane Bennett of “Pride & Prejudice”).

It is a shame, however, that The Rock—who is doubtless trying to establish legitimacy as an actor—had to appear in this movie after his really funny and entertaining performance in “The Rundown” two years ago.

Like a video game in the hands of an inexperienced player, the movie does its job, but just barely. For those who loved the games, this is a near-must-see, if only to check out the claustrophobic fight scene in a holding cell and the stellar first-person homage to the game at the end of the movie. For everyone else, do yourself (and Mr. Rock’s career) a favor and pass on this one. Frankly, I was more of a Quake person anyway.