First Doom Movie Review: Maybe they pulled it off?

October 19th, 2005 at 8:38 am By johnsee (Movies)

IGN has one of the first reviews online for the new Doom movie starring The Rock. Now, as much as all the trailers wanted me to stab my eyes out with a chainsaw, as the first person perspective looked like it was just a computer game, IGN seems to think they did a pretty good job of it:

Obviously, there will be two camps of people attending Doom: those who have played an installment of the storied (and at times much-maligned) game franchise, and those who have not. Those who have played Doom are likely to understand what makes the film cool, and those who have not might miss the boat. One thing is certain: Doom the movie makes a huge effort to stick to the things that make the game so popular: the first person perspective, the buckets of gore, and the gnarly weapons. These things are in abundance in the big screen adaptation, and they all delight.

Unfortunately, some of the other things that are present in the game are in ample supply in the movie as well: thin character development, cheesy dialogue and lack of story. That said, this is easily the best videogame-to-film adaptation yet (only the original Resident Evil approaches its production value), and a decent albeit standard action film if taken with a grain of salt.

The reason for the film’s modest success is that for the most part it honors its source material. Early rumors indicated that the film would not be set on Mars, the traditional site for Doom adventures, but this was corrected and ultimately well-implemented in the film. In fact, the transport to and from Earth to Mars becomes a central plot point throughout the film, and the effects involved in the transport are easily the best in the movie.