Doom (2005)

Andrzej Bartkowiak’s Doom is based on one of the most admired video game series of the same name. Having not played this game, this movie had been some sort of first hand experience for me. As you all might know that Hollywood never did well when it came to movies adapted from video games, I had been very skeptic before actually seeing it. Honestly, I never hated this as most people really do but definitely this movie has its share of flaws. How much credible story was in fact taken from the game is quite difficult to say but as a stand alone science fiction horror film, Doom was quite acceptable.

It is revealed that in the year 2026, archaeologists working in Nevada desert discovered a portal to an ancient civilization on Mars. They called this portal the ARK. Scientists were baffled by the technology & wondered why it was really built & what happened to that mysterious civilization. Twenty years later when scientists stationed at Mars working for Union Aerospace Corporation gets attacked by an unknown entity, Dr. Carmack’s last message about a Level 5 security breach brings in special marines known as RRTS ‘Rapid Response Tactical Team’ to access the situation & deal with the threat. What happens to these marines & the doomed people is what this movie all about.

Since this movie was a science fiction action flick it was natural to see less characterization. We don’t get to know much about the RRTS members except a few before they move into the research facility at Mars. The major issue with this movie had been the light effects; too many critical situations were shot in the dark making it difficult to understand what was really happening. In the final stage the forceful inclusion of the third person shooter view was quite superfluous. The weapon gears for the marines were quite imposing but again it was nothing new which we might have not seen earlier in similar genre movies. Though there had been some cool technologies like the Nano wall or the ARK travel itself, lots of features seemed to be left unexplained like the civilization which had been responsible for bioengineering chromosome 24. Karl Urban as Reaper & Dwayne Johnson as Sarge did pretty well considering the script. By the second half it was quite predictable to know which members will make out alive from the facility. Whether this movie can really be said as the best video game to movie transition ever is for you all to decide. Just enjoy this movie as it was meant to be.

My Rating : 6/10