FILMBRATS - REVIEWS

A special group of Marines are called down to Mars in order to investigate and take care of an unusual problem. It seems there’s been some trouble at the space station there, but no one is exactly sure what kind. When they arrive, they are shocked to find that there are strange and dangerous creatures running throughout the corridors. The station is put into quarantine and the only way any of them are going to be able to leave is to eliminate the threat and discover what caused it. Will they be able to stop these monsters before they all disappear like the previous crew? If only they had better weapons….

You know something? This wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be. Normally, movies based on videogames tend to be some of the worst pieces of crap ever committed to celluloid. For proof, see “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,” “Super Mario Bros.,” “Street Fighter,” etc. Even the ones that don’t turn out to be a steaming pile never really reach that higher plateau to be considered a great movie. And “Doom” doesn’t make it either, but at least it doesn’t rank near the bottom of the list. It’s mindless fun.

The key word in that sentence is fun. It has a solid action element to it as well as the BFG3000 gun, which will blow your mind. You can’t expect the same level of depth that you would get from “Terminator 2.” Okay, you can; but you shouldn’t. The writers (rookie Dave Callaham and veteran Wesley Strick) give us laughable lines of dialogue such as this: “Ten percent of the human genome is still unmapped. Some say it’s the genetic blueprint for the soul.” But the actors do well enough to not be completely incompetent and keep you entertained.

So, how true to the game is the movie? Well, there’s only one scene that utilizes the first-person viewpoint you get from the classic shooter. Luckily, it’s handled very well. If “House of the Dead” would have done this instead of substituting video game footage for live action, that movie would have gotten an extra half star. The first-person mode in the film was a total blast. It was funny, action packed and something the whole audience (of guys) got into and oddly bonded over. The movie peaks there. As for the rest of it, I would have loved to see that same first-person scene have a health bar and ammo counter with a little Karl Urban (who plays good guy John Grimm) face reflecting his condition. It would also be great if the movie took advantage of the game’s abundance for secret compartments containing hidden items. Also the movie would have fared much better in the action department had the stream of creatures been more fluid. This was a little exposition heavy for my taste.

But still, for fans of videogame movies, this should hold you over for a while until that “A Boy and His Blob” adaptation hits the screen. If I were still twelve, I would absolutely love this movie, but since I’m a bitter, jaded film school graduate, I merely recognize it as a surprisingly fun dumb action movie. If you’re going to watch it, make sure there are friends around to share the experience.

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