Doom (the movie): such a disappointment

[motorollin]

This movie should have been the "Aliens" of the 21st century. The Phobos base should have appeared dank and deserted, save the occasional body. The atmosphere should have built to an unbearable, silent tension. Then, and only then, the hideous creatures from hell should have started climbing out of walls and from under floors, and devouring the marines.

But instead, the set of the base was boring (the film looked like it was shot in a single corridor). The atmosphere wasn't scary enough. The monsters were, frankly, pathetic. A guy in a rubber alien suit covered in KY jelly to make him look slimy may have worked 30 years ago, but not now. Where were the horrific bio-mechanical perversions of nature that characterised doom? (i.e. Spider Demon). Where was the demonic imagery? The torsos hanging from spikes in the ceiling? The five pointed stars painted on the floor in blood?

The plot had nothing to do with the original games. The whole "24th chromosome" thing was actually less believable than a portal to hell, and undermined the tension when you found out that the creatures were actually human (once).

There was no point to the film. No objective. Just people walking round corridors with guns. That may make a good game, but a film needs more than that. Even in Doom 3 (the game) there is a series of objectives, i.e. crossing the base to get to the transmitter and call for help. That's what this game needed - an objective for the marines to accomplish other than killing things. Without this, the film rambles on and the dialogue is superfluous, with no influence on the storyline whatsoever.

I wonder if the producers of this film have actually every played Doom. The film did a fantastic job of incorporating none of the atmosphere of the games. It wasn't scary enough, it wasn't gory enough, and it wasn't evil enough.

To summarise: it was crap. And I'm gutted :-x

--
moto

[motorollin]

Why? Because it was a movie based on a computer game? Or for another reason?

--
moto

[motorollin]

Karlos wrote:
In Doom's case, whichever way you want to cut it, the game is fundemantally an FPS and action centric.
...
Looking over someone elses shoulder as they play it, it looses appeal almost instantly. And that is exactly what this movie is like.

Exactly.

I would have liked to have seen some more intelligence from the beasts, and thus more interaction with the marines. This would have allowed for a more intricate plot. For example, the marines' mission is to infiltrate the hell demons' lair and shut down the hell portal (didn't exist in the film but hey). A higher level of intelligence could have allowed the demons not only to kill the marines, but also to sabotage parts of the base, cut off the routes of escape, depressurise rooms etc etc. Hence a battle of wits could be played out, rather than merely "guns vs teeth".

--
moto

[motorollin]

I also quite liked Resident Evil, but then I haven't played any of the games so was able to appreciate it purely as a film. Some parts of that film were genuinely scary.

Doom should have been frightening, gory and psychologically disturbing. Doom II is more scary than this film :lol:

--
moto

[motorollin]

It's a great plot for an action packed game and could easily have been adapted for a movie. Unfortunately, I think this movie was produced by people who have never played any loved the Doom games, and with little or no input from ID.

--
moto