I just finished watching _Doom_ (2005) on Netflix and I think it got a bad rap. I mean, it's nothing like the crapfest which was, for example, Uwe Boll's _FarCry_ (admittedly, I didn't even like the game, barely got past the first bit before I was bored), which was horrible acting, horrible lines, horrible cinematography - just horrible all the way around.
In comparison, I think if _Aliens_ had never been made, I think this movie would have done quite well: as it is, it'll always be compared to similar movies which came before it, but I enjoyed _Doom_ in part because I came to like the characters. It made you care a little that they actually died.
That being said, I wish they'd stuck to the original plot of the game, as the virus/DNA-altering zombie/monster thing has been done to death (and done better in the _Resident Evil_ series), and I had hoped to see truly bizarre, sickeningly grotesque alien beings from my worst nightmares - the kind that would and could reside in Hell, if 'Hell' were an alternate dimension where 'evil' incarnate resides. As well, with an entire squad available, it wasn't nearly as scary as the game, where you had to go into those freakin' scary research buildings solo.
But I've come to really love Karl Urban (an awesome 'Bones' McCoy in _Star Trek_ (2009)) as an action hero, and certainly enjoyed his turn here, as well as the lovely Rosamund Pike playing his sister. I'm disappointed to hear that they're rebooting the franchise rather than continue on with the Grimm siblings, because that would have been worth watching.
I don't know why the critics loved the 'FPS' part so much: I personally hated it, it was really cheesy. After taking great pains (and lots of money) to make everything else _not_ seem hokey (despite the fact that the original iD software game is, in fact, quite cheesy), to throw that in there really took me out of my suspension of disbelief. I also didn't feel that making *spoiler* The Rock into a villain to put a twist in was worth it, and suddenly turned him into a cartoon one-dimensional soldier character, which seemed at odds with all the character development earlier in the film, where he shows compassion for Sgt. 'Reaper' Grimm. It would have been better for him to have died nobly, saving his team members, instead of putting a bullet in The Kid's head, which I thought was totally out-of-character.
Hopefully the new Doom movie will rectify things and we'll get something actually really scary, with actual aliens/monsters from Hell. Barring that, I'd love to see a movie based on _Dead Space_, or indeed, set in the _Marathon_ universe. I'm still sore that the _Halo_ movie never got made. 🙁 A _StarCraft_ movie would rock too.
Anyway, overall, I enjoyed the _Doom_ movie, and while there are some things I would have changed, I certainly didn't feel it was a waste of my precious time on this Earth to watch it. _FarCry_ on the other hand, trust me, you'll be doing yourself a favour by skipping it. Uwe Boll is the Ed Wood of video game movies, apparently (although I might still check out _Postal_... well, because it's _Postal_, damnit, he can't have screwed that up!).
/p.s. I liked the G.I. Joe film, so if you hated that, you might hate my taste in movies ;P
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