The original Doom video game that was released back in 1993 barely had any story to speak of and was mostly an excuse to shoot demons in the face. There isn't much content to hang a live-action adaptation on, yet a second movie based on the franchise has been released. Doom: Annihilation is the latest attempt to turn Doom into a movie, and it manages to be a mediocre sci-fi/horror film that is only interesting due to the famous name on its cover. The official Doom Twitter account has denied any involvement with the movie, which should help viewers set their expectations going in.
Doom: Annihilation loosely follows the plot of the first video game. A team of scientists discovers ancient technology on one of the moons of Mars and they manage to create a teleporter that can act as a gateway to Earth. A team of UAC marines is dispatched to the base and they find it overrun with monsters. The base's dwindling power supply means that the marines are on a strict timer as they search for survivors and a means to escape the moon. It seems that the teleporters that the scientists found had opened a gate to a place that was never meant to be reached by man: Hell.
The story of Doom: Annihilation is told in almost the exact same manner as Aliens - a team of wisecracking space marines wakes up from cryosleep and is forced to engage hordes of enemies in an isolated location as they get picked off one by one. The fans of Doom will be disappointed to learn that the bulk of the enemies in the movie are either generic fast zombies or the Imps, which resemble the rubber-suited enemies from the Power Rangers TV show. Doom: Annihilation relies on cheap jump scares and gore to build tension, while the bulk of its action is made up of quick cuts in order to hide the quality of the cheap costumes and special effects makeup.
There are some positive aspects to Doom: Annihilation that deserves to be mentioned - the sets are well done and there are a couple of good performances, most notably from Amy Manson as Joan Dark; a marine who is struggling with her past and Dominic Mafham as the duplicitous Dr. Bertruger. Doom: Annihilation also has a lot of references to the Doom video games and to id Software that eagle-eyed fans will enjoy, which is more than can be said for the other Doom movie.
Doom: Annihilation manages to be a forgettable movie that would never have drawn any attention if it weren't linked to a famous video game. The film is essentially a sloppy retelling of Aliens, except with only a fraction of the content that made that movie interesting. If Doom: Annihilation had been a Syfy original movie with no relationship to the Doom video game series, then it would only be a competently made film that never left much of an impression.
The person who should be most pleased about the release of Doom: Annihilation is Dwayne Johnson, as at least his Doom movie was bad in an interesting way. Doom: Annihilation is doomed by its own mediocrity, as it's too capable to be a "so bad, it's good" film, which is the best that it could have aspired to be. The Doom license isn't meant for movies and Doom: Annihilation will hopefully prevent anyone else from trying to adapt the franchise again in the future.
2 Out Of 5 Stars
Doom: Annihilation is available to purchase now on Blu-ray, DVD, or digitally.
Doom: Annihilation