davepesc
10-20-2005, 06:58 PM
By MIKE CLARK
USA TODAY
Something's wrong in outer space. Again.
So we're talking ``Doom,'' another movie based on a video game. And another movie with the something's-lurking-around-every-corner tone of ``Alien,'' ``Event Horizon,'' and so many others that it's surprising Dwayne ``The Rock'' Johnson's latest is as bearable as it is.
Right away, we get the point that the guy he's playing is tough. His character's name is Sarge - and in huge letters, the words ``Semper Fi'' are tattooed across shoulders wide enough to display all the titles in Frank Sinatra's complete discography. Sarge barks, ``listen up'' and ``leave is canceled,'' just as John Wayne once did. All that's missing is ``lock and load.''
There's no leave because of a gory mess found in a far-away scientific research station. So it's off to Mars with The Rock's fellow Marines, where they all encounter a doctor (Rosamund Pike) whose brother is one of this investigating team. She has some interesting theories about why ghoulish creatures have taken over the joint, and they involve the fact that all humans have 23 chromosomes. Well, maybe.
Director Andrzej Bartkowiak used to be the important cinematographer of ``The Verdict,'' ``Prizzi's Honor'' and ``Speed,'' and he keeps the uglies who end up dispatching much of the cast in shadows or low-key lighting so, to a point, our imaginations can take over. These dudes tend to sneak up on their victims' necks, and ... well, let's just say they kiss on the first date.
For a big-screen disposable, ``Doom'' has a few jolts, a few good laughs (actually, more than expected) and an attractive female lead to whom you want to say, ``What's a nice girl like you doing on a Mars like this?''
Targeted to 12-year-old boys of all ages who can sneak into an R-rated movie, it would seem to have the stuff to wrestle away the weekend's No. 1 box office slot from (sigh) ``The Fog.''
Is this a job for an adult or what?
Rated R for strong violence, gore and language
--
DOOM (R) Two and One-Half Stars (Fair-to-Good)
Targeted to 12-year-old boys of all ages who can sneak into an R-rated movie, this is yet another movie based on a video game. And another movie with the something's-lurking-around-every-corner tone of ``Alien'' and ``Event Horizon,'' yet it offers a few good laughs and jolts. Dwayne ``The Rock'' Johnson, and Rosamund Pike star for director Andrzej Bartkowiak. Universal. 100 minutes.
...So, anyone going to see it?
USA TODAY
Something's wrong in outer space. Again.
So we're talking ``Doom,'' another movie based on a video game. And another movie with the something's-lurking-around-every-corner tone of ``Alien,'' ``Event Horizon,'' and so many others that it's surprising Dwayne ``The Rock'' Johnson's latest is as bearable as it is.
Right away, we get the point that the guy he's playing is tough. His character's name is Sarge - and in huge letters, the words ``Semper Fi'' are tattooed across shoulders wide enough to display all the titles in Frank Sinatra's complete discography. Sarge barks, ``listen up'' and ``leave is canceled,'' just as John Wayne once did. All that's missing is ``lock and load.''
There's no leave because of a gory mess found in a far-away scientific research station. So it's off to Mars with The Rock's fellow Marines, where they all encounter a doctor (Rosamund Pike) whose brother is one of this investigating team. She has some interesting theories about why ghoulish creatures have taken over the joint, and they involve the fact that all humans have 23 chromosomes. Well, maybe.
Director Andrzej Bartkowiak used to be the important cinematographer of ``The Verdict,'' ``Prizzi's Honor'' and ``Speed,'' and he keeps the uglies who end up dispatching much of the cast in shadows or low-key lighting so, to a point, our imaginations can take over. These dudes tend to sneak up on their victims' necks, and ... well, let's just say they kiss on the first date.
For a big-screen disposable, ``Doom'' has a few jolts, a few good laughs (actually, more than expected) and an attractive female lead to whom you want to say, ``What's a nice girl like you doing on a Mars like this?''
Targeted to 12-year-old boys of all ages who can sneak into an R-rated movie, it would seem to have the stuff to wrestle away the weekend's No. 1 box office slot from (sigh) ``The Fog.''
Is this a job for an adult or what?
Rated R for strong violence, gore and language
--
DOOM (R) Two and One-Half Stars (Fair-to-Good)
Targeted to 12-year-old boys of all ages who can sneak into an R-rated movie, this is yet another movie based on a video game. And another movie with the something's-lurking-around-every-corner tone of ``Alien'' and ``Event Horizon,'' yet it offers a few good laughs and jolts. Dwayne ``The Rock'' Johnson, and Rosamund Pike star for director Andrzej Bartkowiak. Universal. 100 minutes.
...So, anyone going to see it?