Nothing gets out alive

I remember when I was a moody adolescent, I'd go over to my buddy's house where he and I would spend hours playing a popular, ultra-violent video game on his dad's computer.\nThis summer, when I was a much more well-adjusted college student, I sat in front of my television for hours playing a similarly popular, ultra-violent video game by the same name on my Xbox. I guess some things never change. You can imagine my surprise when the powers that be decided to grace us with a live action version of countless hours wasted.\nAnd it's more or less just like the game series it's based on -- only the film version has The Rock and an unnecessarily confusing plotline. Regardless, anyone who enjoyed the games will enjoy the movie, and it might pick up a few other fans along the way.\nThe games were quite straightforward: in the future, some jerks open up a portal to hell on a Martian Marine base. Everybody but the protagonist gets iced, so it's up to that lone Marine to mow through every sort of ghastly beast some geeks with an early nineties graphics engine can dream up. \nThe movie, also set on Mars, replaces the demons with genetically engineered mutants and throws in some bullshit about archaeology and an ancient Martian civilization. This story is spoon fed to us by the token beautiful scientist (Rosamund Pike) and after that's out of the way, it gets down to the real point -- which is putting half a dozen heavily armed personality types, led by the Rock and a tormented battle hardened vet (Karl Urban), in a confined space with vicious monsters with the mission objective of "nothing gets out alive." Organized chaos ensues.\nDirector Andrzej Bartkowiak ("Romeo Must Die," "Exit Wounds") got the look of the film down ice cold. Aesthetically, it's perfect: long corridors, dark corners and no clear shot of the mutant demon you know is staring Private Hamburger in the face. It all really adds to the tension of the movie. Like the games (especially "Doom 3"), it leaves the viewer helpless and at the mercy of the elements, just like a good horror movie should. \nHowever, Bartkowiak seems to have a hard time walking the fine line between of development and action. For something like "Doom," this should be a no-brainer: keep the back story simple and use the chainsaw and shotgun profusely. Oh, it's got plenty of that, don't get me wrong, but I can think of a few different times where someone launches off on a monologue, or Urban frowns a little too long in self-loathing, and I thought to myself, "Really, who cares? Somebody kill a demon!"\nAll in all, though, the film realizes what it is, and sticks to its roots. It has enough action to keep the average viewer entertained for two hours, and there are enough references to the video game to keep the hardcore fans happy.