On Friday evening, I became the first [and potentially last] kid on my block to see ‘DOOM The Movie’. Opening night... Packed house… Flanked by several fellow enthusiasts for gamer culture with fingers crossed and ten bucks to kill. Over the obligatory post-credits smoke on the sidewalk outside the theatre, our reviews were mixed. The overall consensus was that the end-product could have been much worse. Straying dangerously close to my own repeated condemnations of Fanboy Psychosis, I submit that adaptations of gamer culture can always be better. As audience members, however, our only recourse was to explore the intent of the filmmakers and decide if it was worth acheiving.
Science Fiction elicits a passionate response from those who enjoy it. In many ways, it satiates some of the same human curiosities as does Religion. When done well and proper, a good Science Fiction story provides an explanation [or at least a notion] for the machinations of the universe. It creates a specific mythology that governs the world inhabited by the characters in the story. The writers and dreamers behind the scene get to play God; dictating the path of humanity’s future and dancing the characters at the end of their string. Fans subscribe to this. They buy into it. The fictitious realm often becomes a character in and of itself.
Time and time again, Hollywood script doctors tasked with adapting a Science Fiction property for the silver screen commit the sin of deeming themselves wiser [or perhaps more practical] than the creators of the root material. Whether the motive is one of profitability, or simply one of dumbing a story down for the masses, some of our most favorite worlds have been sliced, diced, and painted a different color in an attempt to attract the lowest common denominator of the moviegoing public.
There are some wonderful and notable exceptions, and thank The Forerunner that Peter Jackson is one of them.
Approaching the opening of ‘DOOM’, blatant changes in key plot-points were among the biggest complaints on the part of the fanbase. I, for one, was willing to forgive these thematic transgressions in advance. DOOM has never been heavy on context. The formula has always been simple: Some poor fools open the wrong door, and out pops enough hellspawn to provide fodder for the millions of gamers who have made DOOM the most ubiquitous title in the shooter genre. As a facelift for the franchise, DOOM 3 punched up the story with some time-honored chestnuts from Science Fiction lore. As a cinematic break between Boss-Fights, an intruiging tale was told about a teleportation accident that re-ignited a struggle between Hellspawn and an ancient civilization on Mars.
Early press about DOOM The Movie indicated that, within the construct of the adaptation, genetics [not teleportation] was the science of folly. Prior to opening night, I could have cared less. My sole interest was to see stuff get blow’d up. I wanted big guns – BFGs to be exact. I wanted cinematic violence in First Person Shooter format. The trailer had me hooked like a junkie after his first free dose under the bleachers. Whatever story had been slapped together to lead the parade of explosions was of secondary interest to me.
But alas, to my profoundest dissapointment, the filmmakers made the action secondary to their [revised] story. The action was a one-float parade. The baddenest gun wielded by them marines is fired only once, and at an escaped lab monkey. Most of the ammunition expended throughout the course of the entire movie was fired off in the animation sequence accompanying the end credits. Rather than serving as a delivery mechanism for carnage, noise, and gore; the new story elements were celebrated as being more important than all that mindless combat stuff that is so 'hip with the kids'.
For anyone looking to adapt DOOM, the story treatement was done in advance. Most would argue that this work was done well. Apparently, someone at Universal had a different agenda. In the case of the film, hell is not the enemy. Science is the enemy. It is a story that any Conservative Christian would love:
Upon discovery and analysis of remains from long-departed ancestors on Mars, scientists discover a 24th chromosome. In the effort of creating a Super-Being, scientists merge this chromosome with human DNA. Only here is the rub… In making this mutation possible, the 24th chromosome behaves in conjunction with the soul. Thus [and this is a big 'thus'], if you are a good person, you become a Super-Being with the ability to heal any wound in mere seconds. If you are a bad person, however, you become the drooling, shrieking, rampaging Hellspawn with which we are so fondly acquainted - minus the fireballs. The hellspawn, in turn, can infect other humans with the augmented DNA through a projectile tongue thingy that is ripped so blatantly from the pages of H.R. Giger, you can almost smell the pulp.
If the mythology of DOOM The Movie is to be taken literally, there is nothing in the entire universe more evil or depraved than the blackened soul of a scientist. To be exact, a scientist who meddles with the forces of evolution is the most dreaded beast to walk the Earth. Or Mars. Talk about your modern parable and allegory.
In fact, to further the Conservative Agenda, the Virtuous Super-Being is not revealed until an Evil-Battling Marine is augmented with the 24th chromosome in a last-ditch effort to save his life. Not a single scientist among the entire polulation of the Mars Base could manifest the hero-form. Nay, friends! It takes a Soldier to bring out the best in Mankind!
It is then that the story is told from the First Person Shooter's viewpoint of Super-Marine John Grimm (henceforth referred to as Our Hero). Sadly, his shooter sequence is short-lived, and is interrupted by The Rock (henceforth referred to as The Rock). In comparison to the reels of screen time given to preaching about genetic meddling being the Work of the Devil, the shooter sequence passes in the blink of an eye. Seen the trailer? You’ve basically seen the shooter sequence. The only interesting plot device of note [pardon me while I SPOIL it for you] is when we see Our Hero meet his demise at the feet of the Pinky Demon. Our Hero dies! His vision fades to black. But wait! He is back on his feet, thanks to his new regenerative abilities – thus providing a plausible explanation for the gaming convention of a respawn. Clever. Too bad that is the only payoff for 90 minutes of pointless story bastardization.
From there, the story descends into madness. The Rock is a Bad Marine who travels the Hellspawn path upon infection with the 24th chromosome. In a final showdown, we are treated to a completely pointless 'wire-fu' fight [in the tradition of The Matrix] between the The Rock’s Bad-Marine and Our Hero’s Good-Marine. Now that they are both strong and equally bad-ass, there is nothing left to do but fly through the air with the greatest of ease and punch each other.
That’s right. Just like the scientists who meddle with genetics and unleash hell, the scriptwriters meddle with DOOM and unleash Pro-Wrestling. At one point, Our Hero even uses the handhold of a metal staircase to put The Rock into The People’s Chokehold! All that was missing was an Imp waiting to tag in...
C’mon. I mean, C'mon, Dudes!
Hollywood has made its bed. This particular bed cost them about $80 Million Dollars. At press time, the fanbase [yours truly included] had earned them back about $15 Million. I would love for video game adaptations to succeeed. It's a driving reason why DOOM The Movie was so heavliy hyped on this forum. But not like this. Not like this...
I’m a cheap date. All I needed was firepower and flames. If that had been delivered, I might have even bought the DVD.
Story Provided By Tied The Leader
Time and time again, Hollywood script doctors tasked with adapting a Science Fiction property for the silver screen commit the sin of deeming themselves wiser [or perhaps more practical] than the creators of the root material. Whether the motive is one of profitability, or simply one of dumbing a story down for the masses, some of our most favorite worlds have been sliced, diced, and painted a different color in an attempt to attract the lowest common denominator of the moviegoing public.
There are some wonderful and notable exceptions, and thank The Forerunner that Peter Jackson is one of them.
Approaching the opening of ‘DOOM’, blatant changes in key plot-points were among the biggest complaints on the part of the fanbase. I, for one, was willing to forgive these thematic transgressions in advance. DOOM has never been heavy on context. The formula has always been simple: Some poor fools open the wrong door, and out pops enough hellspawn to provide fodder for the millions of gamers who have made DOOM the most ubiquitous title in the shooter genre. As a facelift for the franchise, DOOM 3 punched up the story with some time-honored chestnuts from Science Fiction lore. As a cinematic break between Boss-Fights, an intruiging tale was told about a teleportation accident that re-ignited a struggle between Hellspawn and an ancient civilization on Mars.
Early press about DOOM The Movie indicated that, within the construct of the adaptation, genetics [not teleportation] was the science of folly. Prior to opening night, I could have cared less. My sole interest was to see stuff get blow’d up. I wanted big guns – BFGs to be exact. I wanted cinematic violence in First Person Shooter format. The trailer had me hooked like a junkie after his first free dose under the bleachers. Whatever story had been slapped together to lead the parade of explosions was of secondary interest to me.
But alas, to my profoundest dissapointment, the filmmakers made the action secondary to their [revised] story. The action was a one-float parade. The baddenest gun wielded by them marines is fired only once, and at an escaped lab monkey. Most of the ammunition expended throughout the course of the entire movie was fired off in the animation sequence accompanying the end credits. Rather than serving as a delivery mechanism for carnage, noise, and gore; the new story elements were celebrated as being more important than all that mindless combat stuff that is so 'hip with the kids'.
For anyone looking to adapt DOOM, the story treatement was done in advance. Most would argue that this work was done well. Apparently, someone at Universal had a different agenda. In the case of the film, hell is not the enemy. Science is the enemy. It is a story that any Conservative Christian would love:
Upon discovery and analysis of remains from long-departed ancestors on Mars, scientists discover a 24th chromosome. In the effort of creating a Super-Being, scientists merge this chromosome with human DNA. Only here is the rub… In making this mutation possible, the 24th chromosome behaves in conjunction with the soul. Thus [and this is a big 'thus'], if you are a good person, you become a Super-Being with the ability to heal any wound in mere seconds. If you are a bad person, however, you become the drooling, shrieking, rampaging Hellspawn with which we are so fondly acquainted - minus the fireballs. The hellspawn, in turn, can infect other humans with the augmented DNA through a projectile tongue thingy that is ripped so blatantly from the pages of H.R. Giger, you can almost smell the pulp.
If the mythology of DOOM The Movie is to be taken literally, there is nothing in the entire universe more evil or depraved than the blackened soul of a scientist. To be exact, a scientist who meddles with the forces of evolution is the most dreaded beast to walk the Earth. Or Mars. Talk about your modern parable and allegory.
In fact, to further the Conservative Agenda, the Virtuous Super-Being is not revealed until an Evil-Battling Marine is augmented with the 24th chromosome in a last-ditch effort to save his life. Not a single scientist among the entire polulation of the Mars Base could manifest the hero-form. Nay, friends! It takes a Soldier to bring out the best in Mankind!
It is then that the story is told from the First Person Shooter's viewpoint of Super-Marine John Grimm (henceforth referred to as Our Hero). Sadly, his shooter sequence is short-lived, and is interrupted by The Rock (henceforth referred to as The Rock). In comparison to the reels of screen time given to preaching about genetic meddling being the Work of the Devil, the shooter sequence passes in the blink of an eye. Seen the trailer? You’ve basically seen the shooter sequence. The only interesting plot device of note [pardon me while I SPOIL it for you] is when we see Our Hero meet his demise at the feet of the Pinky Demon. Our Hero dies! His vision fades to black. But wait! He is back on his feet, thanks to his new regenerative abilities – thus providing a plausible explanation for the gaming convention of a respawn. Clever. Too bad that is the only payoff for 90 minutes of pointless story bastardization.
From there, the story descends into madness. The Rock is a Bad Marine who travels the Hellspawn path upon infection with the 24th chromosome. In a final showdown, we are treated to a completely pointless 'wire-fu' fight [in the tradition of The Matrix] between the The Rock’s Bad-Marine and Our Hero’s Good-Marine. Now that they are both strong and equally bad-ass, there is nothing left to do but fly through the air with the greatest of ease and punch each other.
That’s right. Just like the scientists who meddle with genetics and unleash hell, the scriptwriters meddle with DOOM and unleash Pro-Wrestling. At one point, Our Hero even uses the handhold of a metal staircase to put The Rock into The People’s Chokehold! All that was missing was an Imp waiting to tag in...
C’mon. I mean, C'mon, Dudes!
Hollywood has made its bed. This particular bed cost them about $80 Million Dollars. At press time, the fanbase [yours truly included] had earned them back about $15 Million. I would love for video game adaptations to succeeed. It's a driving reason why DOOM The Movie was so heavliy hyped on this forum. But not like this. Not like this...
I’m a cheap date. All I needed was firepower and flames. If that had been delivered, I might have even bought the DVD.
Story Provided By Tied The Leader
