Doom doesn't suck, and if that isn't a compliment, then I don't know what the hell is. Why doesn't it suck? Well I could chalk that up to a number of reasons. Perhaps it's because I went in with low expectations or maybe it's because Kyle and I downed a couple of beers before the screening. Now I'm not going to lie. Doom is stupid. It's full of wooden performances and uber lame dialogue but we had a fun time regardless.

Based on the video game of the same name, Doom is a futuristic/sci fi tale about a team of grunts who travel through a strange portal to Mars hoping to find out why contact has been lost with a scientific research lab. When they arrive, this rag tag team of military men quickly discover the meaning of survival when they discover the true nature of what is happening.

I must confess that I'm not a gamer. Given my rabid film habit, an addiction to video games would almost spell certain death for me, so I've avoided the whole phenomenon. Having said that, as a film, Doom is far more entertaining than the other video games turned movies I've seen (i.e. Resident Evil and House of the Dead).

As I previously stated, the dialogue is nothing to write home about (but who's listening for Shakesperean word play in a flick like this anyway?) and the performances are completely stock. The Rock is rather lackluster here, but I applaud the film makers for taking his character somewhere I wasn't really expecting. Karl Urban shows a little bit of screen presence as tough guy John Grimm (no relation to Ben) but that's only because everyone around him is such a blank. Rosamund Pike is completely ineffective as the film's heroine, a self righteous scientist who quickly learns that her work might be killing innocent people. Simply put, Doom is one of those movies that features actors playing roles you don't remotely buy them in with the possible exception of the Rock. Sadly though, the big guy is surprisingly tepid.

What I really enjoyed about this silly, over the top actioneer is it's unabashed love for the action epics of the 80's. Most of the references are subtle enough that Doom doesn't really come across as a rip-off, but rather a loving homage. Fans won't have a hard time spotting little winks at the likes of Aliens, Predator, Robocop, Terminator, and Commando. Add to that a drop of Stargate and a dash of every Van Damme flick ever made, and you have a movie that, while hardly a masterpiece, manages to entertain.

What's more, Doom is surprisingly slick. One problem I've had with recent action pictures (Batman Begins included) is their muddled style. Now I love Batman Begins, but there are action sequences in that film that are fairly muddled. When I watch hand on hand combat or a chase, I want to see what the hell is going on. Director Andrzei Bartkowiak stages Doom's action scenes in a very clean fashion. Sure, the camera work is flashy and the cutting a tad excessive, but the bottom line is, we can actually see the carnage. This is particularly evident in the much anticipated 1st person sequence in which a fearless squad commander cautiously but quickly blazes through the narrow corridors of a space station, all while taking out murderous creatures at every corner.

And the gore. God bless the gore. With the recent trend of PG-13 rated flicks, I almost forgot what cinematic blood looked like. Doom doesn't skimp on the blood and guts. There are decapitations, exploding heads, and slimy creatures aplenty. Doom also features some interesting effects work, my favorite being a dude whose had his upper torso surgically attached to an electric wheelchair. It's a simplistic visual gag, but it works.

Doom isn't exactly a work of originality nor is it on it's way to making anyone's top ten list at the end of the year, but it does offer up a fare share of violent, over the top entertainment. At the very least, it's leaps and bounds better than that crappy Fog remake.