Doom is, without a doubt, one of if not the best First-Person Shooters (FPS) of all time. The highly influential game arguably kick-started the entire shooter genre, and its latest games are about to do the same again. The franchise’s cinematic outings, however, are nowhere near as good. Despite being one of the most important games ever made, Doom inspired note one but two underwhelming live-action adaptations.
They may not be as terrible as the second Silent Hill movie, but many see Doom and its Direct-To-Video reboot Doom: Annihilation as more fodder for any arguments made against video game movies. But let’s cut these movies some slack; after all, they did some things better than Uwe Boll’s House of the Dead. So without further delay, here are five things that Doom did right and five things that Doom: Annihilation did better.
DOOM – That FPS Sequence
Let’s be honest. People only remember Doom for the first-person set-piece where Reaper goes on a rampage. The shootout looks like a pre-rendered cutscene/game ad at best and it’s a glaringly obvious sign that the filmmakers had no idea how to properly translate a video game to the big screen, but we can’t but like it because of how campy it is.
For lack of better words, this is the most “video game” thing to happen in Doom and we fully support its inclusion – even if we’re coming from a so-bad-it’s-good perspective. Annihilation may be a more straightforward and competent action movie, but it lacks the bonkers appeal that makes Doom a fun guilty pleasure.
DOOM: ANNIHILATION – “I’m Your Ultra-Nightmare, mother***ers!”
When it comes to so-bad-they’re-good moments, Annihilation isn’t going to go down without a fight. In the first major shootout, Sgt. Logan Akua yells “I’m your ultra-nightmare, mother***ers!” before he gets mauled.
Obviously, “ultra-nightmare” is a reference to Doom’s tougher difficulty levels but in the context of the movie, what did Logan even mean? Why didn’t he just quote Rambo and describe himself as the demons’ “worst nightmare?” Does being an ultra-nightmare make him more badass? Whatever he meant, strange quotes like these are what make our days.
DOOM – The BFG 9000
The BFG 9000 is Doom’s signature weapon and seeing it in live-action was always a moment that fans looked forward to. Sarge is the one to wield the BFG in Doom and, much like gamers, is in awe of the weapon’s size and firepower. The only gripe some fans had with this BFG was that it fired a blue plasma blast rather than a green one like in the games.
While Annihilation’s BFG fires a game-accurate green bolt, it lacks the impact of the one seen in Doom. Where Sarge’s BFG eradicated whatever his target was, Joan’s gun just knocked an Imp or two to the floor like any regular gun. Despite the size and name, the Annihilation BFG was just an oversized shotgun.
DOOM: ANNIHILATION – Chainsaw & Super Shotgun
Speaking of classic weapons, Annihilation has two fan-favorite weapons that could somewhat make up for the botched BFG. During the first action sequence, the double-barreled super shotgun and the chainsaw are visibly used to take down some zombies.
Anyone who’s seen a zombie movie (and that’s pretty much everyone) knows that shotguns and chainsaws are the go-to tools for dispatching the undead. Annihilation may not do anything groundbreaking with these weapons, but we can’t deny that watching the marines use these weapons was fun… even if the joy was momentary at best.
DOOM – The Monsters
The Doom games are famous for their line-up of hellish monstrosities, and its first film adaptation tries its best to bring these nightmares to life even with the technological limits of the time. Though most of them are obscured by shadows, the monsters of Doom are varied and as murderous as they should be, leaving blood and guts wherever they go.
Annihilation, meanwhile, feels more like aResident Evil movie because of its overreliance on zombies. The only other monster to appear prominently is the Imp, which is just a dude wearing a rubber suit in an overlit set. To be fair, Annihilation had strict budget constraints that explain the limited hellbeasts, but Doom easily beats it in this department.
DOOM: ANNIHILATION – Hell
The Doom games are famous for letting players murder all of Hell but strangely, its first film adaptation doesn’t let its characters do that. Rather, Sarge and his team are sent to kill monsters that are actually humans infected by the facility’s genetic experiments gone awry.
Annihilation, for all its faults, gets Hell and its adjacent lore right. Here, the United Aerospace Corporation (UAC) unearths ancient portals that lead to a place that could only be described as Hell. Joan even briefly visits Hell, which is where the movie’s budget obviously went. The Hell seen here may not be the ocean of blood and fire of the newest games, but at least it’s Hell and not a B-grade substitute.
DOOM – The Human Villain
An interesting thing about both Doom movies is that none of them have a central villain. These movies’ antagonists had to be corrupted by a dark force to become the final enemy, which is an interesting take on a movie villain that’s sadly underdeveloped thanks to B-movie writing.
Doom has Sarge, who becomes more bloodthirsty after he’s infected by the genetic experiments. Sarge’s growing insanity (and funny face) causes a schism among the marines, who are torn between doing the right thing and following orders. Conversely, Annihilation has Dr. Malcolm Betruger – a generic mad scientist with the legions of Hell sponsoring his research.
Sarge isn’t going to win any awards any time soon, but at least he’s a more menacing threat and final boss fight befitting of the adrenaline-fueled Doom title. Meanwhile, Dr. Betruger is the loony guy who gets killed in the middle of an exposition cutscene. Appropriately, he’s unceremoniously defeated after a few measly gunshots.
DOOM: ANNIHILATION – The Human Characters
No one’s going to say that the characters of both Doom movies are compelling or iconic; that’s not a hill worth dying on. Both movies feature walking talking stereotypes and body bags, whose only purpose is to say something badass and die horribly, respectively.
That being said, Annihilation has a more substantial cast than Doom’s because the movie dedicates more time to fleshing out both military and civilian characters. Joan is also a more interesting protagonist than Reaper, who comes off as a stock action movie hero. Doom solely focused on the marines, effectively turning everyone else in the facility into a prop to rescue.
Annihilation being the better of the two in this category may have something to do with it being an almost word-for-word copy of Aliens, but that’s just speculation.
DOOM – Star Power
The most obvious advantage that Doom has over its sequel is its cast. That’s not to say the actors in Annihilation are bad, but the level of talent on board Doom surpasses it. Given its negative reputation among fans and the fact that it’s a bad video game movie, Doom’s cast is surprisingly impressive.
Doom stars Karl Urban and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson long before they became the blockbuster stars they are today. Joining them are Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl) and even famed monster-actor Doug Jones as the Sewer Imp. The biggest name that Annihilation has is Amy Manson, better known as Merida from Once Upon A Time.
DOOM: ANNIHILATION – Obscurity
The sad thing about bad video game movies is that the more popular the source material, the harder it is to be forgotten. There’s a reason why people still treat the likes of Doom or Super Mario Bros. as cult classics today but forgot about the Hitman movies or Max Payne. Luckily, the low-budgeted Annihilation went under the radar upon its release and will remain there.
To give some credit where it’s due, Annihilation is better than most of its Sci-Fi/Horror ilk out there that are exclusively on Direct-To-Video formats. But perhaps that’s why Annihilation and the others were quickly buried: they did nothing memorably good or bad. By landing in the middle of the road, Annihilation saved itself from eternal mockery but also denied itself a fanbase – both the sincere and ironic kinds.
