Doom has a lot of ground to cover now that a new movie is in development. Whether or not there’s any hope for it however remains to be seen since the legacy of the last one has kind of tainted the whole idea of whether or not Doom can actually be a successful movie. Right now it sounds like it might be headed straight for digital, to either Netflix or another streaming service, or straight to DVD. As a start that would give it the advantage over the previous movie starring Dwayne Johnson and Karl Urban, which was a poor attempt at bringing the favored game of so many into the mainstream. The story itself wasn’t horrible, but the execution and the way the movie was shot was just hard to get into. The final fight was kind of entertaining but it still left a lot to be desired since there was a lot of flash but not enough substance.
Depending on if the movie is going to be live action or CGI the probability of it being a success varies. CGI is a very accepted medium when it comes to some movies and for a film based off of a video game it might be okay. But there are still limits to what CGI can do and how much it can really help a story. Doom has been around for so long that a lot of people know the premise even if they don’t know how the whole game plays out. What most people know is that it’s about a space marine shooting monsters throughout the winding corridors of a research facility on Mars. That’s where general knowledge starts to break down and only the truly hardcore fans can see fit to continue with what happens. In terms of making a movie though it has be assumed that a lot of viewers won’t know that much, so story has to take precedent over the action for at least a little while.
This could be successful if they stick to the game and don’t offer up a lot of back stories that bogged down the original movie. There’s not much in the way of room for too many details if this movie is to be pulled off the way it needs to be. Live action would offer a little more realism to the whole thing, but CGI would allow for a lot more effects that would likely be very costly in live action. It will no doubt be an expensive movie to make no matter what, but launching it on a streaming service or direct to DVD should eliminate the possibility that it will bomb out in theaters. The first film was horrible enough that many people felt cheated and Doom fans actually put their joysticks down for a while.
So it could be worth the effort, it could be something special, but it needs a director that can handle it and a cast that can sell it. Otherwise they’re going to be looking at another dismal failure that wasn’t worth the added effort.
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