Doom: Annihilation could’ve been dumb fun, as the 2005 version had elements of though overall still failed, and instead is just another in a long line of poorly made video game to film adaptations.
Doom: Annihilation
(2019)
Genre(s): Science Fiction, Horror
Universal | R – 97 min. – $22.98 | October 1, 2019
Date Published: 10/26/2019 | Author: The Movieman
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Universal Pictures Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 1.75/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: On the darkest moon of Mars, scientists have found an ancient potal which allows teleportation throughout the universe. Considered to be mankind’s greatest discovery, it’s actually a gateway from hell, unleashing a swarm of demons looking to steal the souls of everyone who gets in their way. It’s up to Lieutenant Joan Dark (AMY MANSON) and an elite unit of Marines to destroy an ever-growing horde of bloodsucking and soul-stealing beasts and prevent them from taking over planet earth. Review: Considering anyone under the age of 14 weren’t even born when the last video game adaptation of Doom was released, one starring a then on-the-rise Dwayne Johnson, apparently felt like now was a time to take another crack at it because if it doesn’t work it’ll be just one of many failed video game to film adaptations anyway. Well, no real surprise, this direct-to-video flick with no discernible stars, even of the C-level variety (says something when you can’t even rope in someone like Casper Van Dien or Amy Smart). Doom: Annihilation is a movie I didn’t have very much expectations going in and while it certainly isn’t very good and save for some f-bombs could’ve aired on SyFy with minimal edits, but wasn’t so god-awful that I wanted to gauge my eyes out like other terrible flicks. The acting at least is passable though character development is, of course, lacking, but the biggest culprit is if this went under any other title, this felt like every other generic zombie-like film that has come before, hell even had shades of Resident Evil sans Mila Jovovich’s kick-assery. That said, I am not a gamer by any stretch, so can’t say how well Annihilation adheres to the source material. There are a couple positives things I could point to. For one, the lead actress, Amy Manson (Being Human, Atlantis), wasn’t half bad and had some on-screen charisma despite a very thinly layered character, who was found insubordinate which is why and her team got an s-job at a secret moon base. The other is, and likely were leftovers from other shows or movies, the set design, albeit generic, was alright I suppose. Faint praise? Sure, but not much else that worked in an otherwise forgettable sci-fi horror film… Doom: Annihilation was written and directed by Tony Giglio marking his seventh feature film and a resume that includes 2005’s Chaos (starring Jason Statham and Wesley Snipes) and S.W.A.T.: Under Siege (with Sam Jaeger and Adrianne Palicki), so he’s not exactly a novice though no real style, which might not entirely be his fault when the budgets on these films are in the $3-5 million range. In any case, although not at all good, it seems the film probably met my low expectations and hopefully these studios stop trying to make these game adaptations, however this one was left open ended and I guess if it sells, probably will see another one of these, maybe then they can rope in Frank Grillo as he’s not above doing DTV flicks (Reprisal as an example). |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 0/5 |
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This release comes with a title-embossed slip cover and redemption code for the Digital HD copy. No features were included. |
VIDEO – 4.25/5 |
| Universal Pictures Home Entertainment releases Doom: Annihilation onto Blu-ray shown with a 1.78 widescreen aspect ratio and a 1080p high-definition transfer. The picture actually doesn’t look half bad. Not sure what camera was used but presumably it was shot digitally and detail is decently sharp throughout with a few exceptions and colors are a bit on the muted side as the film is almost entirely shot either in darkly lit set (though a couple had okay lighting) or in darkness like towards the end. On the plus side, there wasn’t major instances of artifacts or banding. |
AUDIO – 4.5/5 |
| The included DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track was actually pretty impressive. Not only does dialogue come through with good clarity, mostly via the center channel, but the front and rears give off some nice depth with the LFE channel kicking on for an extra boost, particularly noticeable during the finale. It’s nothing I’d say was perfection but on the surprising side given what I assume isn’t top-of-the-line sound design. |
OVERALL – 1.5/5 |
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Doom: Annihilation could’ve been dumb fun, as the 2005 version had elements of though overall still failed, and instead is just another in a long line of poorly made video game to film adaptations, that eventually will end up in a dump/discount bin in short order. That being said, I did like Amy Manson in what is probably the lone bright spot amongst the ensemble. |