Doom: Annihilation (Movie Review)

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

PLOT: A group of UAC Marines responds to a distress call from a top-secret scientific base on Phobos, a Martian moon, only to discover it's been overrun by demons who threaten to create Hell on Earth.

REVIEW: Ah, DOOM: ANNIHILATION. As a guy that is basically forced to watch each and every horror movie that comes out nowadays, I have to appreciate when a flick knows exactly what its place in the world is and goes to great lengths to celebrate and embrace said place with bloody and brutal delight. And I'm pleased to say that DEATH RACE 4: BEYOND ANARCHY writer Tony Giglio's new DOOM: ANNIHILATION (GET IT HERE) is not only better than that Karl Urban / The Rock DOOM from back in the day, but it's just what you're looking for in a straight-to-video DOOM film. For better or worse. 

Not that we need to, but all the same let's get into the movie's plot a bit for the one guy out there that doesn't know what DOOM is about. The tale unfolds around a base out in the middle of the stars were a group of scientists are trying to open a portal to another world. Things don't go as planned (or do they?) and the base is quickly overrun by all the powers of hell itself. It's then up to a rag-tag group of space marines straight out of an ALIENS rip-off to bust into the base and start cracking possessed skulls. As you might imagine, though, this is not a movie about the plot. So let's just move on.

Rated R for bloody violence and language throughout, I can assure you that this rating holds up. The film starts a bit slow (character development and whatnot) but once the demonic sh*t hits the intergalactic fan it's non-stop blood, bullets, and possessed brains from there on out. That said if there is one major drawback to this film its that it doesn't quite feel like an adaptation of the video game series. Well, at least not this particular video game series. Truth be told this take on the material seems to have more in line with one of Paul W.S. Anderson's RESIDENT EVIL movies. But, you know, in space! This isn't necessarily a bad thing, it just needed to be spat. The good guys in this Doom adaptation are much more likely to go up against hordes of zombies (I mean possessed scientists) than, you know, actual demons. That said, there are a handful of demons in the film – eventually. 

Moving on to the cast. The thespians on hand here do their jobs and that's about it. Sometimes in these lower-budget Universal 1440 Entertainment offerings, the acting is the most atrocious thing about them. Not so here. Sure no one is going to be taking home the gold for their role in this movie, but there's nothing wrong with that. The script tries to give some of the characters such as Amy Manson (ATLANTIS) and James Weber Brown (MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – ROGUE NATION) a bit of depth and backstory but in the end none of that matters much as – as I mentioned above – once the soldiers get to their destination and the resident evil makes itself known, the movie is basically just one big and bloody action sequence from that point on. Which is fine by me. And while we're here and discussing the film's cast, in a fun bit of trivia for all of you fellow JEEPERS CREEPERS fans out there, the voice of the mother ship in this flick, dubbed 'Daisy' is voiced by none other than Gina Philips. The more you know, right?

In the end, DOOM ANNIHILATION is everything you'd want from a straight-to-video adaptation of DOOM. It's fast, bloody as hell, and keeps the action coming nearly non-stop. It's better than the 2005 version – if only a little – but that little bit makes the whole bloody affair at least watchable. So if you were excited by the prospect of another hard-R adaptation of the ever-popular DOOM franchise, this is the movie I think you were hoping to see. Sure fans of the games will no doubt be let down by most of the film's running time, but by the time the final act rolls around and the BFG comes out of hiding, I think even fans of the game will be having a ball. Plus, make sure to keep your eyes out for easter eggs regarding not only the Doom series but other classic first-person shooters such as Wolfenstein. To be sure, this is not Academy Award-winning stuff here. Far from it. But if you dig what Universal 1440 Entertainment puts out, then you'll love this movie as it's one of their most entertaining. 

DOOM ANNIHILATION is now available on Blu-ray, DVD, and HD Digital from Universal 1440 Entertainment. Snag a copy RIGHT HERE.