“Doom”

Rating: “R”

Grade: D+

Whenever we hear about video game franchises being made into movies such disasters as “House of the Dead” and “Alone in the Dark” come to mind.

While “Doom” isn’t as remotely bad as either of these, it still is far from being a particularly good movie.It does, however, put itself toward the top of the list of good movies that are based on games – which is kind of sad if you think about it.The film version of “Doom” is based primarily on the third game of the renowned first-person shooter series and is set in a research facility located on the planet Mars where something has gone horribly wrong.It stars The Rock as a commander of an elite squad of Marines who are sent in to deal with the problem. His co-star is Karl Urban of “The Bourne Supremacy” fame who is one of the Marines that has a history with the very facility they are being sent into.While neither does a great acting job here, neither do they completely ruin the film – that job is left to some of the co-stars.As a whole, “Doom” lacks anything that is truly different and original, aside from the five minutes toward the end that is shot from a first person perspective, like the game, which feels more like you’re watching someone play the game on a really big screen.The story also follows the basic blueprint for other films that feature a monster in a space-station thriller and offers up little or no suspense and leaves us wishing for so much more.While “Doom” isn’t a horrible movie, it isn’t all that great, either. It does exceed one’s average expectations, but it seems a waste of money to see it in theaters.