Doom: Annihilation, movie (2019) - Film review by Kadmon

Doom: Annihilation, movie (2019)
image © Universal Studios (Comcast)

Article updated: 2022.01.03

The Doom: Annihilation (2019) is a futuristic fantasy action film. The movie was reviewed by Kadmon.

Product: Doom: Annihilation, movie (2019)

Original title: Doom: Annihilation

Series: -

Other adaptations of the story: Doom (2005) is another take on this story, but not part of a series

Setting: future fantasy Earth (Doom universe)

Product type: Film, Genre: futuristic fantasy action, Features: sci-fi, horror, fantasy, futuristic fantasy, action, demons, zombie (creature), Style: ?

Release: 2019.10.01

Watched: very recent (2021.05), first time

Rating: Weak (2- out of 3 points), Enjoyment: Average (2 out of 3 points)

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This is my review of Doom: Annihilation, a futuristic fantasy action movie from 2019. It's about soldiers investigating a science base that gone silent. The Doom: Annihilation film is watchable, I recommend it to fans of the genre.

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Review (spoiler-free) - Doom: Annihilation, movie (2019)

I probably knew for a while that a new Doom film has been released, but I was not really interested in it, seeing the previous Doom movie, and seeing the ratings of this. Then I ran into it, and thought to give it a try. I think I've watched the trailer some years ago, but I don't remember anything about that.

Doom: Annihilation is about soldiers investigating a science base that gone silent. They have to search for the reason of the total blackout, and find a way to leave the station before the reactor blows up.

The story is more about a thrilling atmosphere, and the exploration of the base, than a demon-killing action movie. Based on the source material, this could be a disappointment to some fans, but as a futuristic action movie, I consider it okay. The story is consistent. There were no character arcs, but that was something I can live without. One things that's a big advantage for me, is that it's not full of plot holes and stupid elements, like most other recent movies of the genre. This was quite refreshing for me. However, there were no moment that really stood our for me. Also, there's a drawback, that the story doesn't get resolved, it just ends, teasing a sequel.

I wanted to compare it to the Doom (2005) film, but I have to admit, I do not remember anything about that movie. I feel that Doom (2005) was visually better, and it might have had better actors, but I also remember that I didn't like the story of Doom, but the plot of Doom: Annihilation works just fine.

The cinematography is good, the setting looks good. Nothing is exceptional, but it's perfectly watchable. The scenery looks like something out of a TV series, but it's efficient, and it's just enough. The special effects look cheap, but they work okay.

There's practically no information about the characters. Some of them get some tidbits for their personality, but even those aren't interesting. The actors portray them just fine, although none of them is memorable, with the possible exception of Dominic Mafham.

Most of the music is okay, but there were some good parts too.

Doom: Annihilation is an interesting futuristic fantasy action movie, I think fans of the genre could enjoy it.

My experience

I was mostly satisfied with Doom: Annihilation (2019).

Rating: Weak (2- out of 3 points). Doom: Annihilation is a watchable film, but the lack of ending is a problem. As a Doom movie, it's probably Bad (1 out of 3), because it doesn't really adapt neither the feeling, nor the story of the game.

Enjoyment: Average (2 out of 3 points). Doom: Annihilation is okay.

Rewatchability: Average. I think you can get some enjoyment from watching it multiple times.

Chance of watching it again: Unlikely. There was not enough material in it for me to watch it again.

Chance of watching a sequel: Probably. I liked Doom: Annihilation enough that I'm interested in a sequel.

Doom: Annihilation, movie (2019)
image © Universal Studios (Comcast)

Will you enjoy this?

If you like movies where soldiers explore derelicts or abandoned places, you might like Doom: Annihilation.

If you like horror or action movies (Aliens, Event Horizont), you might like the film, although there are not many action scenes or scary scenes in the Doom: Annihilation movie.

If you enjoyed the Doom (2005) movie, you might be interested in this story.

If you prefer logical elements in your movies, you might enjoy this.

Do you need to play the Doom video game to enjoy this?

I don't think so. It works as a stand-alone movie. If you've played the first two games, it will probably add to the experience though.

Do you need to see the Doom (2005) film to enjoy this?

No, but it might be interesting to watch both movies how did they adapt the same material.

Watching for plot points

If you are interested in demonic creature stories, I think it's worth watching the Doom: Annihilation movie for the plot points.

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Doom: Annihilation, movie (2019)
image © Universal Studios (Comcast)

Review with spoilers - Doom: Annihilation, movie (2019)

I liked most of the Doom: Annihilation movie, but I consider it a problem that it doesn't have proper ending, with a resolution.

The soldiers move in a convincingly professional way, although their acts are sometimes questionable. When fights break out, they are less convincing, but mostly okay.

Cover

The cover of the movie is a pretty bland, but it doesn't spoil the movie.

The trailer

The trailer is okay, although it makes the movie look more interesting and action-packed than it actually is.

Promise of the first scene

We see a human gets teleported from Earth to Mars, and gets mutated. Based on my previous knowledge of Doom, I assume that he'll become possessed by a demon, or becomes a zombie, and starts to attack the people on the Martian base. There's going to be a soldier, who will stop this rampage. In the end we'll probably see that the Earth was also attacked.

Execution: Well, we did almost exactly that, except for stopping the rampage. And also, a proper conslusion.

Plot summary / Synopsis

There's a science experiment, the leading scientist (Dominic Mafham as Dr. Malcolm Betrüger) attempts to teleport a man from Earth to Phobos, one of the moons of Mars. It is succesful, but the teleported man starts to mutate.

A spaceship approaches the Phobos base, and the crew (Amy Manson as Lt. Joan Dark, Luke Allen-Gale as Dr. Bennet Stone, and some others) gets out of hybernation. The soldiers accuse Lt. Dark that it's her fault they were sent to Phobos.

The leading scientist decides to teleport himself, just as the soldiers would arrive. When he steps into the portal, power goes out. We hear some growling.

The soldiers land, and get inside the base. They want to restart the electricity, but first they have to recharge the generator. They find a dead body, and threats written in ancient Sumerian. It looks like something hacks into their Artificial Intelligence (Daisy), as their HUD maps start to display erratic information. They find a mutated scientist, eating a dead body. They also find a couple of scientist, who were hiding from the creatures. Then the mutants attack in large numbers, and some of the soldiers die. During the fight, the hacked AI makes them lose the ability to radio each other. When the pilot tries to start the spaceship, a demonic humanoid creature attacks him.

The leading scientis reveals to the soldiers they have found signs of alien life, and they started to build the teleport gates based on ancient relics. The leading soldier decides they should get back to their ship. On the ship, they are attacked by demonic humanoid creatures. They realise that their ship won't start, so they need to recharge the generator, otherwise the reactor will blow up, destroying the whole moon. They repair the power supply, but the leading scientist start to act strangely, then stabs one of the scientists, before getting away. Demonic humanoids attack them, killing most of the soldiers. The remaining two (Lt. Dark and Doc Stone) go to the portal room to stop the leading scientist. On their way, they find a BFG 9000 gun. A demonic humanoid grabs Doc Stone, and when Lt. Dark reaches the portal room, Doc Stone has been turned into a mutant, so she has to kill him. The leading scientist pusher her into the portal.

Lt. Dark arrives in Hell, and has to confront creatures. She is seemengly defeated at first, but the BFG teleports into her hands, she gets further away from the creatures, so she is able to shoot them, killing their boss. She accidentally opens a portal, and steps out of the portal room on Earth. They sedate her. Then the portal is about to open when the movie ends.

The setting

Future of Earth.

The Phobos base seems to have artificial gravity. The gravity is so important, it works even with the backup generator. They have Artificial Intelligence computers. They can hybernate people for at least 4 monthes. They can build experimental plasma guns.

Using ancient alien relics, they are able to teleport between Earth and the Phobos base, although that causes problems for the teleporting people.

Doom: Annihilation, movie (2019)
image © Universal Studios (Comcast)

The creatures

The mutants are fast zombies. They run as fast as a regular human, but they are a lot stronger, and they can jump quite high. They seem to be at least semi-intelligent, but they don't use any tools. They just attack with their clawed hands or their crooked teeth. They probably require more damage to be killed than a regular human.

The demonic humanoid creatures can shoot blasts of fire. They are resistant to small arms fire (but sometimes they can be killed easily). They can jump large distances. They can suck the life-force out of people, probably this creates the mutants from the humans. One plasma shot from the BFG 9000 kills it.

In Hell, a demon lord is built from slimey tentacles. One plasma shot from the BFG 9000 destroys it, although it is possibly able to reform later.

The message of the story

I'm not sure there's one.

The structure of the story

The scenes of the Doom: Annihilation film are played in sequence, following the same storyline.

It has a truncated arc of the dramatic structure - a very short introduction, action, but there is no resolution, the movie just ends in a cliffhanger before the final confrontation.

Fan-service

There are some elements from the Doom and Doom 2 video games:

• creatures: zombies, imps, probably a Baron of Hell
• weapons: shotgun, pistol, chainsaw, BFG, there might have been even a minigun used by the black soldier
• coloured keycards: red, blue, yellow
• difficulty levels: "I'm too young to die", "ultra-nightmare"
• teleport runes
• explosive barrels
• HUD map
• dead body hanging upside down
• a marine named Blazkowicz, from the Wolfenstein game, and the Doom RPG
• a scientists named after Doom designers: John Carmack, Sandy Peterson (although it's Petersen in real life, and he is a male)

Parallels with other Doom stories

Let's see how does it compare to other takes on the same story

Doom computer game

In the games, a single soldier goes from one research station to the other, to get rid of the creatures. When the game begins, he is the only human left alive. In the end, he returns to Earth, to find it taken over by the demons.

Doom (1996) comic book

I haven't read it yet.

Doom 3 computer game

I haven't played the game yet.

Doom (2005) movie

I don't remember anything about the movie.

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Things I liked

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How does it compare to the other works of the creators?

I think I haven't seen any other works of the writer / director (Tony Giglio), but now I'm slightly more interested in his work. This was not great, but efficient.

How does it compare to the original source?

It has some similarities, but the original is an fast moving action / survival horror story, while this is not.

How does it compare to the other films in the series?

I honestly don't remember. I'll update the article if I watch Doom (2005) again.

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Doom: Annihilation, movie (2019)
image © Universal Studios (Comcast)

Analysis of the story - Doom: Annihilation, movie (2019)

I mostly liked the story, I didn't find problems that would have prevented me from enjoying Doom: Annihilation.

Problematic elements

The title: Why is it Doom: Annihilation? It's not really explained in the movie.

The adaptation: Doom is a non-stop monster-killing action game, with a heavy metal soundtrack. This movie is nothing like that. Doom doesn't wastes time with setting up the characters or the plot, it just starts right in the middle of the action. Doom: Annihilation doesn't give us that.

Protection: Why don't the scientists protect themselves at the teleport experiment? The whole gate should be behind gates that could prevent the base to be sucked into a wormhole.

Dr. Betrüger's name: First, I don't think any German parent would name their kid like that, as it means "deceiver", or "betrayer". The creators probably hoped that nobody from the audience would understand German? (Edit: Yes, there was a character named as such in Doom 3, but the creators of this movie really had the liberty to give him any other name.)

Joan Dark's name: I don't especially like her name, but there are parents who give stupid names to their children, so I give it a pass.

The experiment: I'm pretty sure the company wouldn't have allowed another live human experiment that soon, especially not to test it on the leading scientist.

The setup: When the soldiers are introduced and briefed, we get a lot of exposition. However, it's not exposition that's being used in the story, it's just filler.

Military training: Most of the time the characters work fine, but there are some exceptions:

• The female soldier sees something, so she breaks from the rest of her squad, without telling anyone, and wanders away alone.
• Lt. Dark doesn't tell the captain what happened to the first dead soldier, just trying to add some comedy to the situation. The captain calls for the dead soldier, and Lt. Joan just replies that he won't be able to answer, because he is gone. She should just report in that the soldier is down, probably dead.
• Lt. Dark find the enemy leader, who has shown his antagonistic intentions. Yet, she doesn't shoot him, or at least tether him, she just starts to talk to him, until he calls for reinforcements.

Escape pods: When their ship doesn't start, why do they just give up? Are there no escape pods or shuttles or anything else on the station they could use? They can't know that the aliens already took over them.

Unarmed scientist: I get it that they are not properly trained, but there are plenty of weapons, and at least they could carry some spare guns and ammo the soldiers could use if they run out.

The BFG storage: A woman easily breaks the glass. There should be at least bulletproof glass there, if not something stronger. A BFG can cause serious damage, even unintended, by not using correctly.

Hell: It's probably too epic for my tastes, and the things that happen there are just to random.

Hell jump: Lt. Dark is able to jump further then the demonic creatures. However, we have already seen those creatures jump extremely large distances, so this is very unlikely.

The ending: The lack of proper ending and resolution is a bad choice, takes away a lot from an otherwise okay movie.

Unanswered questions

Where do the zombies come from? Are they created by the demonic creatures?

What will happen after the end?

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Possibilities of improvement

• Add some lines about their need to refuel the spaceship before they can take off.
• Adding warning notices by the computer system that the place is about to blow up.
• You could probably cut the parts when the hacked computer tampers with their HUD maps or their radios, because those won't matter anyway in the plot. Also, if the lack of fuel is added, then the whole Daisy-hacking plot can be left out.

How it could have been better?

Change the setup to include elements about the setting and characters that are actually used in the movie. Introducing the characters would be important, so we would know who they are, and probably care for their lives during the combat scenes.

It would be probably better to start the movie with the soldiers arriving, instead of starting the story twice. Let the audience know who to root for.

If Dr. Betrüger had gone rogue in the beginning, or if he had been already corrupted by the relic, it would make more sense why he acts in the way he does.

After a 4 month trip, let the fuel cells of their spaceship be empty. They need to refuel before they can take off. That is why they need to restart that generator. Give them some urgent purpose.

Hell would be more believable with a little less enemies to fight. The random activation of the portal is also strange, it might be better if she'd see some gate, or if she'd fall in a pool, and that would lead her to Earth.

Add a proper ending, probably by killing Dr. Betrüger.

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Doom: Annihilation, movie (2019)
image © Universal Studios (Comcast)

Uses for the film - Doom: Annihilation, movie (2019)

Plot

• Scientist find alien relics, and tamper with them.
• They build an experimental teleport system, but something goes wrong.

Scenes

There were no really interesting scenes in the movie.

Scenario ideas - Role-playing game scenario ideas

Scenario ideas - Wargame scenario ideas

Defend the base: The defenders are security guards on a science base. Criminals attack the base - they teleport in, get through the gate, or break through the walls. There are objectives (treasure, experimental equipment, secret information) in random locations around the base, with random size (1-2: tiny (s1), 3-4: small (s2), 5: human-sized (s3), 6: large (s4), weight (1-2: light (x0,5), 3-4: medium (x1), 5: heavy (x3), 6: very heavy (x4), and point value. When the criminals spend a turn with examining a zone, the defending player must show the objective, and state its statistics. There are also important equipment in random places, with a point value known by the defending player. If there is combat around objectives and important equipment, there's a chance they get damaged or destroyed. In that case, the points are deducted from the defending player's victory point total. The criminals win, if they get more points worth of experimental equipment out, than the amount of points they lose in units. The defenders win if they kill more points of criminals than the amount of points the criminals steal or damage.

Doom: Annihilation campaign: Play these scenarios in order:

1. A team of soldiers enter a base after the base gone silent. There are some civilians hiding in the rooms. There can be creatures in every other room. You have to evacuate the civilians. The creatures might be small in numbers initially, but they can get reinforcements every turn, to make the job of the soldiers harder.
2. After the soldiers return to their base with the civilians, they are ambushed by stronger creatures, who infiltrated their base, and killed everyone. The soldiers have to clear the base.
3. In order to survive, the soldiers have to re-enter the original base, to restart an objective. The surviving creatures and stronger creatures from mission #1 and #2 are there.
4. The soldiers have to find the lair of the creatures, and kill their leader. Then blow up the portal / destroy their spaceship / collapse the cave entrance to get rid of them.

Miniatures - 1/50-1/60 (28-32mm scale)

The soldiers: Any modern or futuristic human-sized soldiers. I'd use Corporate Security models for Warpath from Mantic Games.

Scientists: Any modern or futuristic human-sized scientist. I'd use Scientist models for Warpath from Mantic Games.

Zombies: Any modern or futuristic human-sized zombies. Although there are zombies made for Doom by FFG, those are bloated, unlike the zombies in this movie. Regular zombies would probably fit the theme better.

Imps: Human-sized or large demonic humanoid creatures. The Imp models made by FFG for Doom look good.

The lord of Hell: Large demonic creature. Probably a Baron of Hell from the Doom games by FFG.

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Similar stories - Doom: Annihilation, movie (2019)

Novels

Dafydd ab Hugh & Brad Linaweaver: Doom series (1995-1996): Another take on the same story. Based on the Doom & Doom 2 game.

Gáspár András & Szántay Zsolt (as Damien Forrestal): Doom series (1995): Another, unlicenced take on the same story. Based on the Doom & Doom 2 game.

Matthew Costello: Doom 3 series (2008-2009): Another take on the same story. Based on the Doom 3 game.

Graphic novels

Doom (1996): Another take on the same story. Based on the Doom & Doom 2 game.

Movies

Aliens (1986): A group of soldiers investigate a deserted place, that was taken over by creatures (Alien xenomorphs).

Doom (2005): Another take on the same story. Based on the Doom 3 game. As far as I remember the Doom film, Doom: Annihilation is probably better, or at least they are similarly entertaining.

Event Horizont (1997): A crew of a spaceship investigate a deserted place, that leads to Hell.

TV series & episodes

Computer games

Aliens vs Predator (1999, 2001, 2010): Soldiers investigate deserted places, finding creatures. They are similar in theme, but it has Alien xenomorphs and Predators instead of zombies and imps.

Doom series (1993-1994, 2004-2012, 2016-2021): A soldier fights creatures. All of the games bear a resemblance to this movie, but Doom: Annihilation was specifically based on Doom & Doom 2.

Tabletop games

Doom: The Boardgame (Ed1: 2005, Ed2: 2016): Although these are based on Doom 3, there is still a resemblence in story.

Dungeons & Dragons Ed5 - Doom Eternal: Assault on Amaros Station (2020): Although this is based on Doom Eternal, and those are just slightly similar.

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Frequently asked questions - Doom: Annihilation, movie (2019)

Is Doom: Annihilation a sequel?

No, Doom: Annihilation is a stand-alone story, not a sequel to the Doom (2005) movie. They are also set in different universes - Doom: Annihilation is set in the world of Doom 1-2, while Doom (2005) is set in the world of Doom 3.

Is Doom: Annihilation film based on a book or comics?

No, Doom: Annihilation is not based on either books or comics. It's based on the Doom computer game series. However, there are books and comics published, based on the same licence.

Is there a post credit scene in Doom: Annihilation?

No, there's no post credit scene in Doom: Annihilation.

Is Doom: Annihilation the worst movie ever made?

Nope. Doom: Annihilation is not the worst movie ever made. Although it's not great either. I assume the immense hatred comes from the fact that it really deviates from the source material.

Is Doom: Annihilation better than Doom (2005)?

That depends on your tastes. As far as I remember the Doom (2005) film, Doom: Annihilation is probably better, or at least they are similarly entertaining.

Where can I watch Doom: Annihilation online? Is Doom: Annihilation available on Netflix? Is Doom: Annihilation on Amazon?

As of 2021.05.29, Doom: Annihilation is on Amazon, Apple TV, Google Play, Vudu. Previously Doom: Annihilation was available on Netflix, but now I can't find it.

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Resources - Doom: Annihilation, movie (2019)

Official

Doom: Annihilation: Official article.

Information

IMDB: Doom: Annihilation: Database article.

WikiPedia: Doom: Annihilation: Database article.

Letterboxd: Doom: Annihilation 2019: Database article.

Rotten Tomatoes: Doom: Annihilation: Database article.

Reviews with no spoilers - Doom: Annihilation film (2019)

Dave B. (for Nothing To Say Here): Review of Doom: Annihilation: Review article of the Doom: Annihilation movie, with no spoilers.¤

Jeremy Jahns: Doom: Annihilation - Movie Review: Review video of the Doom: Annihilation movie, with minor spoilers.¤

Reviews with spoilers - Doom: Annihilation film (2019)

: Review article of the Doom: Annihilation movie, with spoilers. Includes a very detailed plot summary.¤

Reviews with spoilers - Doom: Annihilation film (2019) - Hungarian

IGN Hungary: Big F*cking Crap - Trash Library: Doom Annihilation (in Hungarian): Review video of the Doom: Annihilation movie, with spoilers, in Hungarian.¤

Analysis - Doom: Annihilation movie (2019)

Filmento: How One Movie Became Bullied by the Internet | Anatomy Of A Failure: Analysis of the story of Doom: Annihilation.¤

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Buying the product - Doom: Annihilation, movie (2019)

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Have you seen the Doom: Annihilation film? How do you like the movie? Would you recommend it to others? Do you know reviews or resources you'd like to add? What further thoughts do you have about it? Tell your opinion in the comments!