Doom, Resident Evil on Mars

Ah, violent horror video games! Their loud and the blood flows faster than Niagara Falls. Make them into movies, and who cares about plots? Mutants, chainsaws, and toothy things that used to be human...can't go wrong with that recipe. Okay, Duane Johnson ("The Rock") is in this, strike one...can we go at least 10 minutes without hearing his name? Besides that demerit, 2005's "Doom" is a neat scifi/horror film capitalizing on the popularity of that computer game.

The space shuttle program killed the U.S. space program. NASA wasted decades on this silly contraption that sometimes took off and landed successfully. Fortunately we discovered the Ark (or Arc...doesn't matter). Step into it and have a slimy teleportation experience that will land you on Mars. Now Mars has a bunch of scientists there who have found evidence of extinct human life. Samantha (Rosamund Pike) is a babe scientist and her discoveries may have opened the door for monsters to invade the Martian lab. Uh oh...monsters infest the complex and a team of U.S. Marines is sent through the Ark to destroy the buggers and save...wait...saving scientists isn't in their mission. The team is headed by Sarge (Johnson) and along for the ride is Reaper (Karl Urban), Samantha's brother.

The marines arrive and go right to work, finding dozens of mangled scientists and some monsters. Just what are these monsters? There is the mystery. They prey upon humans and sometimes turn their prey into other monsters. Most of the marines die horribly, just like the scientists, but Samantha lets them in on some secrets that indicate their is an intelligent motive to these creatures...and getting to Earth may be part of it. Now as some of the marines turn into monsters, Samantha, Reaper, and The Rock must save the surviving scientists, kill the monsters, and make sure nothing slimy goes through the Ark and back to Area 51. But wait! The Rock isn't keen on saving anyone...just destroying.

Can Reaper and Samantha overpower the homicidal Sarge? Just where did these creatures come from, and are the scientists holding back information from their supposed rescuers? Since Reaper is Samantha's brother, is there anyone else on Mars Samantha can fall in love with and engage in...well...never mind that. Loud, bloody and fun, "Doom" plays like a violent video game on steroids. Not as deep as "Resident Evil," but still a lot of fun.