Reviewed by Aaron Haynes

Doom may be the only series in 3DMM with two distinct starting points: Director JP is almost apologetic for the way the original and platinum editions of the first film work on different levels in the history of the series, and knowing which one to talk about it in a review is tricky. While the original version is historically important as putting JP on the map and establishing a new breed of "mindfuck horror", to quote Andres De La Hoz, the Platinum Edition is carefully tailored to lead into the developments of The Awakening by reinforcing the imagery and plot points found there. In fact, I would go as far as to say that the two versions of the original Doom are actually two sides of the same coin -- Unlike many other improved editions of existing films, Doom and Doom: PE depend on each other in an odd way. To really understand the progression of the series, you have to see both, and some subtle references in the Platinum Edition seem to indicate that JP knew this all along.

Doom is different from most "weird horror" films in that it actually has a brain. The premise is strong and engaging: In the future, Earth's overpopulation problems get so bad that the government is forced to colonize Mars to make room for everyone. In time, half of the planet's population has moved to the red planet (funnily enough, the D3mons trailer seems to create an inconsistency with it's opening "For...forty-six million" line). Civil War breaks out, and two of Earth's top representatives are sent in to mediate. The first key difference between the original and the platinum edition is highlighted in the behavior and introduction of Michael Durden and Jack Torrence. Doom sports a light touch of self-parody with these characters, grinning at the cheesiness of introducing the hero of the allied forces, who ended World War III, and the "youngest man to ever win the Nobel Peace Prize, for reconciling the differences between India and Pakistan". But whereas the original delighted in exploiting the mock-seriousness of these titles by having the two of them talk about which movie star they'd most like to fuck, the Platinum Edition is forced to take it seriously in order to appropriately set the mood for The Awakening. There's a brilliant moment when, in the car, Michael turns to Jack and says, "The girl from Scream? You realize she's dead now." This is a subtle reference to the logical error in the original version where Reese Witherspoon would have been in her 70s when they talk about wanting to screw her, but at the same time it's JP poking fun at the way the original version purposefully indulged in several B-movie tendencies.

But while the Platinum Edition receives a much lighter touch with regards to the intentional cheese, JP uses the irreverent dialogue and seemingly pointless conversations to put the audience at ease for the darkness of the latter half of the film. Instead of starting out maudlin and all-business, he makes us comfortable with the tone of the movie before bringing in the supernatural elements that drive the film toward its disturbingly confusing finale. Seemingly irrelevant subjects of conversation peppered with occasional pop-culture references play out over the characters doing their job. Is JP drawing inspiration from Tarantino here?

Technically it's become a bit dated, but there's a certain unique style to the way the monochrome Martian landscape is given artificial depth with lined shadings in places. It's probably JP's sloppiest directing work, but even at an early stage he seems to show a level of skill, especially in voiceover and material transitioning that some directors never reach. The Platinum Edition reminded me of Round Zero or Rouge with the way it showed the most important few seconds of each scene in the movie's timeline, keeping the conversation moving as the plot chronology itself seems to be playing leapfrog. The music is great and enhances the mood in all the right ways, and while the voice acting varies in quality (The Augustin character sounds a little odd in comparison to his voice in The Awakening), it's often fantastic and never awful.

The best part of the first installment of this series, as far as I'm concerned, is the way it lightly dips into self-parody, subtly acknowledging itself as a horror film by having the characters actually refer to and discuss the conventions of horror films, at one point right before one happens. Doom gets away with this because JP knows exactly when playtime is over, and uses these comedic parts of the narrative to enhance the darker aspects. My favorite kinds of comedies are the ones that build up the likeability of the characters through humor and then develop a dramatic arc -- you wouldn't expect it to shock you, but when it happens you're surprised at how much you've grown to care about the characters and the world they inhabit, through the light touch of humor alone. Doom uses this to its utmost potential, and the Platinum Edition actually addresses another layer of it by adapting the arc of the story to lead into The Awakening. Intentional or not, JP has created quite an interesting conundrum here, and the film is even more poignant and interesting for it.

Critical Score: 91/100.
Personal Score: 95/100.