Doom 2: Annihilation (2019)

Elevator Pitch: A troop of marines led by a female, unpopular, lieutenant are called to a base on one of the moons of Mars which has problems. Inside the base they find that the manager is obsessed with a sort of transporter, apparently left by an ancient alien race, and we have seen someone unsuccessfully transported from the Nevada earth base. The transporter also seems to have turned the staff of the base into zombies who attack the marines and are shot. Although sometimes they win. The base and the marines’ ship are attacked  by  demons which sort of throw fire, and beyond the gate worse threats await.

Content: Joan, the lieutenant is awakened from cryosleep, but manages to remain modest.   The Gate, or whatever it is, is seen operating as it spews out a guy who is somehow changed. The marines breakfast as their ship lands at the Mars station. The manager of the facility is obviously evil. The marines take on the zombies and are gradually reduced in numbers and some become zombies as well. Joan is by far the most effective fighter, and is able to use alternative weapons which might feature in the video game. There is an unusual climax.

A View: This outing seems to have been disliked a lot, possibly by those who are fans of the video game and also by some of the critics although it was minimally reviewed. We have to face it, it is not great cinema but there were things about it I liked. The marines’ space craft is great, Amy Manson as the lieutenant does pretty well and I recently saw the young women who was the manager’s assistant, starring in an electric car ad. On the downside I could not see the point in the zombies who had nothing to do with the actual plot other than being cannon fodder. But, if you like shoot’em ups you could do worse than give it a go.

On the other hand you could choose one of these shoot’em ups which I liked better: Dredd, Legion or Everly.