I was originally planning to post these as the reasons why I believed Doom would be an enjoyable movie, but now, since I've seen it, I can post them as the reasons why I believe Doom was an enjoyable movie.
1. The 'R' rating - At Comic-Con, the producers were very proud of the fact they'd found a studio that would let them make this an R-rated picture. Rightly so. The defining elements of the franchise are big guns, bigger monsters, and heaps of ultra-violence. This is the game that invented Berserk mode, where a single punch would insta-gib most opponents into a cloud of red mist. Other video-game adaptations have suffered horribly from being forced to confrom to a PG-13 rating, so as not to alienate the younger audience (because no adults play video-games, right?). Mortal Kombat is an obvious example. The Resident Evil movies have been a much more successful franchise, in my opinion, partially because they were free to make actual action-horror. Likewise, while Spider-Man works as a family film, you can't make The Punisher unless it's going to be R-rated, because he has to punish people. From the very first scene, which heralds with a sick glee everything that is to come, Doom revels in the license granted it by Universal's courage. This is an ugly movie, but it's so fun!
2. The practical effects - In an age where everything is done with CGI, a trend which goes back way too far into the times when CGI wasn't very convincing, there has been a refreshing return to the use of practical creature effects in genre movies. Hellboy looked amazing, and proved it was possible to have a lead character in crazy make-up for the whole film and still be taken seriously. Aliens Vs. Predator had many, many problems, but the actual scenes where the creatures tore it up looked incredible, because they put two massive guys in two excellently made suits and had them wail on each other for real. The Nemesis in Resident Evil: Apocalypse looked a little hokey, but Matthew G. Taylor could move in that suit, to the degree that it was possible for him to have an actual hand-to-hand fight with Mila Jovovich in the final act. No green screens or anything - actual physical contact - and I don't think they can fake that properly yet. Too many of the Matrix fights lose all the kineticism and, as Christopher Nolan says on the Batman Begins DVD, the danger of the combat. Speaking of that film, I hadn't realized it before, but one of the reasons it's so damn good is that Nolan's philosophy was to shoot practical absolutely everything that was feasibly possible, and I think that commitment shows in the finished product. Bring on the practical Hell Knight!
3. The Rock - What else do I need to say? I am a The Rock fan. I think he's great - an awesome physical presence, and an extremely articulate and charismatic individual. He won me over in the WWF, and he won me over again in Hollywood (even after The Mummy Returns). He was about the only reason to watch Be Cool, even if they did almost ruin the People's Eyebrow for all time. In this movie he plays it much straighter than usual, though he still has a couple of funny and iconic moments. He gets to play a really dark character, something I don't think we've seen before, because he's a natural comedian and usually the casting plays to that. And, thanks to point 1, he gets to drop the f-bomb (no, not that one). Sweet.
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Why did Sophocles make it so damn long?
Bastard.
I like Euripides better than you.