Doom - A Romantic Comedy this is not

Based on a first-person-perspective action video game, Doom is probably the best video game to movie translation made thus far.

Even if you've never played one of these types of video games, you should know that they tend to skip out on deep character development. Instead, they do a phenomenal job of placing you, the participant, in the heat of the battle like nothing else can - except for maybe an intense paintball fight or service in the military. =p

People who insist on more fleshed out characters in their stories will definitely come away disappointed after watching Doom, but if you're interested in finding out what it's like to walk down a dark and dreary corridor, only to crap your pants because an 8-ft tall monster pops out and wants to bite your head off, then this movie's right up your alley.

The plot was simple enough - archaeologists on Mars discover traces of an ancient civilization that got wiped out centuries ago, despite the fact that their DNA structure turned some of them into superhumans. So now, in the year 2046, some scientists have been playing god by injecting humans with the genetic data that gave the now extinct race their superpowers. Unfortunately for the scientists, playing god was their fatal mistake as their experiment backfires on them, unleashing one genetically enhanced monster after another within their scientific facility on the Red Planet.

From start to finish, Doom almost never slows down, and yet when the movie takes time to advance the story elements, you don't feel hurried. You actually feel at one point like you're learning something (even though in the movie one of the scientists says that 10% of human DNA still hasn't been coded, but the human genome project was finished back in '03... whoops!), and you definitely get to feel the anxiety and pressure that the characters feel during those intense scenes.

Also, the fact that the protagonist is NOT Dwayne the "Rock" Johnson was a huge plus. In the end, the protagonist ends up putting his life on the line for his family and doesn't end up with the "hot girl" like in your conventional action movies, which saved us from so many gag reflexes. =)

The action and violence was through the roof, with plenty of blood and gore to fill up several buckets - meriting the movie's "R" rating. The second to last action sequence, where you experience everything from the first-person perspective, is amazing! They did a wonderful job placing the viewer "in" the action.

The dialogue didn't seem forced, and even though some of the marines on the Rapid Response Tactical Squad (RRTS) fit your standard action movie stereotypes (i.e. the one-line-in-the-whole-movie-having asian, the back-country redneck, the wannabe suave/smooth-talking black guy, etc.), their words and actions were "real" - you got scared when they got scared, you got angry when they got angry, and you laughed when they said something funny.

I'm defininitely getting this movie when it comes out on DVD - and for those of you who know me, getting a movie on DVD is a surefire sign that I really liked it when I saw it in the theater.

One warning, though... make sure that if you see this movie at the theater, that the theater is equipped with a decent sound system because the scariest parts can only be felt with the greatest intensity when you can hear every little ding, shuffle, and (much like in the video game, only on a much tamer level) human whispers. Ooooh, scawy! 0_0

This movie had plenty of fan service, catering to anyone who has thoroughly enjoyed a good FPS; which leads me to my last point. What does a 70-yr-old woman have to do at this movie's pre-screening? Simply put, her wisdom in what makes a fun movie experience has definitely been preserved throughout the years. =)

You heard it right - at the show, there was this 70-yr-old granny who not only had a smile on her face after she finished watching the movie, but she even sat through the credits, hoping that there would be even more Doomirific goodness. She's the most hardcore Doom fan I've ever witnessed... she probably couldn't wait until she got back home, hopped on her broadband connection, and started clobbering away all those newbie Doom players out there.
Bottom Line: This movie gets a big thumb's up, with a score of 7 out of 10.

Don't listen to all the bashing that so-called "professional" critics are giving this movie. I read Ebert's review and I couldn't help but feel that he totally missed the point of the movie - it felt like I was reading a man try to describe the joys of childbirth; it's just not feasible. He himself wrote that he's never played any Doom games, and his description of what happened in the movie seemed off on some points. I give Ebert's rating a huge thumb's down. =p

P.S. Images courtesy of ign.com

Destination - El Salvador

Our first day was Saturday, July 30th, and we came back Saturday, August 6th. You can click on any of the images to see a bigger version, but the full versions are only on my computer. I had to resize some of the originals because some got to be 1MB and bigger. Once I devise a plan to exhibit the video clips that I took, I'll post 'em somewhere. I took several more pictures, but you'll just have to stop on by and ask me to show them to you. =)

So without further ado, here's what happened during last week's episodes...

Day 1 & 2 - Flying In and Getting Acquainted

We had some fun taking pictures just before our flight...

(we actually flew Continental, but this United plane looked awesome)

(pics of other team members)

And during the flight... well, I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves. It was great that people got plenty of hours of sleep. =)

I liked the giant cross / highway pattern as we took off from Houston (our connecting flight to San Salvador left from Houston).

And this cloud landscape looked awesome:

Arriving at San Salvador's airport, the humidity was so thick in the air, it gave the landscape an eerie look.

But the sunset was nice.

As soon as we got there, it was off to bed so we can start bright and early the next day. Sunday morning started with a bang and we attended the service at the local Korean church that we were going to help out.

They served us an awesome lunch.

And shortly thereafter we traveled southeast...


Past several Pollo Camperos (the reigning king of fried chicken in Latin America)...


All the way to the port city of La Union, where we set up camp on a basketball court.

This would be the first time all of us would be presenting our praise songs, skits, body worships, and sermon messages. The theme behind each sermon was the same; we all have an inner desire for something more in this world, and the only way we'll ever attain true joy is by accepting the message that Jesus gave - that he is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one can come before G-d except through him.

There was only one other team member who had a proficient knowledge of both English and Spanish, so I felt bad after I found out what happened that first night. After the pastor gave the sermon, all the team members went out into the crowd of about 50-60 people and asked them if they wanted to accept Jesus into their lives. Only two people came up and accepted, but after going around to talk with the people personally, I found out that about one third of them were either evangelists or missionaries.

I found out last year that there were two kinds of people in El Salvador - those who've gone to church here and there but haven't committed themselves to accepting Christ, and then there are those who have committed and live diametrically opposed lifestyles. In this crowd of people, one third of them were the latter kind. To me, that was progress, especially since last year we probably wouldn't have been able to find a devoted Christian among the people in La Union. This experience set the tone for the rest of the trip for - it would be a chance for me to experience the work that the Lord is already busy doing in the lives of many. Unfortunately, many of my teammates who only saw two people accept Christ and didn't know the context were pretty bummed out and they remembered that night with a sense of sadness in their hearts. It stinks that two people could be in the same place, living out the exact same moment, but have totally different perspectives as to what's taking place. But alas, such is life... you live, you learn.

In this picture is a missionary (Edgar Anthony, on the left) who came all the way from Nicaragua (one of the neighboring countries to El Salvador) and two new friends that I made that night - Jorge (George) and Oscar (far right).

To finish off the second day in El Salvador, we stayed in a hotel close to La Union (the city that is farthest East and farthest South in El Salvador). Upon returning to the hotel, my roommate, Doug, found a pleasant surprise in our bathroom. It was a pretty big surprise, seeing as how it was almost the size of the water faucet handle.

But there was nothing to fear because I had my trusty, super-powerful bucket on hand to clobber the villain to pieces. I tell ya, the work of a superhero is never done. ^_^ (Note: in reference to July 11th's post)

Day 3 - La Union

Oh man, was this day jam-packed with stuff. We made a return visit to Pastor Candido's hometown church where we presented our two main body worship songs, There is None Like You and By the Power of Your Love, to a huge group of children.

Doug and Tony were so excited, they couldn't contain themselves...

Polly was not amused! =)

Looking out across the port...

Our group ended up taking several trips on a small boat to save us the road trip all the way around the bay to our next outreach spot.

I found out later that the beachfront property that we were on that afternoon was owned by a woman who had never lent it to another group of people before us. The village we were in had a very dark and dreary past, filled with many of humanity's most perverse practices like satan worshiping and prostitution of all kinds - male, female, and even young girls. The woman, who lent us her property so that we could carry on our mission to proclaim that Jesus is the answer, ran a very prominent and successful business on that beach, but somehow, some way, the Lord placed it in her heart to let us share our message with all the villagers who came out. It was one of the most moving experiences I experienced that week.

After just a couple minutes of talking with this man, he was near tears as he confessed that he wanted to accept Jesus as his personal savior.

We got back on the bus and rode to our next destination...

A Salvadorian military base.

Here we presented our skits, body worships, and then the only adult member of the group who served in the South Korean military gave a message. He talked about what it means to not only give your life to serve your country, but to give it up for something that surpasses all understanding. About one-third of the soldiers prayed the Sinner's prayer and accepted Jesus into their hearts that night.

Day 4 & 5 - Military Base (take 2), Food Court, Flood Survivors, the Chinese Restaurant, and Ahuachapán

We visited the military base once again and this time we spoke to two groups of soldiers - army men and those in the military band. The band was awesome; they not only played El Salvador's national anthem, but they had also prepared, as a special gift of thanks and appreciation, something just for us (or for Bethel's Korean members, rather) - the South Korean National Anthem. You should've heard it - every adult and even some of the young'uns who knew the lyrics were singing along to the music.

On the way to lunch, we played a friendly game of "Give me your hand so I can smack it till it hurts!" (I know that's not the real name of the game, but it might as well have been!) Here's Becca getting ready to put the hurt on people...

For lunch we went to a Mexican restaurant - of all the places to visit - and we had some tortas (Mexican sandwiches). I was quite impressed because they were mighty tasty.

Afterwards, one of the elders needed to panhandle for money because he was the only one who hadn't paid for a return-trip ticket... haha, just playin'! That's my money in the guitar case. =p

But what we ended up doing outside of that restaurant was even crazier than panhandling... it was around 100 degrees, the ground was scorching so bad you could see heat waves rising, but even still, we busted out our whole shebang for all the people who gathered around... and there were tons!


On the way to our next destination our brothers Tony and Pastor José Guerrero decided to gives us their best "crazed lunatic" impersonations...

We were left speechless, hehe.

Our next stop was a small, makeshift village that we had visited last year when it was still in shambles:

(picture taken last year)

The US donated funds to this little community this past year, and it showed; the main roads were all paved, none of the houses were aluminum shacks like the ones you can see at the bottom of the picture - this time they were all the same kind of pink, cement houses with doors and some lots even had gates around them. They housed an inumerable amount of children born to parents who were displaced because of a flood early in '04.

For dinner we were treated by one of the local church members to a fancy Chinese dinner. Besides the highway inspection guards, I never saw any police officers, but these guys were everywhere:

Most businesses have a private security guard with either a shotgun, AK47, or some other type of powerful firearm for protection. Needless to say, we felt safe wherever we went.

The next day we visited a small town in the western part of El Salvador named Ahuachapán. Our first stop was Ahuachapán's central plaza. That same day the mayor allowed us to host our shindig in the center of the town for the world to see. After we were done at the central plaza, we went to a more rural locale on the outskirts of that same town where the corn fields and all of nature's beauty were truly a sight to see. There we prayed for a woman who had been bedridden for 6 months, held a service at the local pastor's house, and I also managed to catch this little fellow flying around: