Fairy Tale Spotlight: Doom [Movie Review]

[Spoilers included for a 20-year-old movie.]

"Doom" is a movie released in 2005. It came out around the same time "Doom 3" was all the rage. I saw it in the theaters when it came out, and I just felt it is time to finally give my opinions on it. After all, I've been reviewing all the other Doom things. Might as well tackles the movie... or... movies... Ugh.

Despite this movie having the ascetic of "Doom 3," it is sort of its own thing. There isn't any Hell invasion. Everything is the science in science fiction. What's really happening is that there is a gene or something inside every human that determines whether they are good or evil. This was, unfortunately, about as stupid as the midi-chlorians in Star Wars. It was also not what fans of the games wanted.

But hold on there, partner! There's more. Despite the movie deviating from the hell-vasion concept, they actually ran with their idea pretty well. Not perfect, mind you, but good enough to be entertaining. This is one of those situations where you have to put aside what you wanted and didn't get... and then do your best to see if the movie is otherwise... a good movie. And as it turns out... even without Hell in it... it's actually a pretty solid movie!

Everything else about it feels like Doom. Well, no... wait. It feels like "Doom 3" but better lit. It is a horror film with a lot of testosterone thrown into the male protagonists. Also since it's a team that's going to Mars, it's hard to figure out who the "Doom Guy" is. A lot of people went in thinking it was The Rock. Come on, filmmakers! You knew that's what people were going to think! YOU KNEW! You knew, and then you did the old switcheroo. Yep, instead of The Rock being Doom Guy... it was... some... guy. I don't even remember the actor's name. Let's face it: it should have been The Rock.

Forgivable though... and the reason it's forgivable is because of the main reason I love this movie: that absolutely fantastic Fist-Person Shooter segment near the end. It does not matter how much you hate this movie; if you are watching it, you are waiting for that brilliant piece of filmmaking towards the end. Absolutely kickass. I loved it, and it made everything feel better. I didn't even care that it was from the perspective of... some guy. It rocked!

"Doom" is actually a good movie; it just isn't everything that Doom fans wanted. I have always been a big defender of it. It always makes me happy when I watch it. I do recommend it. I really do.

But now... I got to watch... that other movie. Ugh. Who knows? Maybe I'll like it. Ah, who am I fooling? This is gonna hurt worse than taking a BFG9000 shot to the balls.

(Heck, that was Karl Urban?!)

This blog was written on June 4, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Doom: The Dark Ages [Video Game Review]

[I spoil some stuff in this review.]

"Doom: The Dark Ages" is a video game developed by Id. It was released in 2025. I actually finished this game with a thumb injury.

I want to start this review by saying that this game has a vast story with lots of cinematics. They are all really well made, and I liked watching them. That said, I did not for even one moment care about the story at all. Not even a little. They really just failed at making me care about any character other than the one I was playing. I cared plenty about him, and I loved everything about him.

"Doom: The Dark Ages" is a prequel to "Doom (2016)," but please don't ask me why. I don't really understand the continuity of the new trilogy. The writers made it both complicated and much too subtle at the very same time. I just feel like important information was left out. Who cares?!

This game differs from the other two in that you are more of a juggernaut. You are slow and have a shield you need to use constantly in order to avoid taking damage from a near constant barrage of incoming projectiles and attacks. You also have a nice selection of melee weapons that really hit hard, so if anybody gets close... they won't live very long.

Of course, it would not be Doom without an assortment of ranged weaponry. Since this is set in an older age, they all have a medieval look to them, but they are still fairly high tech. The BFG9000 was actually replaced with a ridiculously overpowered crossbow. In fact, it is called the BFC. I barely used it. I'm not saying it was bad. It was really cool actually. I just never really felt like using it. I don't know how to explain it. The button was always there, waiting for me to press it... and I just didn't.

I think what happened was that I was more into getting into the nitty gritty of the combat rather than just blowing everything up. I really enjoyed the combat in this game. Why just kill everything when you can dive in there and do some rip and tear? I'm willing to bet other people felt this way. The juggernaut gameplay was really well done.

You also can pilot a dragon and walk around in a giant mech suit. Those bits were fun, but I actually found them to be a little on the "gamey" side. How does dodging attacks make your gun go from firing bullets to plasma bolts? That doesn't make any sense. Still, I did like flying the dragon. Pretty metal honestly.

In fact, everything about this game was pretty metal. It is one of the most beautiful games I have ever seen. All the vistas are like out of a heavy metal album cover. Gloriously beautiful. I even took a few pictures along the way.

Oh, and by the way, this game crossovers with the Lovecraft universe. Not only is Cthulhu in the game, you even get to fight him. You also get to go to his home world. I really loved this. I'm sure a lot of people questioned whether or not Doom Guy could fight an elder god.

Even though I don't care about the story, I kind of liked the villain. He reminded me a lot of Darkness from the movie "Legend." Yes, the one played by Tim Curry. Imagine him being the main villain of a Doom game. He was a pretty awesome opponent, and I liked how everything gets resolved concerning him.

My main beef with the game actually had more to do with certain anti-religious hints in the story. Like I said: I don't give a crap about the story. Really, I don't. But there is a sneaky little distrust of religious figures running through both this game and "Doom Eternal." It's annoying, but there isn't enough of it to ever really bother me. Besides, in the world of Doom, you appear to be the closest thing to God anyhow.

I do recommend "Doom: The Dark Ages." It is actually my favorite of the new trilogy. I found it more relaxing and rewarding to play, and it injured my thumb a lot less than the previous game. That said, I think I would rather Id take Doom back to its roots. I don't mind the upgraded visuals, but I just feel it's time to just bring back the basics of what made the original games what they were. It will probably never happen, but that's what I would really prefer. Either way, great game. Just stop with the story-telling already!

This blog was written on June 4, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: She Cries No More [Short Story Review]

[I spoil the main points of this story.]

"She Cries No More" is a short story written by Norton Juster. It was published in 1965 as part of the book "Alberic the Wise and Other Journeys."

This is a strange fantasy tale about a man named Claude who doesn't really believe in anything. This is a major and important aspect of his personality. It is all the more relevant when he finds a painting at a museum that he becomes obsessed with. It has a woman on it who may or may not be crying. After visiting the painting a few times, there is a puddle at the base which might be the woman's tears.

There is actually some faith that has to go into believing such a thing, and for some reason Claude has that faith. He apparently has so much faith that is he able to eventually go inside the painting and actually meet this woman in person. The author doesn't explain exactly how this happens, but it is made clear that he is actually in the painting and time is still passing normally within the museum. Claude also has to leave by 6PM when the museum closes.

What's crazy about this painting-world is that there is a sort of war going on there which has been ongoing for ages. It is the supposed reason why the woman was crying. Claud, wanting to help the woman out, tries to intervein in this war and finds he has near supernatural powers within the painting. For this reason, he decides to help in the war efforts... as long as he leaves every day by 6PM.

Despite being a man who believes in nothing, he certainly did believe in the world inside the paining, the woman, and this war. With the great powers he has, he is actually able to turn the tide of the battle and ultimately achieve victory. This was all well-told, by the way. The descriptions of the battle was really exciting, and I enjoyed reading it.

On the final day, Claude is so eager to get back into the painting that he breaks into the museum a little early. While sneaking into the room, he sees a wet mop leaning against the painting. The wet part of the mop was where the tears used to be. Was it all in his imagination? Did he create the whole thing because he had been convinced the water under the painting had been from the woman? Doubt suddenly fills his mind, and it is like the spell is broken. He leaves and perhaps never comes back.

Now, the author does something interesting here. He points out that the custodian who left the mop there was on his first day, and the curator actually fusses at him for doing that. This highly suggests that the tears may have actually been real, but because the man doubted himself, his faith dissolved away and he lost the ability to go back into the painting. Fascinating.

I recommend the story. It was a fascinating journey and full of exciting action along the way.

This blog was written on June 4, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Alberic the Wise [Short Story Review]

[I spoil the main points of this story.]

"Alberic the Wise" is a short story written by Norton Juster. It was published in 1965 as part of the book "Alberic the Wise and Other Journeys."

The idea here is simple and well executed. A man named Alberic (a simple man who keeps to himself) meets a man who has been traveling through the world and listens to everything he has to say. This inspires Alberic to go on his own journey in an attempt to be wise himself. I guess it might be prudent to say that he was trying to be "worldly wise" which is kind of a sketchy thing if you are a Christian. This is not a Christian book, one way or another, but I figured I'd point that out anyhow.

What happens is that Alberic goes from profession to profession and learns all these trades but always seems to fail at them ultimately. While I was reading this, I was so confused by this concept. How can you learn and master a trade... and then fail at it. And he kind of was too. For example, he became a sculptor and chiseled a marble block into dust... but see... he still knew how to chisel. He knew how to do things, but he just couldn't bring it together for one reason or another. I thought that was an interesting aspect to the story, because while he was failing so much, he was still gaining a huge amount of useful knowledge.

Upset that he was such a failure, he begins talking to people about all of his experiences. Apparently people just liked listening to an old man talk, and they called him wise. The king even thought so and gave him a place in the palace. This was another strange phenomenon in the story. There was a sort of "group think" that occurred surrounding Alberic. It just came out of nowhere, and it baffled him after a while. He started to say absolutely ridiculous things, and the people just sort of rationalized that what he was saying was still very wise for one reason or another. Very strange, but it does feel familiar in a way.

Ultimately, he decides to just leave, which causes the people to finally decide that he must actually be unwise. So as long as he was there to entertain them, he was wise, but the moment he decides to run away, they don't like him anymore. What the heck?!

So at this point, Alberic really does feel like a failure in all things, but then he suddenly realizes that he has really had a lot of interesting experiences and has, for all his failures, done a lot of things. On top of that, he can still find more things to try and do. Maybe he will continue to fail, but at least he keeps trying.

Something somewhat surreal about this ending is that the author slips in that he has become very old at this point. He is an older and much happier man as he continues on this never-ending journey through life. I guess, in this way, that is a success on its own. I really liked that.

I think "Alberic the Wise" is a good story. It's strangely relaxing and full of humor. I do recommend it.

This blog was written on June 1, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest [Book Review]

"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" is a novel written by Ken Kesey. It was published in 1962, although it really, really feels like a 70's story. Weirdly so. I'll try and keep this one brief.

The whole story is set in an asylum full of guys with various degrees of psychological aberrations. There is a nurse there named Ratched that rules the facility with an iron will. She is basically the villain of the story because nobody can really do anything against her.

Enter Randle Patrick McMurphy to mess everything up. This guy may not actually be crazy, but he's still there for his own reasons. He's probably the only wrench that can mess up the control Nurse Ratched has on the asylum. McMurphy has a very big ego, and he knows how to throw it around in very strategic ways---ways that really get under the skin of the nurse. This is basically the fun of the book.

It is not all fun and games though. Despite having a humorous plot, the book is actually a very serious one. It also never, ever pulls its punches. It does this so well that it can be, at times, a bit depressing. I think this is why I thought this book was from the 70's. It has that hard-cutting edge that we usually got from that decade. Also the famous film adaptation came out in 1975, which makes perfect sense. I guess this book was a little ahead of its time.

Those hard edges are both a blessing and a curse. The story does rather hurt by the end of it, and it ultimately left me feeling sad. And this is really strange since the whole premise of the book seems kind of fun and relaxing. It is what it is though.

There is one last thing I want to mention. This book does an extremely good job at representing the surreality of a disturbed mind. There are extremely well-written scenes that are from the strange perspective of the writer (not the author). Some of these are dreams or moments before a shocking event, but they are all just so wonderfully presented. Those moments are some of my favorites from this book.

Despite my misgivings, I still recommend the book. It was still a great read, and I don't regret it at all. This is especially a good book for those who really want to buck the system, which is really the main theme of the story.

This blog was written on May 28, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Prince and the Pauper [Book Review]

"The Prince and the Pauper" is a novel written by Mark Twain. It was published in 1881. One of the best books I have ever read. I was really struggling with what I should cover in the review.

The basic story is very well-known by this point. You have a Prince and a Pauper who trade places and learn the ups and downs of both realities. I knew this well enough, but there is so much to the story then just that. This is a story filled with adventure and even some swashbuckling action. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time.

Once the two characters get split up, the author takes his time with each of their adventures. It takes a lot of chapters before he switches perspectives, and this is really for the best. It gives you time to feel like you understand their respective situations. Although jarring at first, it is actually genius to do this and actually less jarring than the alternative. The Prince gets plenty of time to see how difficult life is in his kingdom, and the Pauper gets to see what it's like to be treated like royalty.

One of the crazy things about this story is how so many people just can't imagine the truth of the situation. I say this because both characters are being open and honest about who they are throughout the story. They are not trying to pretend at all. Eventually, they kind of have no choice but to pretend because nobody would believe them anyways.

My favorite character is Miles Hendon, who takes care of the Prince for a lot of the story. He is the absolute image of a paragon hero. This cannot be overstated. He was so flawless in his goodness, and I really wanted things to work out for him. He deserved so many good things, but unfortunately a lot of bad things happen to him anyhow. I enjoyed him so much that I wanted there to be a continuing series of books about him. That did not happen, though.

The story does not have an overarching villain, but there are a few villainous characters who you will hate. One of them is a psychopath, but he still had extremely selfish motives despite being delusional. All the villains in the book are encountered by the Prince, although I should say that the King was not really a good person either, but he doesn't really molest the Pauper while he is in the castle. He is more of an terrible person to other people than the one he thinks is his son.

Honestly, I was surprised at there not being a main villain. My only exposure to this story was the Disney short with Mickey Mouse. They had Pete trying to usurp the throne by crowning the Pauper Mickey. That was actually a cool plot, but the original story just doesn't do that.

"The Prince and the Pauper" is a very exciting story, but it can be hard to read at times. The narrative is fine to read, but the dialog is basically Shakespeare. Where it is difficult at first, it does get easier to understand fairly quickly. I didn't have a problem with it. Honestly, it made everything anybody said sound beautiful no matter how mundane the remark. That said, however, children won't be able to read this for these same reasons.

I really, really enjoyed this story. My favorite book of all time was "The Never-Ending Story," but this book comes really close to beating it. It may actually have. I spent a lot of time yelling at the pages when something amazing or exciting happened. A lot of my pleasure and grief happened in the Miles Hendon scenes. He is just such a wonderful man. If I haven't made it clear yet, I do so extremely recommend this book. It is a classic that should be required reading for everyone, and I don't normally say that.

This blog was written on May 28, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Whipping Boy [Book Review]

"The Whipping Boy" is a book written by Sid Fleischman. It was published in 1986. This book was made into a TV Disney movie, and I am pretty sure I saw it. Because of my random memory, I decided to read this book.

Ironically, I am busy reading Mark Twain's "The Prince and the Pauper" right now. "The Whipping Boy" seems to be very much inspired by that classic story, but it is it's own thing. There was a whipping boy in Mark Twain's book, but he was not as an important a character as he was in this one. It feels like the author just got inspired and wanted to make a bigger todo with the idea of a whipping boy.

A whipping boy is a rarely used person who would be punished when a prince acted out. It was done because no one should lay hands on the prince's person. The concept does favor the idea that the prince would be a brat and never have to worry about consequences, because he had a whipping boy to take those consequences for him. That's the general idea of this book.

Although the prince in this story has a name, he is more often called "Prince Brat" and for good reason. He was entitled and did whatever he wanted. In this case, he decides to go on an adventure, bringing the whipping boy with him. This ends up leading them into quite a lot of danger when they are captured by villains who wish to hold them for ransom.

From here, something similar to "The Prince and the Pauper" happens. They switch places. The brigands actually believe the whipping boy is the prince. This deception leads to a lot of silly entertainment, but most of the story has more to do with how their relationship fluctuates as they learn from one another. I won't say more than that.

"The Whipping Boy" is an award-winning children's book. It is actually a good read, and I do recommend it. It did make me smile, and I enjoyed how the characters were represented. Also, I just think the whole idea of the whipping boy in general. It is a concept rife with literary opportunities.

This blog was written on May 21, 2025.

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