The Rock is back. Did you miss him?

Universal Picture’s sci-fi thriller Doom opens wide this weekend in North America. The film is helmed by cinematographer-turned-director Andrzej Bartkowiak (Exit Wounds, Cradle 2 the Grave, Escobar) with visual f/x done in the main at U.K.-based Framestore CFC.

In an oft-repeated scenario in sci-fi flicks something has gone wrong at a remote scientific research station, in this case, on Mars. No communications. All research has stopped. And did we mention that it’s in a remote location? The messages that do get through are less than comforting. Enter the Rapid Response Tactical Squad, the future’s version of Special Forces. These inter-galactic hardened space marines are armed with enough firepower and pecs to eliminate the enemy. Or so we’re led to believe. "What the hell is down there?" asks one character. "No one’s going to get out of here alive," replies another (note, we’re guessing, a reference to the 1995 biography of Door’s lead singer Jim Morrison). Been there? Sure. But it’s always fun to see the beasts born of our deep psyche blown to smithereens.