Do games always make bad movies?
It’s an interesting topic and one that has triggered much debate over the years. There have been a few game-to-movie adaptations that have done quite well at the box office. But for the most part it’s usually a bad omen when you see a video game being made into a movie. For every Resident Evil movie, you’re likely to find a House of the Dead, Alone in the Dark or Street Fighter movie. And that includes the horrible Legend of Chun Li.
Why can’t Hollywood seem to get it right when it comes to video games? I think we can all agree that video games have some of the most compelling stories that often include some deep history. The characters are multi-dimensional and interesting. The back story is usually fleshed out rather well. So why can’t they create AAA movies with the awesome source material given?
My guess is that some directors try to follow what a video game is too closely. You have to take some liberties I believe when creating the movie based on a game. Unless you’re doing CGI, then there has to be some sort of realistic divide to make the movie better. And I’m not talking about Jamie Foxx being cast as Lynch in the Kane & Lynch movie because that makes no sense. But there has to be some sort of alternate path taken to make the movie better. It’s probably just not going to look cool seeing Lana Lang attempt a spinning wheel kick in a club no matter how many times Chun Li did it in Street Fighter.
The reason I believe Resident Evil and Mortal Kombat (the first one) did so well was because they went away from making an exact video game replica. Prince of Persia is the latest movie that seems to have brought on some debate about video game movies. I liked it. I didn’t like the casting very much but the film itself wasn’t bad at all. I think it’s one of the few that actually make sense. But like I said above, for every video game movie that seems to do okay you’ll find more that bombed.
Is this why Microsoft is so hesitant in doing a Halo movie? Are you really excited about the Kane & Lynch movie? Mass Effect has an awesome story but do we trust Hollywood to actually get it right?
What’s your opinion on video game movies? Why can’t we seem to get more great video game movies?
June 10th, 2010 at 8:16 pm
I happened to really enjoy Prince of Persia. I will admit it was getting a bit annoying when the princess would trick the prince into loving him, then use him, over and over again, but overall I thought it was a good movie.
And to be honest, I might be one of the few people who don’t want a Halo movie. I think if done incorrectly, it could turn many people away from the franchise, for as much as the movie might cost to produce.