Now, we've seen time and time again whenever a game has been adapted into a film, the result is often terrible. Sure -- there have been some decent ones over the years (Mortal Kombat, Silent Hill) but more often than not, video game movies end up being dreadful. Why is that? Granted, the nature of games as a storytelling medium is inherently different in design and execution compared to film, but surely there is a way to bridge the two. I believe there is.
Mass Effect, Assassin's Creed, and The Last of Us are all currently in pre-production for their adaptations into film. Several others were planned, but fell through (Halo, Bioshock, God of War, Dead Space). Now, this may seem like a digression, but when I explain the point will be clear. Each of these films are directly translating the same narrative from the games into their respective films. The Mass Effect movie is going to be about Shepard and the Reapers and all of that story. The Assassin's Creed movie will be about Desmond and Altair. This is the root of the problem with films based on video games: they attempt to condense several hours worth of a story experience that every player experienced differently into a hour and a half to two hour film. This means cutting out a lot of content. This also means that fans of the respective franchise will be left disappointed with the final result, as has often happened in the past with game-based movies.
So is there a way to bring a video games' story to film without removing any narrative content or disappointing fans? Yes. You see, many major game titles when brought to the silver screen suffer from having a limited audience. After all, not all people who go to the movies have played certain games -- if they even play games at all. Yet games like Mass Effect or Halo, or The Last of Us have such a tremendous amount of lore and back-story that have never been shown to players, that there are plenty of story opportunities to bring to film. Want to make a Mass Effect movie? Make it about the First Contact War, or the Krogan Rebellion. Or even the Protheans. The idea will be original enough to attract new fans/movie-goers, and fans of the game will go see it because it's A: a part of the game that they're aware of, but never seen before, and B: They don't have to worry about the common problem of it being a disjointed mess as video game movies often are.
The same idea applies to upcoming The Last of Us and Assassin's Creed movies. Why tell Joel and Ellie's story? Or Desmond and Altair's? We've been through all of that before; we don't need to see it again. Both of those games have plenty of other stories to tell in their universes. Hell, make The Last of Us movie about Joel's brother Tommy. I'd pay to see that.
But perhaps I'm wrong. Maybe there isn't a way to make video game movies good. I still like my idea, but maybe you have your own thoughts on the issue. What do you think game and filmmakers can do to make a good film based on game? Feel free to discuss. I look forward to hearing some differing opinions.
Mass Effect, Assassin's Creed, and The Last of Us are all currently in pre-production for their adaptations into film. Several others were planned, but fell through (Halo, Bioshock, God of War, Dead Space). Now, this may seem like a digression, but when I explain the point will be clear. Each of these films are directly translating the same narrative from the games into their respective films. The Mass Effect movie is going to be about Shepard and the Reapers and all of that story. The Assassin's Creed movie will be about Desmond and Altair. This is the root of the problem with films based on video games: they attempt to condense several hours worth of a story experience that every player experienced differently into a hour and a half to two hour film. This means cutting out a lot of content. This also means that fans of the respective franchise will be left disappointed with the final result, as has often happened in the past with game-based movies.
So is there a way to bring a video games' story to film without removing any narrative content or disappointing fans? Yes. You see, many major game titles when brought to the silver screen suffer from having a limited audience. After all, not all people who go to the movies have played certain games -- if they even play games at all. Yet games like Mass Effect or Halo, or The Last of Us have such a tremendous amount of lore and back-story that have never been shown to players, that there are plenty of story opportunities to bring to film. Want to make a Mass Effect movie? Make it about the First Contact War, or the Krogan Rebellion. Or even the Protheans. The idea will be original enough to attract new fans/movie-goers, and fans of the game will go see it because it's A: a part of the game that they're aware of, but never seen before, and B: They don't have to worry about the common problem of it being a disjointed mess as video game movies often are.
The same idea applies to upcoming The Last of Us and Assassin's Creed movies. Why tell Joel and Ellie's story? Or Desmond and Altair's? We've been through all of that before; we don't need to see it again. Both of those games have plenty of other stories to tell in their universes. Hell, make The Last of Us movie about Joel's brother Tommy. I'd pay to see that.
But perhaps I'm wrong. Maybe there isn't a way to make video game movies good. I still like my idea, but maybe you have your own thoughts on the issue. What do you think game and filmmakers can do to make a good film based on game? Feel free to discuss. I look forward to hearing some differing opinions.
