Mass Effect Movie: No Femshep, no Seth Green, Original Story.
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Not too long ago, in a thread here, I was making a case that future videogame adaptations may very well turn out to be compelling pieces of cinema after all, much in the same way that comic book adaptations eventually did - suffice it to say, this news does not help my case.
Why do they have to make a movie based on Mass Effect, of all things? The whole appeal of Mass Effect is the fact that you have choice in so many aspects of the game. You can choose the way the plot develops, how your relationships to other characters evolve, and even the protagonist's very gender and appearance. None of that will be true for the movie. The only logical step would therefore be to tell a story that takes place in the same universe as the games, but that doesn't involve the customizable main character, or that contradicts the player's own established cannon - maybe a movie about the First Contact War, or something. But heavens no, that might actually be something that people would want to see.
It's bad enough that a lot of the publicity for Mass Effect has neglected player choice for so long (what with Male Shepard being on the cover of both games and featured in every trailer for them), now all that's missing is a movie to cement all that.
Why do they have to make a movie based on Mass Effect, of all things? The whole appeal of Mass Effect is the fact that you have choice in so many aspects of the game. You can choose the way the plot develops, how your relationships to other characters evolve, and even the protagonist's very gender and appearance. None of that will be true for the movie. The only logical step would therefore be to tell a story that takes place in the same universe as the games, but that doesn't involve the customizable main character, or that contradicts the player's own established cannon - maybe a movie about the First Contact War, or something. But heavens no, that might actually be something that people would want to see.
It's bad enough that a lot of the publicity for Mass Effect has neglected player choice for so long (what with Male Shepard being on the cover of both games and featured in every trailer for them), now all that's missing is a movie to cement all that.
Just drop Shepard entirely and make it about the First Contact War. How can they even write for Shepard considering that he/she's supposed to be customizable?
Actually, I'd say the most self entitled gamers I've ever met are Bioware fans in general. At least the ones that frequent the Bioware Social forums. Honestly, you think the reaction to DA 2 was bad here? You'd think it spread anthrax from the reaction from those guys. Then you have the Cerberus supporters who have been throwing unending tantrums over the fact they'll be fighting you in ME3. (Not to mention the fact that an organization like Cerberus having as fervent a fanbase as it does is rather worrying to me.)YesConsiderably said:
This makes complete sense actually, plus you wouldn't run into this no Seth Green and FemShep issue as well, the movie would be based off of a book rather than a videogame which statistically movies based off books are better than those movies based off of videogames. SO THIS IS WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE!XMark said:
I always thought the most logical way to do a Mass Effect movie would be place it before the Mass Effect game, perhaps detailing Captain Anderson's sabotaged efforts to join the SPECTRES, the last scene of the movie being that short cinematic of him and Udina (fully on screen this time) discussing Shep. All you'd see of our 'main protagonist' would be the 'Cmdr J. Sheperd' on a file but no picutre.
Would have been nice to get a FemShep movie, but the best laid plans of mice and men and all that.
Would have been nice to get a FemShep movie, but the best laid plans of mice and men and all that.
The reason I don't think adapting any RPG to film is that the final result will always go against someone's interpretation of the character involved. I mean, how to you rectify multiple endings, potential character deaths, or any important choices?
Besides that, RPGs are all about choice, and films undermine the very idea of audience participation (with some exceptions that only serve to illustrate the inherent oddness of it all), so the whole project is unnecessary and inherently flawed from the word go.
Besides that, RPGs are all about choice, and films undermine the very idea of audience participation (with some exceptions that only serve to illustrate the inherent oddness of it all), so the whole project is unnecessary and inherently flawed from the word go.
I'd watch a full length adaptation of Blasto the Jellyfish, if only to say that I did.Klagermeister said:
As long as movie male Shep isn't like game male Shep in the sense that he actually emotes at all, ever, I shouldn't have too hard of a time watching it. Maybe they could get Sam Worthington for him. That should make that bit of casting ok.
Ok, choking to post something here so have skipped the 2nd and 3rd pages. Sorry.
It may have been rumours I resd somewhere, but somehow I had the notion that the film was going to be based on the First Contact Wars (humans vs Turians and all that stuff).
Also, I'm really not getting the whole Seth Green not being Joker issue. Okay, obviously Seth Green and Joker don't look exactly alike, but still, when I look at Joker in game, I can still tell who the character is modelled from. Even if, for the sake of discussion, Seth Green didn't look the part, the fact still stands that he does sound the part.
We're basically going to have a Joker that neither looks nor sounds like Joker does in the game, when there is an actor available that would fit the part right there (assuming that there are no external circumstances that would stop him from starring).
I can see the point of going with a male Shepard (FemShep player myself here too). He is the face of Mass Effect after all (no sign of FemShep in the shops yet, even on the ME3 preorder boxes I've seen so far).
Anyway, I can see what they're doing here. Cast a male in the lead role, make up their own story in the ME universe and they can churn out an easily marketable SF action flick. Not that I'm saying you wouldn't be able to do the same thing with a female lead, but then some publications out there would start comparing the whole thing to Alien for some bizarre reason.
Anyway, I can see the pattern right now. Specialist SF mags claim in the run up to release state how this is finally going to be the great game to film adaptation. Cringe to yourself when you see the trailer in the cinema. Film gets bad to middling review scores. Not a great success, not a disaster either. The end.
It may have been rumours I resd somewhere, but somehow I had the notion that the film was going to be based on the First Contact Wars (humans vs Turians and all that stuff).
Also, I'm really not getting the whole Seth Green not being Joker issue. Okay, obviously Seth Green and Joker don't look exactly alike, but still, when I look at Joker in game, I can still tell who the character is modelled from. Even if, for the sake of discussion, Seth Green didn't look the part, the fact still stands that he does sound the part.
We're basically going to have a Joker that neither looks nor sounds like Joker does in the game, when there is an actor available that would fit the part right there (assuming that there are no external circumstances that would stop him from starring).
I can see the point of going with a male Shepard (FemShep player myself here too). He is the face of Mass Effect after all (no sign of FemShep in the shops yet, even on the ME3 preorder boxes I've seen so far).
Anyway, I can see what they're doing here. Cast a male in the lead role, make up their own story in the ME universe and they can churn out an easily marketable SF action flick. Not that I'm saying you wouldn't be able to do the same thing with a female lead, but then some publications out there would start comparing the whole thing to Alien for some bizarre reason.
Anyway, I can see the pattern right now. Specialist SF mags claim in the run up to release state how this is finally going to be the great game to film adaptation. Cringe to yourself when you see the trailer in the cinema. Film gets bad to middling review scores. Not a great success, not a disaster either. The end.
well im glad. it's the universe of mass effect that's marketable.
the game did the story perfectly and still is. the characters are perfect. why the hell do i need to see a movie that regurgitates the dozens of hours i've put into the games?
as for seth green, well he's actually a half decent actor but perhaps the story has no room for Joker? thought about that?
if anything re-imagining the game into movie form will spell instant death to any chance of the film being good.
the game did the story perfectly and still is. the characters are perfect. why the hell do i need to see a movie that regurgitates the dozens of hours i've put into the games?
as for seth green, well he's actually a half decent actor but perhaps the story has no room for Joker? thought about that?
if anything re-imagining the game into movie form will spell instant death to any chance of the film being good.
Ah shit... He could use tattoo sleeves like Leonard and Raj do in Big Bang Theory? Except, y'know tattoo over-alls....?conflictofinterests said:
ya gotta admit, despite what all the femshep fans want (and despite male-shep's crappy voiceacting), male Shepard IS canon. Male Shepard is the default gender at the start of the game, with the default appearance, and male Shepard with said default appearance is on the cover of both Mass Effect games and on all the trailers. However, you do make a HUGE point when pointing out that, Mass Effect is a openended game that lets the player choose the path; because of this point, it would be near impossible to make a Mass Effect film starring Shepard that wasn't shit. I think it would be much more interesting to see a movie adaption through the eyes of someone else in the Mass Effect universe.RatRace123 said:
I get the feeling this movie WILL be shit, so lets not get our hopes up
Of course it stars Male Shepard. (Default) Male Shepard has been advertised on almost every Mass Effect merchandise since the series' inception. They wouldn't do this with a Dragon Age: Origins movie as there is no solid template for the PC.
Shepard being a male is probably for the best.
Seth Green not being cast for Joker sucks.
An original story is a great idea.
Seth Green not being cast for Joker sucks.
An original story is a great idea.