Mass Effect Movie: No Femshep, no Seth Green, Original Story.

[RagTagBand]

It's already got a lot of things working against it:
-It's a game adaptation, which never rise beyond the level of "eh, 'salright."
-It stars Commander Shepard (The customizable player character in an open ended game) rather than working off of other ideas in the shared universe (of which there could potentially be an infinite amount)
-Specifically it stars Male Commander Shepard, which risks further alienating the 40 or so percent of the fanbase that prefers Femshep.
-And now, we know that Seth Green won't be reprising his role.

1. While this is true, consider how many shitty comic book adaptions were made before we got a "Dark knight" quality Comic book adaption? Game adaptions have been bad in the past for exactly the same reason that all bad movies suck - No budget, Poor writing, No respect for the source material (if there is any), poor casting, poor directing. A lot of that stems from the budget issue and that's because BIG studio's have hesitated to invest more than superficially in game adaptions, leaving them to be done by studio's so small they dont even get their own wikipedia pages.

2. Video game adaptations are still, as I outlined above, considered a gamble for Big studio's and I imagine one of the trade offs for actually getting TWO huge studios involved (Legendary Pictures, Warner Brothers) is not taking yet another gamble with the source material and making it near completely separate from the games, which is a huge gamble. Personally I think they're going to make it a prequel to Mass Effect 1 and they're going to focus on Shepard's rise to infamy, it would be tricky if they chose to set the film between one of the games...or after the end of the third.

3. well this is just a bullshit reason. 18% of people played Femshep and the "Alienation" argument that was tossed about during the Femshep PR war simply does not apply to film because it has nothing to do with anybodies custom character. And seriously, fuck that whining 18%. Yeah its great that they got some proportional PR for the character, but Christ now EVERY depiction of Shepard should be female lest "ALIENATION" starts being thrown around?

4. This is an Odd one, considering Seth green is an actor and joker was modeled after him. I'm guessing it is down to scheduling problems, but who knows. But i'm personally hoping its because Joker isn't in the film at all, and thats why seth green can't play joker.

 

[Zetatrain]

I'm all for a Mass Effect movie, just not featuring anything to do with the fairly multi-directional games. Plenty of room for plots involving Cerberus, the First Contact War or experiments on Biotics.

I'm definitely not the only one thinking this.

No, you're not the only one. Quite frankly, I think that a movie about the First Contact War would have been the best option for various reasons.

1.)It is an important event in the mass effect universe, but with limited details so this allows the writers a good amount of freedom and creativity. It will also be something new for ME fans rather than a retelling of the games or books.

2)Since it's an important event set before the game,fans will be eager to see it and newcomers do not need to play the games or have any extensive knowledge of them since it's like an origin story.

3)Since it is before the games and has nothing to do with Shepard's early history, the story can be considered canon regardless of the choices ME fans made and therefore the movie won't alienate any of the fans.

The only potential problem is who the movie's protagonist would be. Ashley's grandfather, General Williams, would definitely be in it, but I don't know if he should be the main character. Another important character could be Admiral Kastanie, who led to the fleet that took back Shanxi. There should also be a Turian character to see things from the Turian's side and there could also be a small focus on the Citadel Council as they rush to prevent an all out war between the humans and turians

My big question for the movie is where in the timeline this original story they speak of will take place. Since it will star Shepard, the safest and most logical king of story,IMO, would probably be an origin story that takes place before ME1. The plot could involve one of the three backgrounds you choose for your Shepard character (sole survivor, war hero, or ruthless) and the beginning of the film could be structured around one of the 3 pre-service backgrounds (spacer, colonist, or earth born). While any story about Shepard will piss off some fans, a story placed after ME1 would be a bad idea. Not only would it alienate newcomers it would also risk alienating even more fans, unless the writers manage to find a way to not involve or reference any of the choices the player could have made in ME1.

While the current details about the movie are not the most promising, I'll wait to see more details before I decide to start cursing out this film.

 

[Wereduck]

Well, the upside is that since Seth Green's in the I-got-left-out-of-the-movie-featuring-the-iconic-video-game-character-modelled-on-me club now he has something in common to talk about with Rhona Mitra - go get her man!

Edit: +1 about including the "big stupid jellyfish" line in the movie. Bonus points if they also include some elcor Hamlet in the background someplace.

 

[WaywardHaymaker]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again...

FIRST CONTACT WAR SAYS HELLO, FILM MAKERS! FILM ME!

I don't rage over much, but this fucking movie will get me angrier than... well... a really angry person! WHY would you want to make a movie starring a character that is completely different in every single copy of the fucking game?

 

[lockeslylcrit]

My thoughts are quite simple: no FemShep, no ticket.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

First of all, how can anyone possibly think that taking the heavily branching and choice driven narrative from Mass Effect 1's story and putting it in a movie that has to have a linear, predetermined narrative, could possibly be a good idea?

Second of all, how can anyone possibly think that taking the story from a game with over 24 hours of in-game time and compressing it into 2 hours of movie time can possibly be a good idea?

Third, If you really must think that this is a good idea, GIVE US SETH GREEN AS JOKER GODDAMMIT!

 

[aashell13]

I'm sure they could have set a good movie in the ME universe, but trying to shoehorn the plot from the main ME games into a movie is a bad idea; not the least because there isn't one story there, there are a half-dozen or more depending on player choices.

 

[zeda12123]

Joker was modeled off of Seth green WHERE IS THE LOGIC.
And, I guess I could live with a male shpeard but he gets so much hype anyway. Maybe if we're lucky femshep will star in that one anime.

 

[rembrandtqeinstein]

Video game movies suck unless they totally stop trying or you are in an altered state if you watch.

My favorite live action video game movie Resident Evil (the first). Because it was shot right out of the game down to loading screens between levels. My 2nd favorite is Mortal Kombat because I was in quite the altered state when I watched it.

For animation Street Fighter 2 The Animated Movie really captures the feel of the game world without becoming stupid.

The best "quality" video game movies were the ones that had nothing to do with the games. Postal was just hilarious in itself without any references to the games. Spirits Within was extremely high quality and the animation was amazing for the time it was released (and it nearly bankrupted Square).

So yeah this is probably going to suck, but I'll get drunk and watch it anyway and have a lot of fun.

 

[Vault101]

Im just gonna stick my fingers in my ears..sing "comander shepard" untill its all over

 

[TakeyB0y2]

Honestly, I think Mass Effect would do better as a television series rather than a movie. Also, a completely new, original cast would be more interesting, and less likely to result in fan rage.

Buuuuuut, I'd probably end up seeing it anyways just for the hell of it.

 

[Undeadpool]

The best way this movie would turn out would be if they just did a "First Contact War" movie. Think about it: 1st Act: Find the Prothean Artifact, start exploring the universe. 2nd Act: Make first contact, have hostilities begin to build. 3rd Act: FUGGING ALIEN WAR! Hell we could even have Cpt. Anderson as played by Keith David, but none of the "main" characters would be needed so none of the choices the player makes would be infringed upon.
It's so beautiful in my head.

 

[The Breadcrab]

Brilliant. We've only heard the most basic details of the film and people are already writing it off as a piece of garbage. God forbid you guys actually wait for casting, concept art, or even a TRAILER before you judge the film.

Ok, so Seth Green might not play Joker. Not good news, but big deal. That's not going to make or break the film.

We just have to wait and see, people.

 

[Little Duck]

List of good movie games that have been based on their original story and been memorable:
End of list.

It's probably a good thing. You don't try hammering in screws so why should you take a 20 hour storyline for a different medium and try and put it into a 3 hour (tops) storyline for something completely different?

 

[Bocaj2000]

Shepard being a male is probably for the best.
Seth Green not being cast for Joker sucks.
An original story is a great idea.

agreed. The OP is just overreacting because he/she has no life.

Femshep is NOT the staple character NOR the popular choice. the OP ignores the 80% that play male to make his/her inane point.
Seth Green not playing Joker kind of sucks, but I remember the uproar of complaints when it was released that Heath Ledger would play the Joker.
It would be great to see an original story... I should read some of the books...

As for the other posters,

Everyone else should quit their fanboy bitching and enjoy the fact that the series that they 'love' so dearly even got considered to be made into a movie. Be happy that this modern classic is reaching great heights of popularity and is being enjoyed my the masses, you ungrateful little fucks.

EDIT:

My thoughts are quite simple: no FemShep, no ticket.

If that is what you believe, then I do not think that you are a fan of the series. Good writing, cinematography, acting, and soundtrack are my requirements.

 

[Eri]

Ahem.... http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.314113-Sorry-you-dont-look-enough-like-yourself-to-be-in-the-movie#12738817

>___>

 

[McNinja]

Seth Green not being Joker is probably the stupidest decision ever made. Whether or not Green was offered and turned it down, or he didn't get the part (how would this even happen?), or he simply was not even offered the role, someone, somewhere made a really, really f**king stupid decision.

Now I'm off to see what the BW forums are saying about no Seth Green as Joker.

For those who don't know, by the way, Seth Green is, in every way possible, Joker in the Mass Effect games.

 

[Vault101]

its makes sense that they went with male shepard, but its going to put some of us off,I cant see shepard any other way than female..so I wont be watching, I dont think sthats so unreasonable

NOW aomthing set within the same universe, a prequel or such Id be all for,