TheMovieman

Generally speaking, video game adaptations tend to suck. I mean, I like the Angelina Jolie Tomb Raider movie but by no means is that good, more fun because it's so cheesy and bad. So, what is it that Hollywood has trouble making a genuinely good video game adaptation? Is it that the format doesn't lend itself to making feature length film?

Dan

This. Not just the format, but also the experience. With video games, the player has some control over the story (even when the story itself is on rails, there's still a sense of "I'm doing this.") and it get's completely lost when you just make it into a movie. People THINK they might want a movie of their favorite games, but when it comes time to actually sit down and watch it... it can't be what they subconsciously expected.

Something like that.

Also, because video game plots/stories are dumb; just ask anyone who doesn't play them.

The best "video game" movies are the ones that aren't about specific games at all. Scott Pilgrim. Wreck-it Ralph. Those are top-tier. That's what I think, anyway.

and for what it's worth, I thought the newest Tomb Raider movie was actually pretty good.

Koby

Same reason that Hollywood can't do a decent anime adaptation.

The ones writing and directing the story don't seem to have played the video game or watched the anime / read the source material of the anime to even understand what it's about. They just read a synopsis and run with it. So the end result is an abomination of the source material and often completely "out there".

On the off chance they did actually do their homework, they feel the need/desire to change things up to "Hollywood-ify" it and it just doesn't sit well with fans.

Hell Dragon Ball Evolution completely changed up the Saiyan & Namekian dynamic by having Saiyans be "slaves" to Namekians who more or less mind-controlled them at will which was completely silly because Namekians are mostly a peaceful alien race while Saiyans were a warrior race and none of this dynamic was part of the source. The ONLY thing it had it common was character names.

While the more recent Ghost in the Shell movie, while not nearly as bad as Dragon Ball Evolution, decided to completely toy around with the main characters backstory, decided to call the character by her title and not her actual name because they probably didn't know better, and they re-wrote the story by using various parts of different arcs, mix-match style, while completely ignoring and failing to capture the heart of what made GitS so well liked. We just get a mindless action flick instead of something psychological that just loosely resembles the namesake.

Obi-Wanma

"You could make a good movie, or a shitty one, based on anything." - Michael McKean, on whether he had any apprehension on making a movie based on a board game (Clue).

It's not that the games don't necessarily lend themselves to good theatrical stories, it's that video game movies are typically made by a committee and assigned to directors and writers who have no passion for or interest in the material. In other words, they're generally not making these movies because they want to, they're making them so they can tap into the video game market (that they generally don't understand) and trying to make that phat cash.

It's the same reason why Marvel generally succeeds on film and DC doesn't

fujishig

And yet one of the best anime adaptations of all time, Speed Racer, just gets destroyed at the box office.

But yeah, there are very few times when I play a videogame and say, man, this would make a good movie. Even something like Mass Effect, I think I'd rather play the game. Now cartoon series, I'm all for that. There have been some great anime based on games.

raven56706

The best video game adaptation will always be Mortal Kombat. Nothing will top it

DthRdrX

HW doesn't license and produce video game movies looking to make high art. The very concept has always been a cash grab. Double win for the video game companies because:

1. it's free marketing for them, helping them sell their products.
2. no matter how bad it is no one ever blames the game company.

DthRdrX

The game creators were very hands on with New Line Cinema for the first MK. The second one, not so much.

Defiant1

It takes what is a very active experience (playing the game) into a passive one, which pretty much always kills any sense of fun.

Decker

No mention of the new Tomb Raider movie? I thought that was very good -- maybe not a masterpiece of action cinema, but clearly they played the game, kept most of the story and settings intact and casted the movie very well.
That should be your template for how to make a video game movie. They "got" the appeal of the game and it showed on-screen for the most part.

PhantomStranger

Videogames are rarely fun because of the linear story arc. They are about the experience, which doesn't translate at all to movies. Most games have flimsy narratives and thin characterizations.

That is why comic books have become popular to adapt in Hollywood. They are pure visual storytelling ready-made for the cinema.

Anime doesn't get adapted well because it's from an entirely different culture that doesn't translate easily to how Hollywood makes a film.

fujishig

Is it weird that I enjoyed the story of Injustice 2 more than Justice League (the movie)? And keep in mind this is an alternate timeline were Superman is evil, and Flash and GL did unspeakable things in the last game, and yet I was still super happy when Flash and GL came back together?

And I realize there are things in the game they would never do in a movie, but man I liked the characters, even the evil ones, more.

PhantomStranger

I think many jaded comic book fans like the Injustice games/books because the characters have an edge they don't have in the regular line. Of course it's that line of thinking that led to the edgy DC movieverse with Snyder directing.

Want to hear what Snyder had in mind for a sequel to Superman Returns back in the day? He wanted Brainiac to possess Superman's son, forcing Superman to kill his own son. No wonder Snyder had little clue in understanding Superman as a character.

bluetoast

It doesn’t hurt when the movie is pretty much Enter the Dragon with supernatural elements and a Techo soundtrack.

Dan

I need to re-watch it soon. Bought the UHD on Vudu for $15.

fumanstan

I'd disagree quite a bit with that assessment. A lot of video games recently have excellent story lines with an increased focus on intriguing plots and well developed characters. Games like Uncharted, Last of Us, or Bioshock are heavily driven by character and story.

A lot of video game movie adaptations seem to toss out what fans enjoyed about the games, with writers completely doing their own thing. The recent Tomb Raider was decent and I thought the strengths were taking cues from the games, with it's weaknesses where it diverted from the game series as far as it's primary threat/villain.

fujishig

See, personally I hate an edgy, Joker-killing Superman, and I especially hate Wonder Woman in those games. Which is why it's so odd that I still like that universe (or the characters, at least the good/reformed ones) better than the cinematic universe.

DaveyJoe

Silent Hill was the best video game adaptation I've seen. Totally nailed the atmosphere and the use of the original music from the games really helped with that. The sequel was terrible, though.

Koby

Some of my favorite video game adaptations were the anime CG Resident Evil films. These didn't just use the universe to make their own thing or adapt what already existed.... They chose to make canon storylines in between the games.

In terms of live-action films. I really liked Silent Hill. The sequel sucked though.

The latest Tomb Raider was pretty solid, but it was lacking in certain departments.

DthRdrX

Mortal Kombat and Silent Hill are the best ones I have seen. Silent Hill didn't translate to the mainstream very well though, primarily because of how similar the plot mirrored the first game, which itself was a head scratcher at times.

E Unit

Gotta agree with Silent Hill. The only thing that caused it to falter (according to my wife) was no one explaining the reality shifts. But I personally thought you could see that.

I’d still love to see a fun well done Castlevania movie, done in Lords of Shadow style. The Netflix animated one didn’t do anything for me.

Koby

Speaking of Netflix's Castlevania animated series, Netflix is currently in works to do an adaptation of The Witcher game series.

DaveyJoe

It's a real shame they didn't adapt Silent Hill 2 for the sequel. The story line from that game would be perfectly suited to a psychological horror film.

Dark Souls would make an awesome dark fantasy adventure but it'd be too expensive to do justice.

Abob Teff

Mortal Kombat would have been better with Cameron Diaz.

The podcast “Now Playing” is doing a video game movies retrospective and just released Mortal Kombat this week.

Koby

I still wonder why they chose to base the 2nd movie on the 3rd game.