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When Hollywood first started adapting video games, the medium was still maturing. Game developers were still figuring out what they were capable of, and often being inspired by films. Games were somewhat looked down upon, even as a hobby. Often being considered childish and only appealing to young boys along with comic books (which is another story in itself). As games have advanced and got more complex, they are starting to become more socially accepted.

In Hollywood’s defence, video games weren’t the easiest things to adapt. Most featured just enough story to give some context (Bowser kidnapping Peach) and then the same gameplay repeated for several hours. While entertaining to play, these aren’t always the most engaging things to watch. While some films do get away with a “video-gamey” plot, like The Raid where the goal is simply to get to a location or item first, they add enough elements to keep things fresh throughout. If you are just going to make a film about Mario jumping on Koopa’s head’s for 2 hours, why not just show gameplay? (Which may or may not be better than the actual movie)

Cinematic Gameplay

The word “cinematic” gets used to describe video games a lot more nowadays. Games like The Last Of Us and the most recent God Of War are primarily story-driven games. With the narrative being given almost as much importance as the gameplay. The story of The Last Of Us especially is important. So much so that when the plot of the sequel leaked before release, many fans cancelled pre-orders and abused the developers online. The plot is still a touchy subject for the community even a year on. Making use of advances in technology like motion capture has allowed games to become a much different beast than they were originally. Big name actors have lent their names to videogame characters, including Gary Oldman, Keanu Reeves, Rosario Dawson and Liam Neeson.

Likewise, big names have portrayed video game characters in films, such as Ryan Reynolds, Angelina Jolie and Jim Carrey. As video games have become more mainstream, studios have paid more attention to potential adaptations. While many are still in development hell after several years, like Halo or Mass Effect, some are moving forward. An Uncharted film starring Tom Holland as a young Nathan Drake finished filming last year and Pedro Pascal was cast The Last Of Us series. These seem like natural choices for film versions. Uncharted plays as a swashbuckling Indiana Jones-style adventure, while The Last Of Us is often considered to have one of the best stories in video games.

While The Witcher Netflix series is based on and follows the plot of the books, its appeal is almost undoubtedly due to the games, especially The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt which won multiple game of the year awards. Many players that had never heard of the series played the third game, making it one of the best selling as well as best rated video games of all time. The series does take some of its visual influences from the games, such as some armour designs, even recreating the famous bathtub scene. The wide success of the games is likely one of the reasons the show gets the budgets it does, as the franchise is now well known globally and not just in its native Poland.

Interactive Storytelling

As games have matured they have started to tell more interesting and developed stories, some stories simply wouldn’t work as a film, the twist in Spec Ops: The Line hinges on the fact that it is the player who is in control, while it is possible it would work as a film, it is far more effective when it is the consequences of the player’s actions. But others could be adapted. Perhaps it is because games do most of the work in setting the foundation for a film now, rather like a film. It is much easier to see the potential story in a game about realistic looking people than it is little 2D sprites. Likewise most come with their own audience. Whatever the reason, it looks like we might almost have lifted the video game curse.

Also Read: Great Video Games That Should Be Adapted Into A Movie

The post Is Hollywood Starting To Take Video Games Seriously? appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.

However, film adaptations of video games rarely do well, both critically and commercially. Some have even gone as far as to say the genre is cursed. Will the upcoming release of Sonic the Hedgehog, be able to break the infamous curse and prove that Detective Pikachu’s success wasn’t a one-off? Or will it turn out to be like the infamous Super Mario Bros?

Experience Vs Viewing

One of the key differences between film and video games is that, while both are primarily visual mediums, games are interactive. Films are a viewing experience, that the audience has no control over, although there are some exceptions which blur the lines between the two.

The Assassin’s Creed series of games, for instance, transports players to detailed historical settings, allowing them to explore and interact with famous figures and climb lots of towers. The plot of the games centres around the centuries-long conflict between the Assassins and the Knights Templar. The detailed backstory is often told through journal entries or optional elements in the game. The 2016 film based on them, however, is forced to give all this information upfront. Dragging the pacing down as it has too much plot to cover in such a short time, rather than naturally over several hours.

Gameplay Vs Story

Another problem involved in the translation is they have different goals. Games have to focus on gameplay, with the story and other elements sometimes being an afterthought. This often means that a game can be fun to play, but not always to watch.

A good example of this is the Mortal Kombat film. The game features a cast of characters from multiple worlds fighting in a tournament. While the story itself does get deeper at times, the gameplay is the fights between these characters. The film focuses on the fights, but this leaves the actual fighters feeling one dimensional and a very loose plot. However, the plot is not the reason people play Mortal Kombat, so the film was successful in a sense. The newer games have brought its popularity back, prompting another attempt at a film, with James Wan producing.

Player Vs Audience

Video games are much more personal experiences than films. Roleplaying games (RPG) and First Person Shooters (FPS) often try to make the experience immersive. As part of this, they often leave the player character intentionally vague, allowing them to fill in the details themselves. The idea is that makes it more personal and immersive.

This idea doesn’t work as well for films. The main character needs a personality in order for an audience to care about them. The Doom series, for instance, places you in the shoes of “Doom Guy” and that’s pretty much all the context you get. The filmmakers clearly realised this and created a squad of marines for the film, but the game makes a point of one character being all-powerful and marines as disposable. Even The Rock himself couldn’t carry the film and cites it as an example of what not to do.

However sometimes just getting the lead right is not enough. The Lara Croft: Tomb Raider films cast Angelina Jolie (And Alica Vikander in the reboot) as the title character and she plays the character well. However, the rest of the film falls flat, with reviewers citing flat characters and a generic plot. IGN went so far as to give the original a rating of 0 stars.

The Future

Recently, there have been some exceptions to this rule. While the Resident Evil films have had some box office success, they aren’t exactly highly regarded. They are so far removed from the game that they only share some character and location names.

Pokémon: Detective Pikachu was released last year and was well-received. While some criticised its plot, there was near-unanimous praise for the creatures themselves. Likewise, Netflix’s recent series of The Witcher has been another win for video game adaptations (Although the plot is based on that of the books)

Things do slowly seem to be turning around for video game movies. After all the comic book genre was once thought of in the same way. Now comic films are some of the biggest films each year. Sonic the Hedgehog could speed up their credibility if it manages to hit the mark.

Also Read: Weapon of Choice: Iconic Weapons in Movies

The post When Great Video Games Become Lacklustre Movies appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.