Last month, I posted an article titled "May-Flowers," in which I highlighted five movies being released in the month of May that I believed, based on preliminary information, were worth watching. One of those films was Prince of Perisa: the Sands of Time, perhaps the first video game-to-film adaptation to be made with the a budget, production and casting comparable to high profile adventure movies like Pirates of the Caribbean and the like. Accordingly, my expectations were high. And unfortunately, while I haven't seen the film myself, the general consensus is disappointment across the board. It seems that while the movie was at times entertaining and fun, it was completely forgettable, lacked emotional gravitas, and pandered to too young a crowd.
However, despite the lukewarm reviews (40% on Tomatometer) and box office failures (grossing less than $38 million domestically), I still consider Prince of Persia a success. Not as a film, per se, but as a step forward for the future of video game-to-film adaptations. When you consider how truly terrible the vast majority of these films are (with only five out of the twenty-nine ranked by Rotten Tomatoes scoring above a 30% on the Tomatometer, with Final Fantasy: The Spirit Within's 44% in first place) and how little care has been put into adapting the source material, Prince of Persia could signal the beginning of a rebirth for the genre, a sort of video game-to-film renaissance with big name producers (like PoP's Bruckheimer) and directors partnering with major studios and premiere actors to give some of the better video game storylines their theatrical due recognition. And it is with this hope in mind that I present to you my list of the top five video game-to-film adaptations that should happen (make sure you read them all, especially the LAST one).
Plot: Movie opens with a marine spacecraft--The Pillar of Autumn--being attacked by warring alien forces known as The Covenant. In an attempt to fight back, the humans wake bioengineered super-solider Master Chief from cryo-sleep. Master Chief, along with his AI companion Cortana and the surviving human forces, fights his way to the ship’s escape pods, but the pods crash land on an unidentified celestial formation: the ring-shaped “Halo.” The war between the humans and the Covenant continues on the surface of the Halo, however neither are aware that a much more sinister force rests within the Halo’s surface, one with the power to destroy all sentient life in the universe: the parasitic Flood.
Why it would be a great movie: take the gritty battle scenes of Saving Private Ryan, add in some high-tech, sci-fi weapons and vehicles, and finish it off with a sort of zombies-in-space vibe (thanks to the Flood), and you get a movie that, with a large enough budget and the right special effects, could easily be a huge summer blockbuster and a memorable sci-fi epic.
What will work: huge set-piece moments from the game, like the assault on the Covenant spacecraft and the first time the Flood is introduced, lend themselves perfectly to the big screen.
What won’t work: the puny, squeaky-voiced Covenant grunts are just a bit too comical and ridiculous, and would impinge on the films otherwise mature tone.
Possible cast: Master Chief (voice)- Ron Pearlman; Cortana- Milla Jovovich; Colonel Johnson- Keith David
Plot: The movie opens with quick cuts of Nathan Drake, a young wise-cracking treasure hunter, running through the sewers of Istanbul alongside fellow hunters Chloe Frazer and Harry Flynn. They soon reach a museum, and sneak in with the intent to steal an old Mongolian lamp. With the lamp in hand, Flynn quickly double-crosses Drake, revealing he is really working for Zoran Lazarevic, a supposedly dead war criminal. Flynn escapes with Frazer, and Drake is captured. Drake spends three months in prison, after which he is set free by Frazer and his old friend Victor “Sully” Sullivan. Frazer informs Drake that Lazarevic is searching for Marco Polo’s lost fleet and the fabled wish-granting Cintamani Stone, the location of which was hidden within the Mongolian lamp. The three team up and follow Lazarevic and Flynn through the jungles of Borneo, the war-torn cities of Nepal (where they cross paths with Drake’s old girlfriend Elena Fisher), and the snowy peaks of Tibet, and eventually reaching their final destination: the lost kingdom of Shambhala, home of the Tree of Life.
Why it would be a great movie: More than any other game I have ever played, Uncharted 2 felt like it was made for the silver screen. The believable characters, the funny, human dialogue, the jaw-dropping action sequences, the beautiful and varied environments; this game was every bit a theatrical experience, and a far more exciting adventure than both of those stupid Nation Treasure movies and the fourth Indiana Jones combined.
What will work: Remember that part of the game where Drake is fighting Lazarevic’s soldiers in a building in Nepal when suddenly a helicopter comes and blows the building in half? Remember how Drake is still firing his pistols as the room he is standing in up-ends and the building quickly turns to rubble? Remember how Drake at the last second makes a death-defying leap out of the window and into the adjacent building as the everything around him crumbles to the ground? Yeah, that.
What won’t work: Remember those snow yeti’s Drake fought in Tibet? Remember the purple-skinned guardians of Shambhala? Remember how they were like the same thing? Yeah, that.
Possible Cast: Nathan Drake- Chris Evans; Chloe Frazer- Angelina Jolie; Elena Fisher- Leslie Bibb; Zoran Lazarevic- Mark Strong
Plot: The industrial metropolis Midgar, controlled by the power hungry Shinra Company, is in distress. While the upper “plate” of the city is prospering, the land below has become a desolate, starving slum, completely drained of the planet’s natural “Mako” energy due to Shinra’s activities. A rebel group known as AVALANCHE forms, lead by Barret Wallace and Tifa Lockhart. The group is soon joined by Tifa’s childhood friend Cloud Strife, an ex-member of SOLDIER, a military unit run by Shinra. AVALANCHE begins launching attacks on Shinra’s many Mako reactors throughout Midgar. After discovering the location of the AVALANCHE hideout, Shinra quickly responds by dropping the upper plate onto all of Sector 7 of Midgar, destroying everyone and everything that lived there. Shinra also succeeds in capturing Aeris Gainsborough, a flower girl who had enlisted Cloud’s help as her bodyguard. Enraged, Cloud, Tifa, and Barret launch an attack on the Shinra headquarters. However, they soon realize that it is not Shinra they should fear, but Sephiroth, a legendary warrior who once fought alongside Cloud and has been presumed dead for some time. After rescuing Aeris, AVALANCHE begins a long trek across the planet in attempt to thwart Sephiroth’s deranged plans to destroy the world.
Why it would be a great movie: There is a reason that Final Fantasy VII brought role-playing games into the mainstream. Its sci-fi story line made it much more accessible than the fantasy-fare found in earlier titles, as did its rough-yet-lovable lead characters. This is particularly true of the first part of the game, which takes place entirely within the city limits of the high-tech Midgar. This section of the game was fast-paced and easy to follow, making it much more appropriate for the big screen then the more drawn-out, esoteric later parts. Sure, a sequel could be made to continue the story; the game is way too long to squeeze into one movie anyway.
What will work: Cloud escaping from the Shinra soldiers by jumping onto the top of a moving train; Cloud, Tifa, and Barret narrowly avoiding the falling Sector 7 plate by zip-lining to safety; the Cloud-Tifa-Aeris love triangle and the hostile friendship between Cloud and Barret. And for the cliffhanger? After saving Aeris, the team heads off to take care of the man in charge of Shinra, only to find him brutally slaughtered by Sephiroth.
What won’t work: To save time, certain non-essential sections may need to be sidestepped, including the ridiculous (yet humorous) part of the game where Cloud cross-dresses in order to gain entrance to the perverted mob boss Don Corneo’s mansion.
Possible Cast: Cloud Strife- Chris Pine; Barret Wallace- Quinton Jackson; Tifa Lockhart- Keira Knightley; Aeris Gainsborough- Natalie Portman
Plot: The residents of Raccoon City are worried after a series of bizarre murders occur in the nearby Arklay Mountains, with the victims’ bodies showing signs of cannibalism. The Raccoon City Police Department’s Special Tactics and Rescue Service (STARS) is assigned to investigate the murders, and deploys their Bravo team to investigate the area. When contact is lost with the Bravo team, the Alpha team, comprised of Albert Wesker, Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, and Barry Burton (among others), are deployed. After discovering the Bravo team’s helicopter, the Alpha team is attacked by a pack of violent, murderous dogs, and are forced to seek refuge within a nearby mansion. Once inside, the team splits up in an attempt to locate their missing comrades and find out more about the strange murders. What they find, however, is much graver: the mansion has been the site of many illegal experiments carried out by the Umbrella Corporation, a pharmaceutical conglomerate. The terrible results of these experiments (and the subsequently created T-Virus) terrorize the Alpha team throughout the mansion, including zombies and other mutated monstrosities. The team eventually discovers a research facility located below the mansion’s foundation, where they learn that Wesker has actually been working for Umbrella all along, and has lured Valentine and Redfield there in order to test out his most sinister creation: the massive humanoid bio-weapon known as the “Tyrant."
Why it would be a great movie: Ok, I can already hear you all complaining, “but I thought Resident Evil was already adapted into a movie.” Well, that’s only partially true. The storylines from the movies don’t really match up with those in the video games, and have as a result never done the original game series justice (and also just plain sucked). The original Resident Evil game works as a great contained incident, and if handled correctly, could rise above its B-movie roots.
What will work: Every terror that Valentine and Redfield face in the game would translate perfectly to the big screen, including the zombies, zombie-dogs, giant spiders, and Hunter monsters, as well as some of the game’s perilous traps, like the room with the lowering ceiling and the underground tunnel with the giant boulder.
What won’t work: A return of the game’s absolutely terrible B-movie dialogue and voice acting, on the other hand, would be an epic fail. See for example: “Jill, here's a lockpick. It might come in handy if you, the master of unlocking, take it with you.” “That was too close. You were almost a Jill sandwich!” “I hope this is not Chris’ blood!"
Possible Cast: Chris Redfield- Karl Urban; Albert Wesker- Viggo Mortensen; Jill Valentine- Liv Tyler; Barry Burton- Bruce Campbell
Another one that has already been made into a series of terrible movies, imagine how gritty and terrifying a Mortal Kombat reboot would be if it was full out R rated and ripe with gore. For example, what if all the disfigured “outlanders” from the video games were re-imagined as deranged, deformed, yet human serial killers? What if Jax and Sonya were police officers trying to put an end to their violence? What if Shang Tsung was a rich gangster who hosted a fight-to-the-death tournament, giving each side a chance to tear apart the other? Oh, and what if everything I’ve said so far IS ACUALLY BEING MADE INTO A MOVIE!?!? Yup, that’s right. A trailer has been posted on Youtube for a new Mortal Kombat movie, one with a much darker, grittier, more realistic tone than the campy, crappy original series. And based on the high production values and fight choreography, I don’t think this is a simple teaser or practical joke. Check out the trailer here, and prepare to escape to geek paradise.
