Just ask anyone who’s had to sit through any film by Uwe Boll or the less-than-stellar Super Mario Bros. movie. Even films that make money – like Resident Evil and Tomb Raider – will never be considered major film achievements. Even games that should be easy to adapt like Silent Hill and Max Payne, fail to stand out.
Can these two mediums ever work together? Or do they even have too? For those who are playing current generation games it’s become obvious that games themselves are becoming more cinematic. Look at Bioshock, Mass Effect 2, Grand Theft Auto IV, DragonAge: Origins, Fallout 3 and tell me the stories aren’t as compelling as anything on the big screen.
With CGI becoming the standard instead of the exception, the line between films and video games blurs even more. Whether animated films or live-action with computer effects, games and movies come closer together with each advance. Look at Heavy Rain – a game that if you were watching someone play it, you might think you were watching a movie play out.
So why can’t Hollywood find a good balance? It has to be based partly on money and partly on ignorance. Someone figures a franchise has a built-in base, so why not make Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li and watch the money roll in? However, you can’t just throw a name on something without a good story and character development. If you mess with a beloved franchise, you’re more apt to make the people you’re trying to target angry and less likely to see the film.
There is reason to think that maybe there will be harmony at last. Prince of Persia looks like it may have the right combination of story, characters and action to satisfy both game fans and film fans. If the long-gestating Bioshock or Halo films can get off the ground, both have fertile stories which are well-suited to the screen. Whether they ever get a decent adaptation remains to be seen.
It may be time that Hollywood finally learns to take video games seriously. As gamers grow up, so do the games they play and if that potential can be tapped in the right way, then there is an excellent chance that the project will succeed where so many others have failed.
Chris is the Community Manager for the Hollywood Vacation site MyHollywoodVacation.com
