WTF is the deal with these game-themed movies?

Posted by Denalan on Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Tim has been covering a lot of video games based on movies, but in this day in age we also have movies based on video games. It started with Super Mario Bros. the Movie going all the way up to Doom the movie. If you didn’t know yet, Doom the movie is being released this Friday, Oct. 21 2005 (though some theaters are showing it on Thursday). And I’m prepared to be disappointed.

Shot from Doom the movie

The Rock battles monsters and constipation in Doom the Movie

I guess the major qualm I have with game-based movies is that none of them have been particularly good. These movies seem to be coming out more often now, which is unfortunate that we’re getting more quantity than quality.

The Lara Croft: Tomb Raider movies had a good amount of action but was really light on the plot. I think its only saving grace was Angelina Jolie—mainly just eye candy in a movie that is certainly not the pinnacle of her acting career.

The writers and director could have taken this movie and made it into a kind of Indiana Jones-type movie (I believe the video game took some ideas from Indiana Jones anyhow), and tried to make an interesting story line. That’s not to say they should have copied Indiana Jones exactly, but they definitely had a lot to work with and still tie it into the video game. And while Angelina was there for mainly looks, they could have certainly had her act a little more.

The Resident Evil movie writers had less to work with. I mean, even the game was relatively low on plot and had terrible acting. I think the kicker with this one is that they made not one, but two of these movies.

Also, let’s not forget that Halo the movie will be coming out in 2007. While this has the potential to be better than other movies (since the game has a decent plot), I’m certainly not holding my breath.

And now we have Doom. Starring the Rock—an actor known for his great acting, amazing movies, and ability choose dramatic roles that can showcase his talents. Not. Also, let’s not forget that Doom isn’t a game that’s particularly high on plot and character development (in fact, has id Software ever made a game with much of a plot?).

But I shouldn’t put down a movie that hasn’t come out yet. Perhaps it will be moderately entertaining. Still, I’m just waiting for the day when a movie is as good as the video game it was based on.

6 Comments »

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Comment by Tim F

10/18/2005 @ 10:07 am

I thought the movies they made based on the Lord of the Rings games were pretty good.

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Comment by Dan M

10/18/2005 @ 10:19 am

The biggest problem in the transition of an IP from one medium to the next is forgetting what made it interesting in the first place. Don’t forget that there was a long period in which the comic book based movie was seen as a joke, largely due to the inability to get over the whole “tights” aspect of costume design. How many good comic book movies can you name prior to 1999? 2? 3? Superman, Batman, and The Crow? Once filmmakers realized that it was not the tights or the costume that made the character so endearing, but the actual story, it became a more natural transition from one storytelling medium to another. With that revelation, some of the highest grossing and most well-respected movies of the past 5 years have been based on comic books. All it takes is the right vision.

Video games, on the other hand, are and have always been an interactive medium. That is their appeal. Short of the high-caliber stories in some adventure games or RPG’s (and the occasional FPS), story and motivation are often overlooked as a part of the game design. I mean let’s face it…you might be able to enjoy yourself watching somebody else play a game for hours on end, but eventually you get a bit antsy because you’d kind of like to grab the controls and try it out for yourself. You want your actions or inaction to influence the events in the game, and that will never happen with a movie. The best you can hope for is that someone takes the concept behind a game and treats it as the basis for developing a movie, rather than the outline of how everything should unfold.

The exceptions would be the games whose story is so well presented in the first place that the transition to film could be a smooth one. Halo, Half-Life, KOTOR, Starcraft, Homeworld, The Longest Journey…I’m looking at you guys. You’re the prize franchises that will elevate the genre if handled properly, or seal it’s fate if Uwe Boll gets his grubby little fingers on you.

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Comment by Jeff S

10/18/2005 @ 11:32 am

I, for one, am looking forward to the Doom movie release this Friday. They’ve just installed a SoundBlaster 16 at the Loews Boston Common and the MIDI soundtrack is going to sound AWESOME!

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Comment by Chris L

10/18/2005 @ 11:51 am

This movie is going to be bad. There’s just no way around it. It’s got all the I’m-a-bad-movie signs with the exception of a rapper in the cast list. That being said, they’re still going to milk my nine dollars out because there’s no way I’m going to be able to resist it. Big dudes (plus one hot girl) with big guns shooting big nasties. It’s a sure-fire formula. Maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised and the plot won’t take away too much from the dudes-with-guns formula (I’m looking at you, Aliens: Resurrection).

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Comment by Scrimpnut

10/18/2005 @ 12:17 pm

I think the problem is that we’re holding the movie up to the enjoyment standard we got from playing the game. For most of us, Doom was one of the first FPS we played and the visceral sounds and sights it presented gave it the charm it still has today ( I still fire it up once in a while for that old school thrill of electricuding some dilly with the plasma rifle).

No doubt the acting in Doom: The Movie will be piss poor. I think if we were somehow able to distance the movie from the game then there would be a greater chance to enjoy it for it is. Sci-Fi special effects and gore and the token big-boobed girl.

I liken it to this. If it wasn’t a part of a series and just a stand-alone movie, then I probably would have enjoyed Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. But, in context with its predecessors, I consider it one of the worst movies ever made, in both plot, acting, and writing.

So buy your snowcaps, watch a cackademon get gunned in the knee, go to the bathroom during the token 46 seconds of tender dialogue between The Rock and Michelle Boobsalot and walk out of the theater refreshed knowing the world is a safer place.

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Comment by Tim F

10/18/2005 @ 2:01 pm

I just remembered the Final Fantasy movie. That was pretty good and did a lot of things right in terms of translating a game to film.

Sometimes I think these movies adhere to the games too much. They should just take the basic premise and characters and go off with it instead of basically novelizing the game.

Part of the problem is that these movies all rely on CG which is done primarily by nerds who care more about sneaking inside jokes and cute references to the game into the background then they do about making a good film.

If Doom had a better lead than The Rock the movie might be okay. For some reason Bill Murray comes to mind, but that’s kind of wierd. Still, the man can carry a film…

IGN has a review:

http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/658/658956p1.html

Here’s an interesting quote:

“…this is easily the best videogame-to-film adaptation yet (only the original Resident Evil approaches its production value), and a decent albeit standard action film if taken with a grain of salt.”

Try applying a thumbs up / thumbs down to that statement…

It also says there is a sequence near the end that is shot in first person perspective as an homoage to the game.

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