25 January 2006, 2:53 PM
A few things I've always noticed about game-movie transitions is that whoever it is that's responsible for this feels it necessary to screw with what made the game enjoyable in the first place. For example, Halo is such a cinematic game that it could really be completely lifted into the movie, only with cuts made to the various action scenes of the game. Honestly if you've ever played halo I think you'll know what I mean. But how much do you want to bet, that they're going to find the need to completely change the backstory (Doom movie and GENETIC ENGINEERING that corrupts people that are "bad"? gimme a break, a) that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard, because somebody's personality doesn't have a lot to do with his genetic make-up, and b) the monsters are from hell. It satisfied possibly millions of gamers, and it should satisfy your audience). Still, if you have Peter Jackson as a producer, depending on his level of involvement there is still hope...so long as they don't have Uwe Boll as their director (oh heavens no, remember Alone in the Dark!!)
Another example of this stupid transition is Resident Evil. WHY did it have to be a stupid, gross, shoot-em-up action flick with a sexy, take-no-shit heroine that...OOOH has a mysterious past that is clumsily revealed through innumerable flashback scenes. The original story was FINE, and the ATMOSPHERE created in the original is what it was famous for -- why change it, when you have the perfect horror story right in your hands?
Finally, I have zero hopes for Dead or Alive the movie. There is almost no story in the original game (like most other fighters, it's not a flaw of DoA), which means you're pretty much guaranteed a canned plot designed to show as much cleavage as possible, and possibly a romantic interest (a heroine is guaranteed to fall in love with a male outsider character -- or else she's secretly been in love with him for years but he only notices her because of her fighting skills). The fights will never be as exciting, because there's this obsession in mainstream cinema with fights being "realistic", which is why the original MK sucked (Liu Kang's bicycle kick was lame), and you can bet that the girls of DoA the movie aren't going to be arcing 10 feet in the air after a particularly viscious blow.
Also...seriously why do they keep casting Devon Aoki. Her face is disturbing...to me at least.
Another example of this stupid transition is Resident Evil. WHY did it have to be a stupid, gross, shoot-em-up action flick with a sexy, take-no-shit heroine that...OOOH has a mysterious past that is clumsily revealed through innumerable flashback scenes. The original story was FINE, and the ATMOSPHERE created in the original is what it was famous for -- why change it, when you have the perfect horror story right in your hands?
Finally, I have zero hopes for Dead or Alive the movie. There is almost no story in the original game (like most other fighters, it's not a flaw of DoA), which means you're pretty much guaranteed a canned plot designed to show as much cleavage as possible, and possibly a romantic interest (a heroine is guaranteed to fall in love with a male outsider character -- or else she's secretly been in love with him for years but he only notices her because of her fighting skills). The fights will never be as exciting, because there's this obsession in mainstream cinema with fights being "realistic", which is why the original MK sucked (Liu Kang's bicycle kick was lame), and you can bet that the girls of DoA the movie aren't going to be arcing 10 feet in the air after a particularly viscious blow.
Also...seriously why do they keep casting Devon Aoki. Her face is disturbing...to me at least.