Video game films have a difficult time. Too many unsuccessful representatives of this cinematic sub-genre have contributed to the fact that every new announcement raises skeptical eyebrows. But why are there so many bad film adaptations of our favorite games? I’ll try to find some reasons for this below.
What is the added value of a video game adaptation? Or in other words: What justifies the existence of a film that rarely offers more, but in most cases less, than the interactive original? Because the one thing that separates the game from the film is said interactivity. The game allows us to take control, make more or less free decisions and thus help shape the story of our protagonists.
It’s different with film. We have to be content with being spectators (and remain spectators, even if there are attempts to establish interactive films, see Black Mirror – Bandersnatch).
As soon as a game is made into a film, it loses its greatest strength. This is already a big problem for most films of this type. They don’t know how to meaningfully compensate for the lack of interactivity. A good film adaptation is characterized by the fact that it sets its own impulses and cleverly exploits the strengths of the film medium.
Who is writing here? Christoph Waldboth is a film lover across all genres. Whether it’s deep drama, cracking action or imaginative animation – spinning wild theories about his favorite films is just as much a passion of his as writing about them.
The problem with the gameplay
This is why the gameplay is difficult to transfer to the screen: A common problem in video game adaptations is the desire of the makers to show as many gameplay elements as possible that viewers know from the underlying game on the screen. True to the motto: Do you still remember this item? Do you remember how you used this special fighting skill? You do realize that you spend most of the game running across roofs, right?
Just because it’s great fun to do the latter in Assassin’s Creed doesn’t mean it’s fun to watch for a long time in the film of the same name. Instead, in this case you should have focused on an exciting story, but you’ve been looking for one for a long time. The conflict between Templars and Assassins would offer enough potential for an exciting story, but instead the film quickly sinks into action monotony and, over the years, into the swamp of oblivion.
To give a positive example of cleverly integrated gameplay, I’ll go out on a limb and use Dungeon & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. My colleague Benedikt Schlotmann has summarized for you why you definitely shouldn’t miss the film.
Technically speaking, this is not a video game adaptation, but the film still has to deal with the complex rules of a pen and paper system – and does it with flying colors. Elegantly integrated into the plot and actions of the protagonists, there is never the impression that well-known spells, fighting moves or the like are in the film just for their own sake. Instead, everything seems understandable and sensible. The audience gets the impression of attending a real D&D game, including strange ideas and spontaneous plans from the group of heroes. But the film is also a showcase example in terms of narrative.
Have you seen the D&D movie? You can take a look at the trailer here:
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves – Second official trailer for the film
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Did someone say story?
Some video game adaptations are downright frightening. It is the fear of deviating too far from the original. Whether you give in to your own ideas or the mob of angry fans remains to be seen, in the end it is a lack of courage that makes many film adaptations simply boring.
Film is often used to show what we already know. This often falls into the category of “fan service”, which alone doesn’t make a good film.
It would be nice if more films just took the game and its universe as a basis and then made something of their own out of it. A new, fresh story with interesting characters. A positive example in this regard is once again Dungeon & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Or the Netlix series Arcane, which doesn’t leave even League of Legends noobs like me completely clueless, but rather presents a fascinating world including exciting characters, in a cinematically innovative guise.
In doing so, Arcane achieves exactly what Warcraft: The Beginning fails. Namely, to give context to viewers who are unfamiliar with the gaming universe. The series wants to welcome everyone into its world, while the film from Blizzard leaves those who are not familiar with the Warcraft cosmos out in the cold time and again.
Simply translating the story of a game into the film can definitely work. For example in the film adaptation of The Last of Us. Leya Jankowski explains what makes the series special in her own article.
What is fundamentally important here is that it is a game whose story is strong in itself and is told in a cinematic way. The Last of Us is fundamentally better suited to a film adaptation than Super Mario.
Easter eggs are more of a curse than a blessing
Yes, I’m looking at you, Super Mario. The Italian plumber is known to be part of one of the most absurd game adaptations ever. The year was 1993 and the film was a fever dream. Instead of a colorful mushroom world, there were dystopian-looking backdrops, creepy masks and bad acting. The target group was clearly missed. It was only this year that Nintendo achieved a major financial triumph. The Super Mario Bros. Movie quickly became the most successful video game film of all time.
The trailer already shows the wealth of detail in the scenes. They are peppered with Easter eggs, a feature of many game adaptations, and in my opinion, not necessarily a good one. Don’t misunderstand: One or two Easter eggs can certainly enrich a film.
But when a film does little more than provide a tongue-in-cheek reminder of the original and the experiences associated with it, the question of its raison d’être arises once again.
Even a film like Ready Player One, which doesn’t adapt a game but still quotes a lot and stages its action scenes like video games, can’t offer much more than a ton of Easter eggs garnished with a weak story.
If the underlying story or universe is narratively weak, as in the case of Super Mario, a film adaptation makes little sense due to the fact that film is a narrative medium.
Courage and competence of those responsible
Translating a game into a film is no easy task. As already stated above, it takes some courage to leave the familiar paths behind and dare to try something new. In this regard, it often fails in the conception, for example because producers from large studios do not dare to take large sums of money. If they do dare, there is a lack of willingness to take risks from an artistic perspective.
Artistic courage is always a risk at the box office. Innovative directors are therefore rarely allowed to take on these projects. It’s not for nothing that implementations of Bioshock by Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean), for example, came to nothing.
What many video game films, especially older ones, are also known for is their sometimes disastrous quality. Not only was courage saved in the implementation, but also expertise in directing, scripting and acting. Anyone who has ever seen a Mortal Kombat film, the never-ending Resident Evil series by Paul WS Anderson, or the cinematic crimes of Uwe Boll knows what I’m talking about. The budgets of these series-produced films are often correspondingly low – and it shows.
All of this would be bearable if the story, the characters and the general artistic vision were convincing. The total package of mediocrity (or worse)but makes many film adaptations seem like a tragedy.
How could you do it better?
Here are a few suggestions for better video game adaptations: The game that is to be adapted for the screen must be suitable for it. This eliminates games that are purely based on mechanics (or would you want to see a Counter Strike film?). The game must have an exciting story or an interesting universe that offers more than we know. The film has to set its own impulses in order to differentiate itself from the game. This requires a strong, artistic vision, i.e. directors who dare to do something. Depending on which game you are devoting yourself to, you need a reasonable budget so that the implementation doesn’t seem laughable.
And most importantly:
A video game adaptation requires heart and passion. Too often, such films were attempts to make money quickly and easily. It may be presumptuous to expect anything like passion from the film industry, which is always primarily economically minded, but there are enough positive examples that show that a compromise between financial success and dedication to art is possible.
The films deserve it, as do the games they are based on.
You can find a list of the worst video game adaptations according to the IMDb rating here on MeinMMO.