Entry #8: Movie/Show Adaptations
What could go wrong?
In todays' age, the film industry is on a trend of taking a famous or well known video game, manga, and anime then turning it into a movie or show. While some may do better than others, one common thing I see that even fans have a problem with, is the habit to want to change the original source material they were given. Or even have no relation or experience with the original, I understand wanting to appeal to audiences outside of the original media it was made but it feels like a disservice to fans all around. There are good examples that manage to do both and well, for example, The Last Of Us. That show does an amazing job of being able to take the original source material and bend it a little to feel more realistic and fitting rather than the "video game logic". One bad example would be the Halo series, with the show runners admitting to never playing the games before even working on the show.
The possible solution
One thing I have seen in examples of shows that work is either take the animated route to maintain that video game logic but also to have the game director alongside the project to help constantly guide how the media should play out. Another thing that could help is to base it off in the same world as the original source material but make an all new story with new characters within that world, have it connect, but don't advertise it as being a 1:1 adoption. Too many times do we see this fan disservice with only a few things becoming a good adaptation like One Piece, The Witcher (part of it), with many more to come like Fallout, Halo Season 2, and the recently announced live-action Cyberpunk. Only time will tell if these new shows or movies will be able to hit the bar between satisfying both fans and newcomers alike rather than falling to the fate of the horrendous like the movie DOOM.
Are we running out of ideas
I want to close this off by bringing up the question of Where are all the original idea movies and shows at? Yes, there is still some but it seems every year we get to less and less and more just of sequels, adaptations, or remakes. As much as I am a fan of John Wick, there does not need to be a 5th movie! Even the actor himself is agreeing that the series needs to come to an end but the industry is of course driven by money so if it sells then they'll continue to keep making it. I miss the times of one and done movies like the recent movie The Creator and I hope one day we can reach that again or at least be able to nail down the adaptations.
I feel your annoyance at the amount of video game adapted movies. It feels like if one does well they decide they need to make hundreds more. I didn't even know they were planning on making a Fallout TV show, but it seems like a very bad idea. With shows like the Last of Us, the story follows a set past, but with the Fallout franchise the whole point of the game is that there are multiple choices that the story could follow. Whenever they make a decision like this it seems like a cash grab.
ReplyDeleteI agree, there isn't many movie adaptations of video games that live up to the hype of the game its self. One specific series that comes to my mind is Mortal Kombat, I love the games but man the movies are just horrendous! The movies bring shame to the Mortal Kombat universe in my opinion. Also, I love your idea to bring in the game director to help drive the narrative of the movie!
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