Video game movies suck yes? Yes. Why do they suck? Because games are not based on narrative, they are based on player interaction gameplay, and that’s the way it should be. That’s why games are fun, and why they don’t translate well to a narrative medium. And yet, rabid game fans always INSIST that their favorite game would “make an awesome movie!!!” No, no it won’t, because that’s not what your game was designed or created for.
I’ve said for a long time that the only games that MIGHT have a chance of being decent movies are ones that are broad enough that filmmakers can use the universe the game inhabits, and create their own narrative around it without having to stick to a thin story that was originally created just to serve and push game play.
Anyway, the next up on the block is the crazy popular game “Bioshock“. The good folks over at Filmjunk have this:
the game’s developers have recently been in talks with a major movie studio and “the two have been getting along famously”. Details are scarce at the moment, but an inside source says that they want to shoot the movie in front of green screens in the style of 300, allowing the underwater world of Rapture to be created almost entirely through digital means. I can’t say I’m surprised by this news, and as we reported last year, Ayn Rand’s book Atlas Shrugged (widely cited as the inspiration for Bioshock) is also getting a big screen adaptation in the near future.
I haven’t had the pleasure of playing Bioshock yet, but from all accounts it’s supposed to be fantastic. But once again, until it’s proved otherwise, all video game movies suck. That doesn’t mean there’s no hope. That doesn’t mean that it can’t be done. But until it’s done, it’s safe to assume disaster.
