We continue the list of disastrous film adaptations video game movies and also take a look at some that managed to live up to their billing, albeit barely.
What did they do? They screwed it up that’s what. The plot lacked imagination and failed to pull anyone in. There were a few nods towards the game’s inspiration yet they were so tacky and cheesy that many people who played the game probably felt embarrassed.
Mario was a disaster of epic proportions as Hollywood decided to mutilate a much loved video game ion and franchise. Again, the basic premise of both the game and the movie was an Italian plumber trying to save a princess, which meant that the movie had plenty of freedom to adapt it to film in an infinite number of ways.
The way they went about it though was appalling.
Yet, every so often, Hollywood manages to do a half decent job of turning a video game into a watchable and sometimes enjoyable movie.
Fans of the Resident Evil series had mixed reactions when they found out a film based on the survival-horror franchise was in the works. Would it be any good? Would it stay true to the video game series?
In the end what movie goers got was a pretty decent take on the Resident Evil video games as a number of characters made the film and a number of iconic ‘tyrants’ or bosses, made their way into the film as well.
The sequel followed suit as did the third and action-packed fourth movies. By no means are we suggesting that they were perfect – not by a long shot – yet they kept the connection with the video game stronger than the other movies had a tendency to do, and for some fans that was enough.
For example, the Nemesis tyrant (in Resident Evil 2) and the Marini executioner (Resident Evil: Afterlife) were both characters taken directly from the video game and both of them were massive hits in the movie.
The storyline was loosely based on the video games as but the third part the entire world had been run over by zombies, something that is yet to happen in the games, but then again, Hollywood used their freedom to make the film more relevant for a wider audience.
Hitman was another game that found the right balance between the two mediums. However, rarely has there been a movie that has divided opinion in the same way that Hitman did; the audience either loved it or hated it, with very little middle ground.
Timothy Olyphant may not have been the perfect choice to be cast as Agent 47 but he did his part in a cold calculating way, yet why the script writer’s decided to throw a love interest in there was beyond any of the fans of the game.
However, there were moments that were taken directly from the video game series itself and those bits made the movie connect with the fans on a much deeper level.
Disclaimer: the views and opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the editorial policy of Bettor.com. He was greatly upset by the Max Payne movie among others and feels that it is about time that video games get their due respect.
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