Why Games To Films Don't Work

As a fan of both worlds of video games and film, the torrid and painful relationship angers and annoys myself and millions of others. It just does not work. It is not due to one media being inferior to the other; it is just the fact that they are different and do not belong together. It’s like turning marmite into jam.

One only has to look at the backlog of diabolical video game to film adaptations – Lara Croft 1 and 2, Mortal Kombat, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Super Mario Bros *shudder*. All of them were poorly acted, poorly scripted, dull, unimaginative and just an unpleasant waste of 90-100 minutes of my life. One problem arrives at the lack of effort put into these films, as shown with the recent adaptation of Prince of Persia, it seems the current trend is to throw money and hope for the best. Furthermore, taking into account the current state of these adaptations, no big name director or writer would be willing to stick their neck on the line due to the horrible task of channelling the video game experience into a suitable film experience.

Videogames just do not suit the big screen as they focus upon interaction from the audience whereas with films, the emphasis upon the auteur controlling the audience. Therefore, this transfer of power is unnatural and comes across as awkward on celluloid. Is it due to the inferiority of videogames? No. Games such as Legends of Zelda, Resident Evil, Final Fantasy and Call of Duty have great plots, fun experiences, and brilliant dialogue. Granted videogames use cinematic styles and thematic to provide greater atmosphere but there is no reason for this to be replicated onto the big screen. However, they need to remain separate to keep their own identity and credibility and to maintain their brilliance. Indeed, Max Payne and Resident Evil have lost some of their stature within the gaming world due to their respective god-awful films.

There has been financial success with some adaptations such as the recent Resident Evil series but many who saw the most recent entry into the series were not the original fans of the gaming series. Therefore, the target market is not interested anymore and renders these films almost obsolete. Many hopefuls of future videogame adaptations use the argument of coolness stating how cool it would be; however, it is similar to the idea of starting a band. It’s a great premise but a bitterly disappointing reality.