Video Games Movies That Should Be Made
Written by: Adam "ManKorn" Korenman, CC2K Video Games Editor
Like most internet personalities, I used to host a movie review. As part of an unscripted, unsupported and–most importantly–unpaid gig, I would sit down to view some of the worst drivel ever put forth by man, all for the sake of a few laughs. While I never did achieve YouTube celebrity status, I did walk away with crippling emotional scars. Along the way, I saw more than a few film adaptations of beloved video games.
Why is it so hard to make a good movie based on a game? Most of today’s best series are cinematic adventures, some incorporating thousands of pages of detailed scripts and dialogue. How do directors fail in hitting the mark when the source material is self-explanatory?
In the holiday spirit, let’s take a trip to Dreamland and see five video game franchises that could totally pull off a movie.
(5) Metal Gear
The Metal Gear franchise is the to video games what the Matrix was to movies: Epic and incredible, but also incredible wierd and polarizing in later installments.
If you can’t make giant robots fighting other robots cool, then you lost at filmmaking
As the brainchild of Hideo Kojima, Metal Gear follows the exploits of one Solid Snake, a super-soldier/super-spy/chain-smoking badass. Heading into dangerous situations with naught but his wry-wit and deadly fists, Snake stops world-changing mega weapons from staying in the wrong hands. And all while laying down some sweet game on the ladies.
Snake is into some kinky stuff
In the last few games, however, the conspiracy theory has been laid on a little too thick. Oddball political comedy, mixed with poorly named secret societies, made the storyline something of a laughing stock in the industry. Despite killer gameplay and incredible visuals, the franchise began to suffer. We in the business call this the “Super Mario 2 Syndrome.”
So how can we make a movie out of this game series without alienating more casual audiences? Easy. We take it back to the start.
Tell the story of a young soldier named David as he rises up the ranks of a secret military organization. Start us before the events of Outer Heaven, before Zanzibar left deep scars on the would-be-hero. Show the audience the human side of this one-man killing machine. Then, in the second half of the movie, you show us Snake taking down Big Boss’s fortresses.
Cool guys don’t look at explosions. I know this because it’s in a song
Would it be better than Armageddon? Maybe. It all depends on getting the right director and the right actors. In any case, Spike Jones needs to get started on this before Metal Gear Solid 5 changes the canon too much.