Adapting popular video games into feature films seems like a no-brainer given the massive popularity and built-in audiences of major gaming franchises. However, most video game movies have failed both critically and commercially. A great example is the recently released Kevin Hart starrer ‘Borderlands.’
Despite big budgets and talented creatives behind the camera, adaptations like Assassin’s Creed, Tom Holland starrer ‘Uncharted‘, and ‘The Tomb Raider‘ have earned poor reviews and underwhelmed at the box office. There are several challenges that make faithfully translating the interactive experience of a video game into a passive cinematic one incredibly difficult.
Video Game Movies Lack Interactivity And Ignores Source Material
One of the biggest hurdles for any video game adaptation is how to deal with the interactivity that defines the experience. While movies are a linear, passive experience, video games are interactive forms of storytelling where the player influences and controls the narrative. As game designer Jesper Juul notes, “You can’t have narration and interactivity at the same time; there is no such thing as a continuously interactive story“.
By nature, a movie removes this vital element that gamers engage with. Cutscenes that move the plot forward can work in an interactive medium but drag a movie to a halt. Many narratives also do not translate well when stripped of the interactivity that provides context for bizarre or convoluted events.
Another major failing of video game movies is filmmakers who do not properly familiarize themselves with and respect the source material. All adaptations require making changes to fit a new medium, but not doing the bare minimum to understand a game’s complex world-building or characters sets an adaptation up for criticism.
Annabel Jankel and Rocky Morton, directors of the infamous 1993 Super Mario Bros. movie, admitted they “weren’t wildly enthusiastic gamers“. More recently, creators of the Halo TV show said they avoided discussing the games to prevent being “too literal” an adaptation. The source is vital for faithful adaptations of beloved franchises.
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Recreating Iconic Gameplay In Live-Action Is A Difficult Task
Iconic gameplay sequences and boss battles are what gaming fans remember and enjoy enacting themselves. Merely watching these as set pieces lose what made them engaging in the first place. Finding cinema equivalents that provide the same thrills is practically impossible.
Video game movies struggle as they must find creative solutions to overcome the translation of an interactive experience into a passive one. While minor successes are being made, faithfully adapting video games without compromising what defines the medium and experience remains an undeniably tough challenge for filmmakers.
More experimental approaches may be needed to one day crack bringing beloved games satisfyingly to the big screen. In recent times, TV showrunners may have cracked the code for this. TV Shows like ‘The Last Of Us’ and ‘Fallout’ are great examples of how to adapt a video game. So it can be said that creators who want to adapt video games must go for TV shows rather than movies.
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