A Potpourri of Vestiges Feature
Video games are a huge multi-million dollar
industry with a fiercely dedicated fanbase. For film companies it seems like a
safe bet with an instant audience. So, what goes wrong?
Super Mario Brothers
Despite being one of the most famous and
well-loved computer games of all time, the 1993 Super Mario Brothers movie
failed to have the same impact. Even British actor Bob Hoskins, who played
Mario, declared it as the worst thing he ever did.
The film is fading into obscurity, buried
under the still growing Mario franchise consisting of over 200 video games,
multiple spin-offs and even themed online slot machines. In fact, the online
slots get a better review than the movie.
Warcraft
Warcraft (2016) is based on the games and
characters from the hugely popular World of Warcraft (WoW), a MMORPG, or
“massively multiplayer online role-playing game”. It is the highest grossing
film based on a video game, taking $433.7 million at the global box office.
Sounds impressive, but due to the huge production costs the film barely broke
even. The general consensus from gaming fans, critics and film fans alike, is
that Warcraft was considerably less than “WoW”.
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
Angelina Jolie was the perfect choice to
bring gun-toting, adventurer Lara Croft to life. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
(2001), and the sequel, Lara
Croft: Cradle of Life
(2003), aren’t the most cerebral of films, but they manage to be mildly
entertaining.
While the game isn’t quite as popular as
it once was, it seems Lara has one more life left. The next movie installment
is on the way, but this time without Jolie. Stepping into Lara’s boots is
Swedish actress, Alicia Vikander (The
Danish Girl). Set for release sometime in 2018, the film is a remake of the
2001 film. Perhaps, Oscar winner Vikander will be able to inject a level of
sophistication to the role and save the day for Lara Croft.
Final Fantasy
Released in 2001, "Final Fantasy: The Spirits
Within" was an ambitious venture into using photorealistic CGI in a
feature length film. While the film failed to live up to the hype, the animated
features which followed, Final Fantasy: Advent Children (2005) and Kingsglaive:
Final Fantasy XV (2016), breathed life back into the film franchise, at least
for video game fans.
Resident Evil
Starring Milla Jovovich as Alice, the Resident Evil
film series has been successful enough to spawn six films so far. The first
installment released in 2002 was fairly well received and is perhaps one of the
more acceptable video game/movie crossovers. However, by Resident Evil: The
Final Chapter (2016), it seemed to have lost some of its shine and the film
barely manages to scrape two-stars in any review.
Mortal Kombat
You would be forgiven for thinking that
all films based on video games are doomed to fail, but Mortal Kombat (1992)
managed to hold its own. Well, at least the first film did. Mortal Kombat was
the first video game movie undertaking by director, Paul W.S. Anderson, who
went on to direct four out of the six Resident Evil films. However, Mortal
Kombat: Annihilation (1997), directed by John R. Leonetti, was so bad that the planned
second sequel was shelved.
Silent Hill
While Silent Hill (2006) has critics divided, as an
adaptation it stays true to its original story. As a movie, it was praised for
the atmospheric visuals but panned for the incoherent story and inane dialogue.
Directed by Christopher Gans and written by Roger Avary, Silent Hill manages to
pass as a fairly decent horror movie pleasing both movie audiences and fans of
the game. The sequel however, Silent Hill: Revelation (2012), missed the mark
on both counts resulting in an audience of angry gamers and confused movie
fans.
Readers, please feel free to share your opinion by leaving your comments. As always your valuable thoughts are highly appreciated!
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I would love to see a movie of tomb raider
ReplyDeleteWell, I think they are working on a reboot!
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