Videogames Into Movies, A Complex Science

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time in HD

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So the video above is the trailer for the movie "Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time," which for those that know, was a videogame. This is the movie adaptation of said videogame. Now for me, videogames becoming movies is just a really uncomfortable idea in general. The reason being is that these days, videogames, the ones produced with effort and care, are pretty much movies anyway. I have long believed that videogames are pretty much an interactive story and with the technology and the budget that videogames command today, it's up there with the good old standard feature-length movie. Alyssa Rosenberg shared her two cents on this "Prince Of Persia" movie and I agree with her. You really would've thought Sir Ben Kingsley would have learned his lesson when it comes to being involved in a movie that's adapted from a videogame, especially a bad videogame. The thing about this "Prince Of Persia" movie is that why do studios feel the need to retell the story that those that have played the videogame have already gone through? It definitely strikes a nerve with those loyal to the videogame for whatever reason(s) if something in a movie adaptation wasn't in the videogame original, though the whole "foaming mouth of rage of the fanboy" is another topic of discussion. However that's always been one thing I've been baffled about whenever I come across a picture studio trying to acquire the rights to make a movie from a videogame franchise. As I said earlier, with the way some videogames are developed and budgeted, these aren't just games you could play for 45 minutes and think you've had your fill.

No.

There is a laundry list of games that have such rich storylines that literally take hours to complete and you are glad that you went along for an immersive and rewarding ride. Videogames like "Indigo Prophecy," "Shadow of the Colossus," along with established franchises like "Metar Gear Solid" and "Final Fantasy," have such grandiose stories that it's just flat out impossible to tell them again and in a two hour format.

If movie studios want to make pictures out of videogames because they know at the very least, the fans of that videogame will go and see it, they need to stop doing adaptations of what has already been played/told. I think what would be a better idea is to tell a brand new story involving the major player(s) from the videogame franchise. An opening sequence in a movie can easily do a quick introduction as to who, what the core of the story is, where it started, why you want to care for them if you didn't play the videogame the movie is working off of.

The bottom line is some videogames can work as a movie, on paper. However it would be great if the paper had some original work on it and not just a carbon copy of what was already told, played, and enjoyed.

Then again, to ask for Hollywood to come up with something original is a fool's prayer anyways.

Posted in: alyssa rosenberg,soapboxing,trailers,video games