26 Ago Problems with movies based on games

Introduction
Be honest with yourself about when the film was announced "Assassin’s Creed" with Michael Fassbender based on the game series Assassin’s Creed, how did you feel? Was it a triumph and an immediate desire to look at the franchise from a new angle or a premature feeling of disappointment based on experience and intuition? If you are one of the former, then I am fascinated by your optimism and naivety, but if you are one of the latter, then congratulations: you have saved several hundred rubles and can go to a normal movie. Why so? Why are movies based on games a low-quality movie, when you watch it you simply don’t care about the plot, the characters and who just died… the setting is interesting, but it’s still a pity for the money spent.

Games as entertainment for children
Yes, yes… we’ll have to touch on this topic again. Yes, yes… in 2020 the reputation of games is not so bad and even adults play them. But in the film industry, or rather, in the industry itself top in this industry there are older guys sitting in the chairs. They don’t want invest money in the production of a film based on the game that his grandson is currently playing. He, on one of the councils, will decide to give the green light to a director who has already become an Oscar nominee a couple of times. The directors themselves too reluctantly agree to such experiments because they know: it’s a risky business, colleagues will look askance, and it all looks frivolous. AND, Unfortunately, films that managed to break through the barrier of Hollywood prudence, only confirm their fears, receiving red marks on Metacritics, a Golden Raspberry and widespread disdain. And these films are made by “creators” who nothing to lose, nowhere to go And too lazy to invent something of its own. Yes, and let’s remember that not only the director is responsible for the final product, but also the screenwriter, cameraman, actors, people who “draw” graphics etc. d. And let me remind you that professionals in each of these areas need substantial sums, who will not invest for pretty eyes and promises of a stunning artistic picture in the end.

A distinctive feature of games in the field of art
In computer games, as in other works of art, there are plot And innings this story. But in addition to the above-mentioned elements, there is also something that distinguishes games from cinema, books, painting and music. This gameplay. Without gameplay, the game will turn into an animated film. This is exactly what John Carmack was talking about when he argued that The plot in the game is necessary, but not important, the gameplay is important. It’s the gameplay that makes a game a game. When a director tries to turn a game into a movie, he must tear off the gameplay, which filled out some part of the work, and then this part fill out something that won’t happen contradict the plot, submission And concept original work. This is where the mistake is made. The director fills the space that was occupied by the gameplay with something that doesn’t converge with an original game concept. Let’s take the film adaptation as an example Doom 2005. The concept of the original game is quite simple: the player is alone runs by location, systematically shooting demons of all kinds weapons, simultaneously satisfying his need for destruction and dominance. And now again. Doom gives the player the opportunity dominate, destroy And kill, and the image masculine protagonist, who shines rage And by force even on a visual level screams it’s in our face that we have to act out fighter evil spirits.

And the film adaptation, in turn, https://goldenpokiescasino.co.uk/withdrawal/ shows us something like horror, in the center of which stand relationships soldier. Just a war drama with blackjack and mutants (who in the original are demons from the underworld, but this, as we have already found out, is not the main problem of the film). As a result, complete contradictions with the concept games. The soldiers, who were supposed to be replaced by one protagonist, walk along dark corridors, afraid of every rustle, when they should burst into a new room filled with creatures and shoot them left and right. If you think this would turn the film into a boring action movie, then I suggest you take a look at John Wick. This film perfectly shows how non-stop action can be interesting: creative choreography, skillful camera work and every time new conditions copes well with fights maintaining the viewer’s interest. And the most annoying thing is that in the end the film takes the righteous path, because the protagonist becomes stronger and starts kill those who scared… more precisely, tried to scare us throughout the film. The director’s mistake was that he tried make Doom something it’s not and failed.

Concept
At the heart of every serious work of art is concept, in other words, the idea that the author puts into the creation and which the viewer, listener or player must understand. But not everyone is capable of this, and the creators of films based on games are no exception. Instead of develop an idea embedded in the game, the authors go over and above the main idea give only an artistic shell, behind which, in the original, the concept was hidden. And again let’s take an example (where would we be without it??). Game series Assassin’s Creed at the beginning of its history contained an interesting the idea of ​​a global conspiracy, about the ease of manipulating consumer society, about one of the eternal dilemmas: “What is healthier for a person?? Unconditional submission to the privileged or freedom of action?» The authors added parkour, hidden blades, hoods, leaps of faith and even GLaDOS animus to the film adaptation of the game, but the film still failed… Why? It just wasn’t there main. There was no confrontation of ideologies. It would be possible to remove the hoods, hide the blades and forget about the past, it would be possible to show how Abstergo manipulates society, politics, economics for the sake of universal control in the 21st century and how the assassins are trying to stop them.

Viewer unfamiliar with the game series I would understand the message, and fans of the original would take a look at the Assassin’s Creed universe from a new angle. But the filmmakers thought that external resemblance will be enough and became not an exception to the rule, but a confirmation of it.

Everything at once
Sometimes it happens that background the future film is such that you can write a couple of encyclopedias, with a description of all the characters, events, places and lore twists and turns, and the director needs to decide how to present the story, whether to mention all the characters and events or leave it for later, whether to start the narrative, and if this is a cinematic universe, then counting from this point, etc. d. As with concept, This a problem not only with games, but with all works of art based on something. And here the director should not get excited no way. If he prepared, studied lore, read all the books and comics, then he, at the production stage, it may seem, which is already clear “who?", "whom?", "For what?" and "why?", and the viewer who came to the cinema simply won’t understand character motivations, timelines, and even plot. It is always necessary to slowly introduce characters into the story, not to overwhelm the viewer with dates and terms, to mention any event clearly and clearly, spelling out every detail for the unaware viewer. And here, as you might already understand, the directors also stood out. An excellent example is the film "Warcraft" 2016. Honestly, I liked it visual component of the film, and fans of the original MMORPG probably found a lot of references to the game, but the film was overloaded. Yes, the fans had no problems with this, but still they could not get a rating on Metacritics… but the film’s budget paid for itself 2 times, which made it not so difficult to endure defeat by critics.

How necessary? How they did it Marvel. Film after film, introduce characters using soloniks, and then roll it out crossover, and so on again and again, keeping the actors in place and the fans’ money in their pockets. But it was just necessary don’t rush And take things slowly. The audience didn’t have to watch the development of Iron Man or Captain America in a 10-minute scene at the beginning of the film, because they remember them from their solo films, they didn’t have to explain what a tesseract is either, the audience also knows Thor and Loki, and they can spend time on Hawkeye and Black Widow; in the cinematic universe, they are still not such well-thought-out characters as the first ones. Marvel Filmmakers Simply were able to imagine themselves in the place of the viewer and made the most large And successful cinematic universe in the history of cinema. Something similar could have happened to the Warcraft movie if the director put yourself in the place of the spectator.

Bottom line
The gaming industry is developing, and its fans are growing along with it. And who knows, maybe one of them will make a good movie based on Far Cry or The Last of Us, and someone will give money for this. Filmmakers just need to understand that games are a serious part of culture that contains a message and should be treated with all respect. Grown-up men at the top of the film industry will be replaced by bolder men, and a new generation of talented directors will not be afraid to film something they played. Everything has its time..