Why SHOULDN'T Videogame Movies Be So Easy?

You know what a movie studio covets most these days? Comic movies. Summer tentpoles that come nicely packaged with pre-written stories, dedicated fans and dramatic flair for the uninitiated.

Funny… that describes videogame properties as well.

And yet videogame movies remain arguably the worst genre of movies ever created. Why? Perhaps it’s because they’re treated exactly the OPPOSITE of comic movies. Take Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and Iron Man. All three were created with the highest respect for source material. And all largely stayed within the boundaries of “believability” for fans of these heros.

Not so with videogame movies. Take your pick. Other than Mortal Kombat, virtually all are created with little respect to the original games’ visions. Resident Evil, Double Dragon, Super Mario Bros., etc. All flops on the grandest scale. And yet they had fanatical fanbases, adequate to very good mythos and huge brand equity BEFORE a script was ever written.

All of which should have guaranteed at least modest success and fair storytelling. But no. The movies wildly diverged from everything that made the games popular. Again I ask, why? Why shouldn’t videogames be so easy to make? Why NOT make Resident Evil The Movie the live-action realization of the first game? Why not accept Super Mario has no business BEING live-action?

Some will argue that videogame movies need to be “polished” by Hollywood to be accepted by a mass audience. And that game players don’t want to see a storyline they’ve played retold on screen. I disagree.

Games worthy of a movie have proven that their fiction has massive, lasting appeal. And great stories don’t get old. Especially when told on the big screen. Just like comic movies have proven, stay true to the source and good things happen. 

So here’s hoping someday Hollywood will see the light. That dreadful flicks like Resident Evil: Extinction are replaced by the ACTUAL RESIDENT EVIL STORIES. That Super Mario spends 90 minutes of CG glory in the Mushroom Kingdom and that Hollywood gives the world what they ACTUALLY love. Instead of what Hollywood thinks they SHOULD love.