A prime example of how NOT to do a video game adaptation...
Films based upon video games have seemed to have been a lost cause from the very beginning - why is that? What is it that makes it so difficult to faithfully adapt an entirely different medium and vice versa? The answer does not rest on the shoulders of Uwe Boll, that's for certain.
What is also for certain is that this article will not be added onto the pile of that is expressly written to disgrace Boll... I think every self-respecting person has had that point hammered home already.
...yeah.
(If the title of the video doesn't give it away, watch out for some choice language in there.)
Moving swiftly on, my personal bugbear when it comes to video game adaptations is a simple one: the project is often handled by a director or crew that have either never heard of, change too much from what was expected of an adaptation or just don't care about what it is they're adapting. The adaptation of hard-boiled noir thriller Max Payne is at the forefront of this problem: whilst director John Moore expresses in several interviews about how he attempted to appeal to the fans of the game, very little of what made Max Payne what it was made it into the film. My mind swivelled through all kinds of mild insanity clauses wondering why the archetype Jim Bravura, a crooked and stubborn, most notably white detective was cast with rapper Ludacris sporting the role. Why is beyond me. It could be interpreted as attempting to mix up the formula so as to not alienate audiences or fans, but what it ends up doing is alienating both, as the dialogue is clearly written for that archetype, creating a jarring tone with the entire character.
But that was the least of Max Payne's worries...
In the basis of adaptation, books go through similar issues as video games do, albeit video games have the issue of transgressing an interactive medium to a passive medium. The same issue occurs vice versa, with video game tie-ins of films, which can come out good despite often being rushed to match the film's release.
This leads to the question teased ever so cunningly at the beginning - but how can a video game be faithfully adapted into a film? (Same applies for any other medium.)
Respect for the source material! This goes the longest of ways for an adaptation, those who are behind it have to have respect for what they're adapting and savvy enough to know when to make compromise in order to fit it into the medium of film. What is key also is to not change what the original material provides in terms of its story or not to retcon any plot elements from said original material, but taking the material and taking it for a spin, create a new story within that universe instead of taking liberties with the material and doing a story that the original material has already done. After all, the point of adapting into a new medium is to tread new ground - not retread old ground that has frankly probably been done better before.
Sometimes however, there are just some things that should not be touched, as taking a game with barely any substance in terms of story and giving it a feature-length story is most likely going to go horrifically wrong. Here's looking at you, Street Fighter or the Super Mario Bros. movies. Those should have been left to their own wits, if you ask me.
If you're morbidly curious however, you can find the Super Mario Bros. movie in its entirety on YouTube. "Why the hell would you want to watch it, especially after what you just said?" I hear you ask, and I reply: Why the hell not? Instead of paying precious money to see it, you'll only be paying with your time, which is arguably not that precious if you watch this film with the intention of finding something more than just laughably passable.
Don't say I didn't warn you...
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