I originally sat down to write about all the Star Wars Episode VII news coming out of Star Wars Celebration Europe; however, video game movie news caught my eye and changed the direction of this post.
Most of the movie news came from Comic-Con 2013 last week, but there are still some interesting tidbits trickling out that either made me excited or made me sad…
It seems Deus Ex: Human Revolution will be hitting the big screen, but not as a video game movie according to co-writer C. Robert Cargill. “It’s not a video game movie, it’s a cyberpunk movie,” Cargill said. “Eidos Montreal has given us a lot of freedom in terms of story; they want this movie to be Blade Runner. We want this movie to be Blade Runner.”
Blade Runner is an amazing movie. I’ll go so far as to call it a classic. While I admire Cargill’s aspiration for the Deus Ex movie, I have reservations. First, Cargill is co-writing only his second movie script. And while his skills as a writer on Ain’t It Cool News are evident, there was nothing special about his first movie, Sinister (can you say cliche ending?). My second reservation has to do with a quote from EA Entertainment VP Patrick O’Brien who believes the best way to make a movie based on a video game is to start at the publisher level and then shop it to movie studios. Which begs the question, “Do all game publishers feel this way? And what has Eidos or Square Enix done for us with regards to video game movies that indicates they can give us a quality movie?” With Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life and Hitman on their resume, I can’t imagine Deus Ex will be anything more than another craptastic adaptation.
Now, don’t get me wrong. As a gamer and a geek, I hope Cargill is able to bring Deus Ex to the big screen and entertain me. We don’t need another Uwe Boll pile of shit (Why do we need In the Name of the King 3?).
Speaking of shitty movies… who’s bright idea was it to turn Gran Turismo into a movie? Last time I checked, this was a racing game without a story! A Need For Speed movie might actually work, but I’m not holding my breath. About the only detail about EA’s adaptation is that Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul has the lead role.
Then there’s Shadow of the Colossus. Why is this even being considered as a movie? There was what, three whole minutes of a story? Did we not learn anything from George Lucas and the Star Wars prequels. Computer graphics without substance do not make a good movie! To quote Richard when I told him about it, “That saddens me greatly.”
In the end, gamers are looking at more bastardizations of our beloved gaming franchises.
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