Video game movies have a long reputation for failing. From the early days with Super Mario Bros (1993, Annabel Jankel/Rocky Morton) to Uwe Boll’s slue of terrible adaptations. And even today with video games being more cinematic and centred around the story, why is Hollywood still struggling to adapt them into successful movies? The three most recent Videogame Adaptation are Warcraft (2016, Duncan Jones), Assassin’s Creed (2016, Justin Kurzel) and Tomb Raider (2018, Roar Uthag). All three received mixed reviews and failed to break even at the box office. And today we'll look into why.
Warcraft
Based on the insanely popular MMO game, Warcraft is arguably the most faithful movie adaptation of a video game. With game-accurate landscapes, character designs and stories. So where exactly did the film go wrong? Whilst fans enjoyed it, general audiences were unable to click with it. Well, my belief is that there are two reasons for this. The first is the film’s faithfulness to its source material and its storytelling
As I previously mentioned, Warcraft is incredibly faithful to its source material. And whilst this is great for fans it doesn’t really allow room for other audiences. The movie expects you to have knowledge of what WOW is about, which doesn’t really help. Director Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code) wanted to create a movie for the fans, which I believe he successfully did. But general audiences couldn’t really get what was going on.
The other problem was the storytelling. Due to the nature of the game, it features many storylines that the movie tried to tell. The game’s story has been going for many years and has a multitude of layers to it that have been added over time. And so, attempting to adapt as many storylines as the movie did, with no clear leads on either side of the conflict, makes it harder to connect with either side since none of the characters can truly anchor the plot. If the film had selected one character and told the story from their perspective, then perhaps the film would have been more understandable.
Assassin's Creed
Assassin’s Creed is one of the most popular game franchises going now. The story seems like it could be easily adapted to film. With great characters, great action and gameplay and interesting stories. During the run-up to its release Assassin’s Creed had a lot of hype behind it. It had fan-favourite Michael Fassbender (X-Men: First Class, Shame), the costumes were game-accurate, and the trailers showed a pretty interesting story set during the time of the Spanish Inquisition. The film did focus on characters that don’t feature in the games, but that’s okay since most of the games focused on different characters from different points in time. However, when the film finally hit theatres the reception for it was not good.
Instead of the fast-paced Action/Adventure that was promised in the trailers, audiences were instead given a slow-paced drama that focused less on the action and more on one-dimensional characters set in the present day. The one element of the games that fans simply don't care about. Leaving the scenes set in the past (The thing that fans were actually interested in) with only 20% of the screen time and feeling more like a side-story. Which is a serious shame as those scenes are the best part of the whole movie, with action sequences that were accurate to the gameplay of the video games and a good depiction of the war between the Assassins Guild and the Templars. But these scenes are few and far between and are treated more like fan service. If the movie had been mainly set in the past or only just set in the past, then I think fans would have enjoyed the film more.
Finally, the film also falls victim to something that doesn’t just plague video game movies but most franchise movies, which is making the first movie a set-up for a bigger sequel. This tactic sank the Andrew Garfield Spider-Man films and the Universal’s Dark Universe. And, unfortunately, Assassin’s Creed does the same. So instead of feeling like a movie with a beginning, middle and end, it feels more like a 2-hour long trailer for another movie. This is not a good way to start a franchise, as the audience feels like they only got a taste of what they already paid to see.
Tomb Raider
Much like Assassin's Creed, the Tomb Raider series is a highly popular franchise. And in 2011 the games were given a grittier reboot with a storyline that seemed very well suited for a movie adaptation. And whilst it does have similar issues to Assassin’s Creed, I believe that the overall movie is more enjoyable. The movie handles its main character better than the other two films. Lara Croft (Alicia Vikander) is a very interesting character and the changes that the film made to her, such as making her more of an adrenaline junkie made sense and Alicia Vikander (The Man From UNCLE, Ex Machina) did an amazing job of making her a relatable action hero who was in way over her head.
But, as I said, the movie does have similar issues to Assassin’s Creed. Such as focusing on the elements that made the game interesting, such as the gritty action and desperate quest for survival, and puts more of a focus on Lara’s family drama with the action being few and far between and serving more like fan service. And whilst it isn’t as obvious that the film is setting up a bigger sequel it does seem to just end on an unfinished note. If the movie was more about Lara’s quest to save her friends and survive, like in the game, then it would have improved the story.
Another change that the movie made from the game was the realistic approach. The game had a more mystical story with the main villain being a cult leader who worships an evil Goddess named Himiko and featured monsters that you had to battle. The film, however, takes a more grounded and realistic approach. Making Himiko a queen rather than a God and not giving a mystical curse but a biological disease instead. And whilst that was an interesting take on Himiko’s myth, I think overall, it takes away the fantasy element, which is a big part of the Tomb Raider games. Lara Croft is known for fighting mythical monsters. Even the 2011 video game had this with the giant samurai-styled monsters. It was an interesting take on the villain from the game, but overall, it hindered the movie from feeling like a Lara Croft story.
Conclusion
Whilst all three movies have good elements to them, such as faithfulness to the games in terms of aesthetics and action, but these things are hindered mainly by the storytelling and focus. In the case of Warcraft, it was that they were trying to tell several stories in the same movie and as a result not truly having a coherent narrative. For both Assassin’s Creed and Tomb Rader it was that they focused on the drama between characters rather than focusing on what made the games popular. Not committing to the Gritty Action/Thriller/Adventure genre that either source material is based in.
Is there Hope?
Yes. Despite the flaws of these films, they do demonstrate that video games can be adapted into movies. Warcraft may be a mess in terms of plot but proved that game-accurate aesthetics can be achieved. Assassin’s Creed and Tomb Raider may treat the action as a secondary concern but the action scenes that they do have are very well done and very faithful to the gameplay of each franchise. If future adaptations put more of a focus on the elements of the games that fans love, like the action and the characters, and really dive into the genres that the games are a part of, then they could be quite successful.
Love them or hate them. Marvel Studios have mastered being faithful to their source material, ranging around various genres, such as political-thriller to Sci-Fi, whilst also being accessible to general audiences and it’s one of the most successful movie studios of all time. If video game movies achieve the same kind of coherent method of storytelling, then I believe they will be successful.
And those are my thoughts on why Video game movies are unsuccessful. What did you think of what I said? Do you agree or disagree? Leave a comment down below. And, if you liked what you read then you can follow this blog for more content. Thank you for reading.
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