VG Opinion Poll #14 - Possible VG movies?

[Final Hero]

I think, as you do, that it's only a matter of time before movies based on video games are the norm. It seems that Hollywood is dying for licensed stories as they can't seem to produce enough original material.

This is very much so. I mean, heck, when they start making remakes of movies such as Cheaper By the Dozen - which were fun, camp pieces the first time around, but really not all that original in and of their own right and therefore not begging for a remake - you know they're hurting for material.

That aside, I can see your point about CGI. While I don't think it will replace live action, I think we have been acclimated to its inclusion in movies to the point that you can get away with semi- or mostly-CGI films like Mega Man, for example, should be to minimize deviation from the game(s).

Definitely. Don't get me wrong - I love a properly-executed, entirely live action flick. And I think there's a lot of genres/subgenres out there - chick flicks, romances, and of course modern life fiction, for example - that will remain almost entirely live action, simply because of the nature of the genre. But I think - as you agreed - that making a video game film predominately CGI allows the film to stay as true to the source material as possible.

And, yes, of course movies can help the fan base of the original work (whatever medium it might be). So a Mega Man/Zelda/Castlevania/etc. movie would get people interested in the source games but, I would argue, only if the movie is done right.

And honestly, I wouldn't want the movie to be made unless it is "done right," i.e. not only as close to the source material as possible, but including all the major plotlines and sub-plotlines as possible. That was the issue I had with the movie Watchmen - it was good enough, considering time restraints and audience attention spans, but a lot of the important sub-plotlines were removed, and so a lot of times the audience was stuck going (for example), "Wtf? Why the heck is there a freaking genetically engineered supercat in the Antarctic?" because the sub-plotline in the book that explained the cat's existence wasn't included in the movies.

I mean, it's a thin line between maintaining the story's structural integrity and keeping the movie short enough to keep the audience entertained when it comes to video game/comic/novel crossovers to movie (especially with video games), but I always prefer to err in the direction of maintaining the integrity. But then, I'm a writer - I always prefer to tell the story right.

Good points, FH.

Thanks.