Since the last two movies I watched recently were video game movies, I've decided to give my full opinion when it comes to that genre of film and what could be done to improve it.
I know I've said this before, but when it comes to video game movies and their sequels they tend to usually suck for many reasons. These reasons include: Not having it to do with anything from the game(s) as far as the plot goes, to not having them centered around main character(s), to the movie making no damn sense whatsoever, and to having crappy directors(Uwe Boll) making the movie. There are many examples of bad video game movies that contribute to those factors and they include: Super Mario Bros, Max Payne, Bloodrayne, Alone in the Dark, and of course the Resident Evil movies. However with the Resident Evil movies, I do have a love/hate relationship with them which I'll explain later on.
Anyway, when video game movies are made they are usually made toward the fans of the series and those new to it. However, most of the times the fans of the series walkout of the movie at the end disappointed. But on that rare occasion the fans of the series will walk out feeling satisfied. The only example of a good video game movie that left fans of the series satisfied is the first 'Silent Hill' which I'll admit left me satisfied even though I've never played the series(which will change very soon). Now with the announcement of a live action movie of the Uncharted series, Splinter Cell series and Assassins Creed series which I'm a huge fan of them all. Due to this announcement, there is that massive 50/50 chance that they'll respect the source material and honor fans of the series or just give a big middle finger to fans like X-Men: Days of Future Past did to Brett Ratner and X3: The Last Stand.
In order for Hollywood to honor the fans of their favorite video game series, here are some obvious suggestions that I shouldn't have to make when making a live action video game movie. The first suggestion is get a good director! When it comes to getting a director, it's important to get one that has not just a popular fan base, but is able to make a film that honors the fans of the series as well. It's important hear what their vision of the film will be like and how they will honor the fans of the series especially if the director is fan of the series as well. The director of the first 'Silent Hill' movie, Christopher Gan, sent Konami a video interview where he explained his adaptation of the film and how important the series was to him. The second suggestion is casting the right actors/actress to portray the characters of the series. It can't just be about who the fans want to portray the character, it's all about how the actor or actress approaches their portrayal of the character. Another obvious suggestion that I shouldn't have to point out is making sure that the film is centered around the character(s) and that the plot follows the games and that the movies plot makes sense as well. If Hollywood did all of this then not only would the get a lot money from the movie, but they would also have the respect of the fans of that video game series.
As I said before, I have a love/ hate relationship with the Resident Evil movies and with good reason. Before I talk about the movies I just want to say that I have 5 out of 9 Resident Evil games in the main series. They are: Resident Evil Deadly Silence, Revelations on my 3DS, 4 on my Wii, and 5 along with 6 on my 360. Even though I haven't played all of the RE games I'm still a huge of the series, so you could probably understand my love/hate relationship toward the movies. To me the movies themselves aren't 'The Avengers' or Chris Nolan Batman good, they're okay. To me they take a different approach which I'll admit is interesting, but lacks what the games have which is horror and character. I did enjoy Apocalypse, Afterlife, and Little bit of Retribution. The reason being is because they took certain elements from the games and added them into the movies. Apocalypse was obviously heavily influenced by RE3: Nemesis, while Afterlife had elements of RE5 being the evolution of the zombies along with the Wesker fight scene at the end, and Retribution had elements of RE4 with a small bit of RE5. Other elements in those movies included adding characters from the games so that they could be part of the plot. When it came to casting them, most of the casting came with either backlash or praise to fans. I believe the casting of Leon was received with mixed reception. The only thing I did like about his character in Retribution was that he looked like him in RE4. I did love the casting of Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine, who are two of my characters in the games. Chris was played in Afterlife by Wentworth Miller from the Fox TV drama 'Prison Break' and Jill was played in Apocalypse, Afterlife, and Retribution by Sienna Guillory who has been in a different variety of films. I did enjoy Wentworth's portrayal of Chris in Afterlife and was a fan of 'Prison Break' prior to the release of Afterlife. I also did enjoy Sienna's portrayal of Jill and most people do believe that she is the best choice for the character. I think in my opinion the 3rd movie 'Extinction' is the one I hate the most. The reason being is because it was set in a cliché apocalyptic Las Vegas desert, there really wasn't that much of a plot and they butchered the Tyrant character so bad I feel pity for the character himself. As I said before that the movies are different which is interesting, but that's what makes me dislike them as well. The movies follow a character named Alice, who isn't in the games, as she tries to save the world from a hellish zombie apocalypse while seeking revenge against Umbrella for what they did to her and the world. The movies feel like a bad combination of the matrix mixed with Resident Evil that just doesn't work. Another thing I dislike about the series is the ridiculous amount of slow-motion that is used. This is no joke when I say this, I counted the number of times slow-motion was used in the beginning of 'Afterlife' and it was either 17 or 18 times. With production for delayed fans, among myself, will have to wait a bit longer until we hear the news of an RE movie reboot. I am among those as well hoping to hear the news of reboot as well and that it will follow the games. My hope is that if they do follow the games, it should begin with RE0 up to RE6 as well as getting a good director and cast for the film. Believe it or not before we got this RE movie series, the godfather of zombie movies George A. Romero was hired to write I script for a live action Resident Evil movie, but was fired after because the people that hired him didn't like it.
Of course when it comes to video game movies, there are the fans of certain video games series's that have been dying for a live action movie adaptation of their favorite series. These game series include: Halo, Bioshock, Half-Life. Portal, Deadspace, and Mass Effect. The most demanded one out of them all though is the Halo series. Fans have been dying to see a live action Halo movie for years and the funny is that was suppose to be one. It was to be produced by Steven Spielberg, but was scrapped due to the climbing budget of the film. Yes we've gotten live action Halo shorts that shows just how amazing a movie would have been, but who knows how long we'll have to wait for it to happen.
I want to hear your opinions of video game movies as well as the Resident Evil Movies and what video game you want Made into a movie. Also here's a link so you can read Mr. Romero's Resident Evil script: