Why Video Game Movies Are Always TERRIBLE (Some are alright)

I am glad you didn't fall into the obvious trap of saying that there is something inherent about video games in themselves which prohibits them from translating into good movies, because that is clearly complete nonsense. I'm sure they said that about comic books in the 80s and its just completely untrue. Both video games and comic books feature vast untapped resources of great characters, interesting settings, complex stories.... just about everything you would need to make a good movie.

I disagree however very much with your main point that no-one wants to see them directly translate the plot of the games - that is *exactly* what I want to see, and exactly what they have not been doing up to this point. The first Resident Evil movie is a prime example of this. It would of translated perfectly into a creepy atmospheric horror movie, and yet they turn it into an action-adventure movie with kinda similar plot, kinda similar locations and kinda similar characters, and then try and justify it by saying that fans don't want a direct translation of the game because they've already played it - completely untrue.

I would love to be able to sit down and watch a 2 hour movie version of Resident Evil that recaptures everything that makes the original great, with the exact same storyline, without having to go through the considerable effort of playing through the difficulties of a sometimes very tricky game over a period of several weeks.

That said, there is still an odd obsession amongst filmmakers that think we want video game movies which feature video game elements randomly shoe-horned in - such as first person scenes or top-down perspectives, or featuring ironic uses of video game tropes such as power-ups or health-meters.

Overall though, I think video game movies are moving in the right direction.

They have obviously suffered from the likes of Uwe Boll in the past, who realised that video game movies are a rather profitable way to make money with a bad film by piggybacking of the brand recognition of a popular video game, using a cheaply available licensing fee. (in much the same way that video game manufacturers realised they could do likewise with shitty movie tie-in games that require little-to-no effort on their part to shift millions of units)

Main stream Hollywood has also realised they need to be a bit more selective about which properties they adapt, not just picking popular games with famous characters, but games which have complex worlds and rich mythologies which can be properly adapted into cinematic stories.

Like Comic Book adaptations it may take them a few more years to get there, but they will eventually get there.

I think a reason why it is tough to make a movie based on a game is the same with translating a book to a movie. You have about 2 hours to cram in so much lore and detailed plotlines that it's just not enough time without tons of exposition. Fans get turned off and the GA gets bored and tired trying to understand so much information in a short time.

I feel like maybe games would work better as a tv series. Can you imagine a Game of Thrones movie series? I doubt it would work as well as the show. A Resident Evil tv show could be amazing.