Video game movies mostly center around the wrong kind of violence

For most of their short history, video game movies have been ridiculed by fans and moviegoers alike.Recent TV hits the last of us and prime video fall out While it's been proven that video games can be effectively adapted as television shows, most video game movies still remain patchy chimeras. From the neck down, he flaunts action-movie mass and limbs. But the brains of these movies are fused with the originals.When video game movies are lackluster Street Fighter Chun-Li Legend Making the original story confusing or ineffable atmosphere If you get it wrong, the whole thing will collapse under its own weight. The catalyst for this failure is usually the specific way video game movies rely on violence. It's rarely the right kind of thing.

Video game movie makers tend to act like nervous parents and peek through their fingers. call of duty with a sniper mortal kombat Deduce that all video games are essentially ticking time bombs of blood and guts, and decapitate them. Assuming that all the game-turned-movie player wants is to witness destruction, the director relies on impressive stunts and gore to make the movie. But they overlook that even the most successful video game violence can be thoughtful.

Image: 20th Century Fox/Everett Collection

Movies are no strangers to violence. Even in the early days of the medium, movies still horrified audiences with scenes in which a train robber wields a seemingly menacing, seemingly polite pistol on screen. Scientists believe that artificial violence provides a safe and pleasurable adrenaline rush, and filmmakers have spent a century trying to satisfy our innate need for thrills. After a century of trial and error and perfecting the tension and fake blood, the modern era is dominated by Marvel movies and action greats like Christopher Nolan, Quentin Tarantino, the Wachowskis, and John Woo. The film industry is left behind. They produce fight scenes that involve breaking glass as casually as baby food.

This landscape has spawned a plethora of video game movies, including: super mario bros movie And 2016 was completely forgotten assassin's creed, features notable battle sequences, but are so far removed from the world in which they take place that they might as well be free-floating meteors. Thinking about the chaos of 2022 uncharted, which disappointed fans with its indifference to the series' usual enthusiasm for history and mystery, tries to make up for it with a vintage Mercedes flying out of a plane. 2023 five nights at freddy's Similarly, the series' trademark jump scares and Chuck E. Cheese psychological horror are also omitted. Instead, there's a scene where a girl gets chowed down in half, but blood is rarely shown in the game.

In games, combat often serves as the basis for the plot. But video game combat can shine even without context, as long as it has some worthwhile imagery, immersion, or mechanics. The fighting game genre is the best example. No one forces their roommate to fight another round. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate I hope the romantic tension between the villagers and Dark Pit is finally revealed.they are playing smash That's because the control is rewarding, or because it offers a skill to master and there are a million ways to achieve victory with a body slam.

Image: 20th Century Fox/Everett Collection

But a video game movie needs a meaningful story framework for those same battles.Recent underwhelming video game thrillers boy kills world is a useful example. Its world-building is minimal, and the legitimacy of many battle scenes is tenuous. That's not satisfying because you can't interact with them. Unlike a single battle, it's impossible to take a movie battle out of its context. Mortal Kombat Game or rage? elden ring For Field Bosses, a movie fight needs to be worth the 90 minutes. Movie watching is inherently passive, something that's immersive requires stakes and a way to get the audience hooked right away.

So, but boy kills worldThe fight scenes are incredible, a brutal fight in a dining room surrounded by red lobsters and pink macaroons almost operatic, and it doesn't prevent the film from feeling insubstantial. there is no.

The core of this movie is completely understandable. Boy (Bill Skarsgård) Southeast Asia/Greece/borderlands jungle/slum/resident evil He saved this country through brutality and murder. The boy had a hot poker pressed into his ear at an early age, and his tongue was cut out and severed. And he forgot the sound of his own voice. His inner monologue (courtesy of H. Jon Benjamin) sounds more like the protagonist of his favorite video game, a fictional one. super dragon punch force 2. (However, the game still exists as a movie tie-in.) As Boy fights his way through Frankie's ranks and destroys a series of van der Koi With great enthusiasm, he narrates, “Player and he two win!”

Image: Roadside Attractions/Everett Collection

This revenge plot lies in a lazy, twisted nest of weak points. Even its most basic establishing factors are unclear. We don't know where the bloodthirsty Van der Koy family was, ritually murdering civilians on TV. hunger gameWhere did the “culling” of styles come from, or how did they last so long without being overthrown? Hilda himself is clearly mentally ill and spends most of his time ineffectively hiding in an underground bunker.

The oppressed people of Boy's country have no doubts about this. These NPCs only take a few blows to the head as they are brought to the movie screen, and are shown either crouching silently or stumbling through the grimy market streets.Difficult to understand aesthetic confusion with indifference boy kills world's setting, so it's equally hard to appreciate how The Boy's Quest deconstructs it. Although the film shows itself through things like post-apocalyptic wasteland visuals and boss fights to be as heart-wrenching as the best RPG video games. boy kills world It dispenses with the world-building that makes tonally similar series like BioShock and Fallout so appealing.

boy kills world relies on elaborate fight sequences in hopes of distracting from the fact that this is an empty stage under too-bright white lights. Too artificial even for something artificial, like a flat diet coke. It lacks the details of a place you could imagine visiting – you can't reach for the silky head of an obedient puppy. Final Fantasy XVI. Like in the movies, you can't just stumble upon a super mushroom and confidently stomp through the grass like a bear. super mario 64. Viewers want to feel more of this kind of tactile fantasy in their entertainment. Especially since, thanks to television, there's an even greater appetite for the pulsating tension that comes with immersive video game storytelling.

Image: Roadside Attractions/Everett Collection

Through details, such as dirt collecting under the protagonists' collars and the white sun making their parched lips gray and cracked, Prime's fall out Television, like games, makes you feel like the violence you witness will affect your life or death. The nature of long-form television makes it easy for a video game IP to slowly unleash its sweet world and trap you in it, like over the course of a 20-hour story in an RPG video game. Movies, with their narrower constraints, rely on violence to make the story seem bigger and more intense. Action is a quicker way to grab attention. Look! Big explosion! — over the more lasting pleasures of gaming, like solving puzzles or exploring the infinite horizons of an open world. Although it is a film noir, earth Despite demonstrating that these elements can translate beautifully to the screen if directors are careful, filmmakers still insist that nothing is more important in a video game than defeating a boss with a sword. He seems to believe that.

Violence in video games is something that is constantly adjusted and fine-tuned by the player, so it often requires active attention and intervention. Video game movies similarly need to accept the limitations of passive viewing formats and commit to a story more than surface-level video game nods like “Deadly!” battle cry. They're reductive and make the game look like an evil carnival attraction rather than a crowded ecosystem.

Some filmmakers have already chosen more inspired ways to adapt games. 2019 detective pikachu Despite almost completely eschewing the turn-based combat of the games, it stands as a true Pokémon spinoff because the creators went to the trouble of building a habitable metropolis where Pokémon convincingly work and play alongside humans. Ryme City resembles London, and feels like a place where Pikachu could reasonably conduct personal research. Once the world and setting are in place, the rest of the film builds on them and you can sit back with your salty popcorn and enjoy.

Image: Dimension Film/Everett Collection

A sci-fi horror film directed by David Cronenberg 20 years ago. exist They were also great at adapting the tone of the game to express a unique story. It centers around a very powerful video game company that offers “bioport” spinal injections and game controllers that move like kicking a fetus. It ties in energetically with dark 90s corporate apocalypse games such as: Deus Ex and doom, but that brings out another challenge for the viewer: is this real or a game? It's sometimes hard to tell the difference, as Cronenberg treats the game less like a junky vehicle for shock-and-awe violence and more like an intense, passionate dream.

That's what mechanical, emotionless fight scenes take away from movies. There's an unmistakable wave of immersion, a sense that the combat is an integral part of the story and not just an excuse for cars to get blown up. Video game movies would work better if their creators acknowledged the truth. Gamers tend to already know. Violence isn't just about cool visuals. To captivate, impress, and even engage your audience, you also need heart.