Anatomy of An Adaptation
successful movie the viewer as well as the creators? In the words of critic Gene Emery: “the question isn't whether a computer game can be translated into a popular movie, but whether the project ends up in the hands of people who know what they're doing.”
Mind you, a game can’t be adapted for the screen just like a short story or a comic book. Such literary media contains fully fleshed out characters for the director to slap onscreen. When taken from a game, the movie maker has to flesh out the characters himself. The suggestion: continuity and character development. Flesh out the character so the viewer can see them onscreen and journey with them as they grow and learn from their mistakes. Of course, this is difficult when the character doesn’t have any flaws or development (Lara Croft: Tomb Raider). Be faithful to the people who will go see the movie because of their dedication to the game. This means continuing the story or have it in connection with what started that particular world. Hollywood is notorious for taking an already good video game and twisting into their own evil creation. Resident Evil fans are already skeptical about the upcoming Resident Evil: Ground Zero adaptation of the successful game series. Horror genius George Romero (Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead) created a wonderful script faithful to the series yet was passed on and replaced by Mortal Kombat’s Paul Anderson. The word that comes to question is “why” yet the answer is filed under ‘One of Life’s Greatest Mysteries.” Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on your view) Resident Evil: Ground Zero won't be the last movie adaptation from a video game. Unless Hollywood learns the recipe for a successful adaptation, history is doomed to repeat itself over and over again.
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