I have never played the Prince of Persia games, but still I have a considerable interest in how the film turned out. As I discussed in one of my earliest posts on this blog, not a single theater-released movie based on a video game has been widely considered to be any good.
My post on movies based on video games
The video game movie with the highest IMDb user rating is Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, with a weak 6.4. And the only thing about the movie that is based on a video game is the title! But, apparently, all other video game movies are worse. In that previous post, I wondered when, if ever, we'd get the first good video game movie--when we'd finally get a movie to validate (and justify) the genre and stop disgracing us video game fans in the eyes of the general public.
Could Prince of Persia be this movie?
A review at Variety said that the movie was enjoyable enough, but forgettable. Lisa Schwarzbaum gave it a lukewarm to favorable review at EW, summing it up with a respectable grade of B. The film has already been released in some markets abroad (in countries where lots of people watch the World Cup, studios want to release their films early to avoid the competition), so it already has (as of 4pm Hawaii time 5/26/10) 3916 votes on IMDb. The user rating currently stands at 6.8 stars, which is a bit above FF: The Spirits Within, but a movie's IMDb rating tends to fall considerably after initial high ratings from the fans who saw it opening weekend. Still, the 6.8 may not be fairly considered an initial high rating because the film hasn't even been released in the U.S., its largest market. So really, it's still too early to tell if Prince of Persia will be considered the first good video game movie, or if it will join all the others in the genre junk pile.
The issue of whether or not movies based on video games can be good is especially relevant to me at the moment, since it has now been officially announced that one of my favorite video games, BioWare's Mass Effect, is being developed into a movie by Avi Arad and Legendary Pictures (BioWare forum announcement, more details at Heat Vision blog). Mark Protosevich (I Am Legend, Thor) is in talks to write the movie script.
I had a lot to say about the prospect of a Mass Effect movie back when I first heard the rumors of the project.
My post on Mass Effect as a movie
I'm not sure I'd say all the same things I said back then, but my main ideas hold. Mass Effect is already pretty movie-like, but it gives the player the freedom to make choices about who the main character is and what decisions he or she makes that influence the progression of the plot (and the galaxy). How will I feel with a movie, where all of those choices are made for me (and surely for most players they will make a number of "wrong" choices)? And, if the movie is bad, will it degrade the image of the video game? Of all video games? (This is based on my fear that movies based on less-well-known media are the general public's ambassador to that media. So, if a prime example of some niche media genre--be it video game, graphic novel, or fantasy book--is translated into a trashy movie, it might make the entire genre represented by that movie look bad.)
Now Mass Effect 2 has come out, and it's even better than the first game. That's a good sign, but it brings with it new worries. Are they planning on doing a trilogy? Can they keep it fresh and interesting for three whole movies (I mean, if no movie based on a video game has ever been good before, what are the chances of them striking gold three times)? How unfortunate would it be if they make the first film and it doesn't do well enough to make the second, better game into a movie?
Anyway, as a video game lover and movie enthusiast, I definitely hope some day to see a movie based on a video game turn out to be good. Or great (but let's not be too hopeful). Prince of Persia, I wish you well.
Update: My follow-up post after seeing the movie on its opening weekend is here.
11 comments:
I'm holding out hope for this one. It looks pretty good, and it has the production power (and $) of Disney behind it.
The only video game based movie i have seen is Super Mario Bros and just to proove your fear it did screw up my impression of the entire genre
I really want to see Prince of Persia... I haven't played the game, but I bought it just before my Xbox red ringed. hahaha.
It does LOOK good...
Kara - That's a good point. A good studio behind it can make a difference. And a respectable cast and director is also in its favor.
Meg - I never saw that one, but I heard it was terrible. Is it maybe so bad it's funny, and worth a watch? Or just plain bad?
Hez - I hope to see it this weekend, and the Housemate is even interested.
JAKE looks good. His hair could be a little tamer, but his body is very nice ;)
I feel the same way about this one - I never played the PoP games but my ex's little brother did so I watched him play briefly when we were at his parent's house.
Regardless if it does the game justice, it still looks like a fun summer action/adventure movie.
I've been a bit worried about the upcoming WoW movie ever since I heard it was going to be live action and not CGI (I think CGI animation they used in the 3D Beowulf would be awesome for a WoW movie!). Sam Raimi's set to direct it though so I'm *hoping* it's not too fail - a movie based off an MMORPG is bound to be terribad now matter how you do it, lol...
I LOVED Super Mario Bros when I was a kid in grade school - I remember my dad taking me to it, but I couldn't understand why some of the characters were the way they were in the movie as it didn't make sense with the games, lol... I saw it a few years ago on TV and watched it for old times sake... so bad! lol...
I enjoyed the first Mortal Kombat (the only good thing from the 2nd one was the soundtrack, lol) and I liked the 3rd Resident Evil movie too, but I wouldn't say they were great or AWESOME, lol...
Doom and Wing Commander are 2 of hubby's favorite movies, lol... The only part in Doom I liked was where it goes into 1st person shoot mode - that part was actually pretty cool, oh and I love the soundtrack too, with NiN and other industrial tracks (he has it on EVERY time TNT plays it on tv so I think I've seen this one like 10 times, lol... he eventually got it for Christmas one year, but yeah...). He also liked the Tomb Raider movies but that's only cuz of Angelina Jolie, lol...
I'm going to see it Sat.--based on what I've seen of sneak peeks and behind the scenes stuff, it's looking like the first game movie to be done right.
Yeah, the fact that I actually want to see Prince of Persia (as opposed to when most every other video game movie has come out) is a step in the right direction, at least. Looks like fun.
Even though I haven't played WoW, I'm definitely interested to see how that movie develops (if it develops...the Halo movie is kind of stuck, so who knows whether these things will actually get made). It sounded like a bad idea, but with Sam Raimi in on it, maybe it has a chance. It's a little hard to picture it in live action, though.
I saw the Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within movie. I think I thought it was fine at the time, but I quickly forgot almost everything about it. I don't think I could tell you anything about the plot at this point. I remember thinking that the animation was surprisingly detailed and the people looked pretty realistic, but nothing seemed to have any substance to it--when people walked or touched things, it just didn't feel right.
Oops, that last comment was to Ray J.
Blue - That would be very exciting, indeed. I'm looking forward to seeing it; I've got my fingers crossed.
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Hi! ^_^
Uhm, I do not think I will watch Prince of Persia. It's like guy born in the slums, becomes a prince, goes through this Star Wars "boy becomes man" journey, defeats evil and wins the girl at the end. Am I right? ;P
Hi Mel!
Uh, I guess. Sounds right (I haven't played the game, so I don't know any of the finer points of the story). But there might be cool special effects along the way! And, maybe abs! Still not convinced? Well, that's all I got. Can't blame you :)
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