ShareThis
So… they’re making a Castlevania movie. There’s a joke to be made about vampires and sucking, but let’s skip that. We all know it’s easy to be skeptical. After all, video game adaptations don’t have the greatest track record. Remember Street Fighter and Super Mario Bros.? How about Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within? That’s what I thought.
But just because Hollywood hasn’t quite nailed the ultimate “video game movie” yet doesn’t mean this thing is doomed from the start. If Castlevania ever had a chance at being the kind of film that gamers can be proud of, it’s right now. Think I’m wrong? Go ask a comic fan how they thought an Avengers movie would have turned out 10 or 20 years ago. The truth of it is, filmmakers are starting to treat properties differently than we’re used to seeing– and that’s a very good thing. If anything, the sheer amount of bad video game movies actually means that directors have a pretty easy roadmap to follow to see what pitfalls they need to avoid. Just look at John Leguizamo. Okay, now that we’ve got the obligatory Super Mario Bros. reference out of the way, let’s talk about what else Castlevania: The Movie can learn from the past.
Easy to be skeptical? If you aren’t skeptical you haven’t been paying attention.
Nearly every video game movie made has blown chunks. The closest thing to a fully “good” video game movie was the first Mortal Kombat and the first Silent Hill got it half right until the plot went totally off the rails into the crap pits. The Resident Evil movies are just terrible and have done almost as much damage to the franchise as Capcom has done with its recent efforts. The fact that they make a lot of money doesn’t change this. The rest of your examples are meaningless because they aren’t video game adaptation they are movies that reference video games to various degrees.
While I’d like to optimistically believe that a video game movie could avoid the pitfalls of previous adaptations it isn’t too likely. It’ll most likely be butchered to the point where they might as well not even call it Castlevania.
I don’t get the hate for Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.
It wasn’t an amazing movie and didn’t really evoke a strong Final Fantasy feeling from me… but really wan’t that bad. Compared to other video game movies – most of which end up being absolute trash – I think The Spirits Within was pretty decent.
Anyone care to enlighten me about why the movie is so often put down? Were expectations just too high going in?
I get the hate for FF: TSW, I just simply don’t agree with it. I, too, think it’s a pretty decent film. Should it have carried the Final Fantasy name? No, probably not, but it did nonetheless. I just appreciate the movie for what it is, which is an entertaining, beautifully rendered sci-fi drama.
Uh….dude, there is no Castlevania movie in the works.
It just turned out to be a fanmade web series by IGN. Go check “Castlevania: Hymn of Blood”.