Shadow of the Colossus Movie? Why?
Sony Pictures, Marks, & Misher Team for this Video Game-Based Film
Nov 12, 2009
Shadow of the Colossus, the popular video game for PlayStation 2, will be yet another best-selling video game made into a science fiction/fantasy film. The game's predecessors have met with mixed box office success and almost universally horrible reviews. Some games have made fairly decent movies, with Resident Evil and Hitman topping the list but by no means excellent films.
The large majority of the video-games-turned-movies — Super Mario Bros., Double Dragon, two Street Fighter movies, two Mortal Kombat movies, Wing Commander, two Final Fantasy films (both animated), House of the Dead (and its made-for-TV sequel), Alone in the Dark, two Tomb Raider flicks, Doom, Dead or Alive, two awful, awful BloodRayne movies, Silent Hill, the Resident Evil sequels, and Max Payne, to name a few — are just plain terrible. The acting is usually sub-par, the plots are never interesting, and the overall product is generally genuinely sloppy.
Yet, more video game movies are on the horizon. Resident Evil will return, and Tekken will try to break the fighting game curse of movie disasters. Others, like Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Gears of War show promise, if the right people actually put some time into devising a reasonable plot and recruiting a decent cast and crew.
As for Shadow of the Colossus, however, the verdict is still out. Will it be a favorite or a flop?
Sony Pictures' Shadow of the Colossus Movie is in Development
In April 2009, Sony Pictures announced that it would be adapting its hit game for the PlayStation 2 console, Shadow of the Colossus, into a full-length feature film. Since then, reviewers and gamers alike have been scratching their heads. They all want the answer to the same question. Why?
For those who have played Shadow of the Colossus, they will recall the video game as being sparse in the storyline, dialogue, and characters departments. Additionally, its concept is akin to a human fighting 16 of those Rock Biters from The NeverEnding Story. Why would anyone think that Colossus would make a great film?
Justin Marks, Shadow of the Colossus' scriptwriter thinks he has the answer. According to Nick Breckon of Shack News, Marks had this to say:
With a lot of games there are so many elements in the universe you spend your time tearing down and tearing down . . . What's nice about this game is that it's so sparse so you can start building right away."
Marks tries to explain the failures of most video game-based movies. He believes that very few games lend themselves to film. "If we started thinking that anything that worked in one medium shouldn't be adapted for another," says Marks, "we wouldn't have a lot of the great movies we've had, because so many of them came from novels."
Maybe Marks is right. Or maybe the right people haven't spent the time and energy to do a quality film adapted from a video game. Should Marks be given the benefit of the doubt?
If he were new to the scene, perhaps. But Marks has one serious flaw to his credibility — the awful flop film based on Capcom's popular video game series, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li. Yep, Marks wrote that garbage.
Still, Shadow of the Colossus does have some hope. Producer Kevin Misher brings mixed experience to the film. He's worked on some decent-to-good films, such as The Interpreter and Public Enemies, and some sub-par-to-dreadful movies, like The Scorpion King and Fighting.
Can Shadow of the Colossus' Plot and Characters Translate into a Quality Fantasy Film?
Shadow of the Colossus, the video game, is an action-adventure/puzzle solving game, with the puzzles simply being to find the villains' varied weaknesses. In it, gamers play as Wander, a horseback-riding, sword-wielding hero. His mission is simple — kill 16 colossi (read giant monsters) in order to save the life of a girl.
Can this plot translate into a good movie? It could, but only because this is the full extent of the game's plot. There are no towns, few people, fewer important characters, and a vast landscape of limitless potential.
What does this mean for Marks? He can give his own vision to the game's characters, create new ones, and give to viewers a world only limited by the confines of his imagination. The video game places few constraints upon him. Shadows of the Colossus will be a true test of Marks' writing ability, and the resulting script will be a reflection of his talent.
Certainly, Shadow of the Colossus has the failures of its predecessors to overcome. The odds are not in Marks and Misher's favor. With the right director, say Guillermo Del Toro or Peter Jackson, and a strong cast, however, Shadow of the Colossus could surprise.
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