With Legendary Pictures gaining the rights to make a live-action Pokemon movie following the sudden burst of popularity that is—or was—Pokemon GO, I’ve been thinking again of the countless cartoons and video games made into Hollywood films. While some of these are entertaining—I wouldn’t say they’re good, but they are fun—most of the movies flopped.
There are good film adaptations of cartoons and games. Some of the “Tomb Raiders” are pretty good, and I’m a huge fan of “Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World” and “Speed Racer.” Although I’m sure I’m one of the ten people on Earth who likes the latter, the movies hold up well by today’s million-dollar Hollywood standards while staying at least a smidge loyal to the original cartoon, comic, or video game. Take “Speed Racer,” for example. The movie introduces very real conflict in the form of professional sport collusion. The characters and world, despite being as colorful as “pouring melted Starbursts directly into one’s own eyes,” as my roommate likes to declare time and time again, remain grounded while the racing scenes still hold true to the fantastical adventures that long-time fans of the 1960s TV show loved about the original. The movie is universal to both fans and newcomers alike because of the real world grounding and loyalty to the original. And yes, while these are only a few examples of the small group that is good film adaptations of cartoons, there are tons of horrible adaptions out there.
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Some of the less-than-great adaptations include the infamous “Doom” movie (Not the worst “The Rock” film, in my opinion), “Prince of Persia” (which showed even the whitest-of-white Jake Gyllenhaal can play Persian royalty), and Scooby Doo (you know, that movie that was Scooby Doo, but only kind of). These movies, although only a few of the dozens I could write about, have one major flaw in their presentation: too much tilt toward either newcomers, or too much fan service for the fans of the original cartoon, game, or comic.
“Doom” is one of the movies that play too much to the fans of the original games. If you haven’t seen the movie yet, there are some minor spoilers for the climax – or gimmick—of the movie. Near the end, when The Rock is the last one left alive, he grabs the most recognizable gun from the original games: The B.F.G. (No, not the “Big Friendly Giant.”). It’s at this point the movie goes into a 5-minute first person sequence that mimics the games. This is the best example of the worst possible thing to do in a movie. Video games work well in the first person because the audience, the player, gets to control the perspective and see through the eyes of the character because, ultimately, they are the character. While in a movie, the audience sits back and watches the action. It’s equivalent to watching someone else’s home videos rather than actually being present at the event. This is also a trend in horror movies in the “handheld” subgenre with movies like “The Blair Witch Project” and “Paranormal Activity.” While I’m not saying there aren’t good movies made like this, most of them use it as a gimmick and it only creates unnecessary confusion and, in many cases, nausea.
As a fan of the Pokemon franchise, and as someone who has been since 1998, I’m nervous for the live-action adaptation. As an optimist and someone who sincerely hopes for the best, I’m curious. Although I don’t have high hopes for whatever comes from this adaptation, I still hold out due to one thing alone, the rumors revolving around the selected writers for the film: Nicole Perlman, who’s worked on “Guardians of the Galaxy,” and Alex Hirsch, the creator of Disney’s “Gravity Falls” series.
There’s still probably at least another year until we hear any definite news of progress so all we can do is wait and, most likely, forget about it until then.
