METAL GEAR SOLID Director Explains Why Most Video Game Movies Suck
Kong: Skull Island director Jordan Vogt-Roberts is also attached to helm the long-awaited big screen adaptation of Metal Gear Solid. He recently gave an interview in which he talked about his approach on the film and the trickiness of capturing the tone of the game.
It seems like Vogt-Roberts has a handle on things, and in another interview with /Film, he discussed video game films in general and explained why he thinks most video game movies fail the fans. He chalks it up to the filmmakers and why many of them just aren't wired to make these kinds of movie. He said:
"I think that most filmmakers who have tried to adapt them…you know, much like there was not a good comic book movie for a long time. And then it took directors who had grown up with comic book influences like Sam Raimi [who] legitimately loved Spider-Man. Right? So it took guys who grew up with comic book influences and were good filmmakers to tackle that. I think that like you’ve got guys like [Dan] Trachtenberg and a handful of people like me now who are growing up having our brains rewired by Zelda and Metroid, ’cause there’s a logic to videogames. Right? There’s a language to them. And I don’t think that there’s been a wave of directors who have come up who are filmmakers who were rewired like that."
That actually makes a lot of sense to me. People who grew up with these games in their lives would definitely have a better understanding of them and have a better vision of how to bring them to life. I know that's not true with every filmmaker who grew up playing video games, but it certainly would help. The director also said:
"I think that they fundamentally don’t understand the difference between an active experience and a passive experience and how you translate a active experience into a compelling, passive experience. Because there are things that you can get away with in an active experience in a video game that would not fly in a movie in terms of storytelling, in terms of a lot of different things, in terms of characters. In terms of set pieces. There are things that, when you take [it] out the active experience, suddenly it’s not compelling anymore. Suddenly it doesn’t do anything. And so I think like that core conceit of understanding the difference between an active and a passive experience is one of the core things that people haven’t quite unlocked yet. And, you know, I think that we’re getting close, you know, we’re getting to the point where I think that there’s going to be a great one soon."
He then brought up Metal Gear Solid and talked about his goal for the film:
"And to me Metal Gear Solid is not just a great video game. Like I said I think it’s a great story. I think it’s a great story and a work of art. And a great like singular voice on this planet in terms of media. So my goal right now is to sort of work and make sure that we’re having the best version of that. So that fans and everyone can sort of experience the brilliance of [Metal Gear creator Hideo] Kojima’s work."
Well, I think he makes some great points here, but the real test will be to see how his Metal Gear Solid movie turns out. I really hope that he pulls it off and gives us a brilliant movie!