Having studied game design and made a solid 70% of my total accumulated living in film criticism, I can tell you that no sentence so consistently metastasizes into a weak take on film quite as hard as those that start with "As someone who played the games..."
Amen. Some people believe that simply experiencing the same piece of media means all of our ideas are of equal value. I just trust the people who've had good ideas in the past!
I, for one, am glad Cregger is adapting the feeling of playing the game instead of doing a straight adaptation of a specific video game. I want good movies, not a perfect adaptation - I can always go back to the original source material myself.
Same. The less he feels beholden to the existing franchise, the more I'm interested in his film, and thus I'm very interested. If Anderson was coming back for a seventh Resident Evil, I'd groan so loudly you could hear it in Georgia lol
Great piece! I've been thinking about this question a lot since the Wuthering Heights adaptation earlier this year. (I loved it but I guess I was in the minority?) I'm not an adaptation purist at all—mostly because I just like seeing what a creator can do with the story, like each iteration is an alternate universe of sorts for the original characters. Generally as long as there's passion for the source material (vs a project being made with the primary goal of generating $$$), I end up enjoying myself. Which is why I do tend to wince when I hear that someone hasn't actually engaged with the source material they adapted, hahaha... but admittedly I have no context for this current discourse other than what you wrote!
Thank you so much, Abigail! Totally agree. If we're letting capable artists play in a franchise sandbox, I see no reason why they can't bring their own toys with them (or throw out some of the current toys).
I failed to mention this, but I believe Zach Cregger already had the idea of this story framework before Constantin Film approached him about making a Resident Evil, and he said "Oh, that can be this!" and just baked in some Raccoon City and Umbrella Corporation details. I think that's the way to do it, especially with a franchise like this that shouldn't have any purists to begin with.
Especially when it helps send folks back to the original material! Seeing The Odyssey on bestseller lists this summer has filled my English major heart with joy :')
Oh absolutely. For the first time since high school, I've found myself interested in reading The Odyssey (and Wilson's translation in particular). Even when I don't like the movies very much (see: The Great Gatsby) it's nice to see ANYone get excited about classic literature.
I straight think that’s a good thing lol
Right? Better to not know what's in those films than to watch them with the intent to avoid what they're doing, I'd say.
Having studied game design and made a solid 70% of my total accumulated living in film criticism, I can tell you that no sentence so consistently metastasizes into a weak take on film quite as hard as those that start with "As someone who played the games..."
Amen. Some people believe that simply experiencing the same piece of media means all of our ideas are of equal value. I just trust the people who've had good ideas in the past!
Actually glad he hasn’t.
I'm glad there are more of us (brave cinema appreciators) than there are of them (weird online fanboys)!
Yes! Hell, Herzog didn’t even know there was a Bad Lieutenant before he made his. And it was great!
Ha! I was not aware, but that's as delightful as it is unsurprising.
I agree with this sentiment. Let it be Cregger’s own vision
His visions are 2 for 2 so far!
Fingers crossed
This was the game I watched by brother play and got night terrors from. 😇
Oh yeah you shouldn't have seen that. 😂 Even as a teenager the games would creep me out sometimes!
He’s a millennial filmmaker who loves the games. He’s 100% seen the first film.
Zach Cregger? More like Zach Liar, right?
He lies for attention. See below.
https://youtu.be/bV0LM_WrSBw?si=0Q7KCpHjfu-3eDJI
😂😂😂
I, for one, am glad Cregger is adapting the feeling of playing the game instead of doing a straight adaptation of a specific video game. I want good movies, not a perfect adaptation - I can always go back to the original source material myself.
Same. The less he feels beholden to the existing franchise, the more I'm interested in his film, and thus I'm very interested. If Anderson was coming back for a seventh Resident Evil, I'd groan so loudly you could hear it in Georgia lol
Great piece! I've been thinking about this question a lot since the Wuthering Heights adaptation earlier this year. (I loved it but I guess I was in the minority?) I'm not an adaptation purist at all—mostly because I just like seeing what a creator can do with the story, like each iteration is an alternate universe of sorts for the original characters. Generally as long as there's passion for the source material (vs a project being made with the primary goal of generating $$$), I end up enjoying myself. Which is why I do tend to wince when I hear that someone hasn't actually engaged with the source material they adapted, hahaha... but admittedly I have no context for this current discourse other than what you wrote!
Thank you so much, Abigail! Totally agree. If we're letting capable artists play in a franchise sandbox, I see no reason why they can't bring their own toys with them (or throw out some of the current toys).
I failed to mention this, but I believe Zach Cregger already had the idea of this story framework before Constantin Film approached him about making a Resident Evil, and he said "Oh, that can be this!" and just baked in some Raccoon City and Umbrella Corporation details. I think that's the way to do it, especially with a franchise like this that shouldn't have any purists to begin with.
Especially when it helps send folks back to the original material! Seeing The Odyssey on bestseller lists this summer has filled my English major heart with joy :')
Oh absolutely. For the first time since high school, I've found myself interested in reading The Odyssey (and Wilson's translation in particular). Even when I don't like the movies very much (see: The Great Gatsby) it's nice to see ANYone get excited about classic literature.