From Tomb Raider (2001, Angelina Jolie) to Sonic the Movie (2020, Jim Carrey), there have been quite a few games likewise adapted into movies, though to varying degrees of failure or success. Tomb Raider was somewhat considered a flop when it first came out, and it currently has a 5.8 on Imdb: (link) a 20% on Rotten Tomatoes from the critics, and a 47% by audiences: (link) and a 33% on Metacritic: (link) though some consider it underrated: (link) By contrast, the Sonic the Hedgehog movie had a 6.5 on Imdb: (link) a 63% critic rating and a 93% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes: (link) and a 47% on Metacritic: (link) The success of the Sonic movie garnered it not one, but two sequels.
The topic taker should analyze the trends of adapting a video game to a movie, including the history of it, and what makes so many of the adaptations fail. The topic taker should really dive into what made good video adaptations good and see what trends their analysis reveals. The topic taker may also consider the future of video game to film adaptations and whether they think there will be more successes or failures as well.
To help the topic taker, consider looking into the following films to start forming trends based off their reception via reviews/to start forming the history of video game to film adaptation as they see fit:
Tomb Raider (2018) in order to compare/contrast it with the 2001 film Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Detective Pikachu Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Assassin's Creed Doom Super Mario Bros. (1993) The Super Mario Bros. the Movie (2023) to contrast with the 1993 adaption
This is a really interesting topic and one that is very relevant. I've heard from a variety of different articles/sites that video games adaptations are popular in Hollywood right now. – Sean Gadus8 months ago
While Ancient Greek tragedies loved to have divine characters speaking on the stage, modern movies seem to hesitate a lot. In the movie Troy (directed by Wolfgang Petersen and written by David Benioff,) no deity appears on the battlefield despite the exciting descriptions of their fight in Homer’s epic. Similar things happen in other movies based on mythology. For instance, Aphrodite never appears in the Argonaut movies, although she is quite important in the epic. What might be the reason for this phenomenon?
I think this could be explored with other films of the era in a similar vein. What was the cultural shift that removed divinity from films based on myths and how can it be analysed. – Sunni Ago8 months ago
Many Star Wars fans consider Anakin Skywalker effectively a different character from Darth Vader. However, analyzing Anakin's character progression from Jedi to Sith can be very interesting, especially depending on viewing order. For fans of the original trilogy, the prequels' portrayal of Anakin may have been startling. On the other hand, a chronological viewing, especially one that includes the Clone Wars series, may depict a slow but steady character arc for young Skywalker with a tragic but inevitable conclusion.
Compare and contrast the two characters. What traits of Anakin's remain in Darth Vader, and how are they portrayed differently? Where do we see traits of Darth Vader peeking through in Anakin during the prequel era? Does this change how we see other heroes and villains, like Luke Skywalker or Kylo Ren, and even characters from other franchises?
Regarding the aspects of Luke and Kylo, it might be useful to look at things that used to be canon in Star Wars, but are no longer. What comes to mind is the comic that likely inspired the Ben Solo in the new trilogy. – Siothrún9 months ago
Duality (doppelgangers, alter egos) is a common theme in thriller/horror texts and films. This goes as far (or further) back as the Victorian period (Dracula and Van Helsing as mirror images/Jekyll and Hyde), and continues today (The Nun, Valak and Sister Irene as foils to each other/the twins in Malignant).
'US' (2019) deals with doppelgangers – every citizen has one, and these 'Tethered' counterparts live in dire poverty in the tunnels beneath the city. They are 'savage' and 'monstrous', unlike their peers who live among us. Peele's film has strong themes of class and social inequality.
The ending, however, reveals that the protagonist of the film was never one of 'us', but in fact a tethered doppelganger who had switched places as a child. Unlike the rest of the Tethered, she speaks and moves fluently, behaving 'civilised' as opposed to 'savage'.
There is clear commentary in this twist of how the environment and social upbringing of an individual can create a stark contrast in how their identity, behaviour, and habits are formed: The protagonist turned out so different from the rest of the Tethered, only because of the economic and social support she recieved as she was brought up.
How does this twist impact the themes of duality present in horror and thriller genres? Does it make us reflect differently on the monstrous villains we see in Michael Myers or Dr Hyde? Does it make us reconsider their motivations? Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde/The Unborn, for example, are strongly contextualised by economic and political commentary.
Two movies: Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig, and Oppenheimer, directed by Christopher Nolen are getting massive publicity before they come out because of a social media trend.
Why are these two movies sparking so much excitement, and will this help get people back into theaters?
It would be interesting to analyze the new era of film marketing and what made the marketing of these films successful.
To be fair, Barbie and Oppenheimer are very different films with (presumably) very different target audiences. An interesting angle to look at would be how the 'Barbenheimer' phenonmenon helped both these films, where instead of rivalling the two at the box office, it became a shared activity that helped both films with ticket sales.
Both directors have their individual fanbases and are known for making slightly out-of-box films, which may have what made them compatible. – Janhabi Mukherjee1 year ago
Adding to the note above, I think it might be good to also look at how watching the films back to back in whichever order you want might compliment some of the themes in the movies, to my understanding. I think, on top of the social media trending for these two movies, something about their storytelling, and perhaps overlapping of either story elements, camera work, or themes, likely also impacted the Barbenheimer phenomena, so, it may be worth the writer of this topic's time to look into those and see if it matches up with reaction to the Barbenheimer trend on social media. – Siothrún1 year ago
Nice topic, but too broad. Try zeroing in on just one or two aspects, as in the note above (as in, not "marketing" as a whole, but maybe just storytelling and camera work). – Stephanie M.12 months ago
I wonder whether this has happened before. That might give a point of contrast and allow the writer to build a theory around what happened here. I am curious about how films that are very different occasionally work together like we saw with Barbie and Oppenheimer. – Elpis198811 months ago
I saw a very interesting article that stated that Barbie and Oppenheimer are connected because they each represent a contributing factor to societal and environmental decline: cheap plastic in Barbie's case and nuclear war and fallout in Oppenheimer's. – Debs9 months ago
The subconscious is the basis of both Christopher Nolan's movie Inception and is one of the most foundational theories created by the iconic Swiss psychiatrist. It would be interesting to see the correlations and the strands of ideas Nolan had taken from Jung's work on the subconscious and applied it to the big stream. Taking a look at what are some of the "Easter Eggs" Nolan had within the film as an ode to Jungian thought.
This sounds like a fun topic! I really admire Nolan's work, and I am sure he went to extensive lengths to connect the film to known psychiatric theory. Perhaps this topic would be even more interesting if we looked at other, less explicit, psychiatric, pshycological, or even philosophical connections that could be drawn from the film - whether they were intended connections or not. Consider the work of people like William James, Wegner, Wenzlaf, and Kozak to name a few. – jkillpack5 years ago
Uncut Gems is a Netflix original film about a jeweler Howard Ratner played by Adam Sandler who makes a high-stakes bet that could lead to the windfall of a lifetime but simultaneously could end up in his death.
We see throughout the film, Howard takes numerous unnecessary risks as a gambling addict. In the end, even as he wins, he is murdered in cold blood. In a traditional story, this would be a sad ending, a tragedy.
But, viewing the film in the modern era, as a tale not about flying too close to the sun and instead about the greatest catharsis, an ultimate victory, and the immediate cessation of future suffering.
Howard if he continued living would have inevitably found himself in trouble, his addiction had led him to his death after all, but in the film during his greatest high, he is quickly and painlessly removed from any potential of that feeling to be lost by. He dies with his victory.
Black Swan, the obsession with being the best at the cost of all else.
Tar and the abusive teacher
Whiplash, the synthesis of obsession and abuse leading to a sort of harmony.
The films concern the performing arts in their various forms, each taking a distinct POV. But all of them run a similar line of thought which is "But at what cost"
At what cost do we sacrifice our essential being to become, "a great" in Whiplash?
Consequently what price is too high for "perfection" in Tar, and who pays when the tab is due?
If we aren't our accomplishments, who are we in Black Swan?
In a society driven by a consumptive need to be the best, how much is too much to attain it?
It may be interesting to have The Perfection and I, Tonya as part of this discussion - especially in regards to the kind of personal motivations that drive the need to be best - even apart from individual ambition. – Janhabi Mukherjee1 year ago
You could make mention of Phantom Thread; this film includes a lot of references to psychoanalysis and the central character is a great example of the toxicity of a narcissistic perfectionist who projects his pedantry onto those closest to him. – Tahlia12 months ago
