Video games have been insanely popular since their very first primitive versions ages ago, and today, video games and gaming is a huge industry that competes successfully with other huge entertainment industries. For example, today people can choose between playing a high-quality video game or grabbing a no deposit casino bonuses for Canadians and playing casino games for real money; this is a serious competition! But video games have another secret superpower as they support the passion of their fans by movies based on the games! In this post, we discuss 3 film series based on crazily popular games, and how the games and movies differ.
Fun Fact: In Resident Evil, the protagonist is called Alice. In Silent Hill, one of the protagonists is called Alessa. And in the last Lara Croft movie, the protagonist was played by actress Alicia Vikander.
Lara Croft
The Lara Croft movies are as follows:
● Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – June 15, 2001
● Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life – July 25, 2003
● Tomb Raider – March 16, 2018
The first movie released in 2001 was pretty much based on the game, at least compared to the second one. Lara’s relationship with her father, her mansion, and other details of the world in the movie resembled the game a lot. The protagonist, however, was very much the “early video games female character” so Angelina Jolie had to wear special clothes to more closely resemble the game version of Lara.
The second Lara Croft movie with Angelina Jolie was a failure but not because of Angelina for sure. It was expected to enhance the character, the mission, and the whole universe of the Tomb Raider, and there were indeed some changes that included a love interest and a different villain.
However, the movie was a failure because the character remained flat and non developing – basically, a female version of Indiana Jones, as attentive fans managed to notice. The movie had lots of action and close to zero meaningful conversations, which of course resembled the game in certain terms but not the way viewers usually like to see.
The very new Tomb Raider movie, this time with Alicia Vikander, resembles the original game way more. The character is more like her game version, young and less aggressive. The actress’ costume and her whole appearance copy the game version look. Other nuances that make this movie more interesting in terms of resemblance to the game it was based on include the similar backstory of the protagonist and her choice of weapons.
New Lara is less super powerful and omnipotent compared to the older movies, and is more real.
Resident Evil
The movies are as follows:
● Resident Evil – March 15, 2002
● Resident Evil: Apocalypse – September 10, 2004
● Resident Evil: Extinction – September 21, 2007
● Resident Evil: Afterlife – September 10, 2010
● Resident Evil: Retribution – September 14, 2012
● Resident Evil: The Final Chapter – January 27, 2017
There are too many movies to discuss the resemblances and differences of each of them compared to the game version. The first and the foremost obvious difference is the movies’ main protagonist, Alice, who is not in the games. The reason why she is in the movies is because the director decided to avoid using the games’ characters directly and instead, add something totally new. So Alice can be considered a sum of several games’ characters, although game fans often find her unfitting to the Resident Evil universe.
Another key difference about the movies is that they are more about action and fighting – sometimes even too much – than about the world around the characters. The games initially were survival horror games, but the movie focused on the character’s skillful fighting instead of reflecting the atmosphere.
The third key difference is that in the movies, T-Virus was created based on more altruistic reasons, while in the games, it was clearly a weapon from the very beginning. In the games, the virus caused suffering, death, and horror, and never had any positive outcomes for its victims, but in the movies, it also gave superpowers to the monsters it created.
Silent Hill
Currently, there are two Silent Hill movies:
● Silent Hill – April 21, 2006
● Silent Hill: Revelation – October 26, 2012
It must be said right away that while the movies do convey the gloomy and mesmerizing atmosphere that the game fans loved so much, movies can only be called a loose adaptation of the games. The very combination of the characters and the plot itself are rather inspired by the game than based on it. The characters differ, the relations between them differ, and the universe characteristics like falling ash vs falling snow, the red rust, the fog, also differ from the game. The coal mine that is present in the movie has never existed in the games, too.
Mentioning one of the most recognizable Silent Hill villains, Pyramid Head, is important because the way he was portrayed in the movies gives a totally different context when compared to the games. In the games, he was a personification of guilt and anger, but in the movies, we see him as a twisted father figure that protects Alessa.
Final Thoughts
It seems that making movies based on video games is not a very good idea because directors start adding their own vision and thus ruin the key concepts that have already been tested by thousands of players as totally viable and legit in the corresponding universes.
Luckily, we now have The Last of Us as an example that a good movie can be decently based on a game.
