Video game movies have an uphill battle, often lacking the most basic ideas necessary to make the leap from the console to the big screen. Sometimes, with a little bit of basic logic, the film adaptation of a video game can find a reason to exist beyond its traditional source material.
Sony has a number of film and TV adaptations of their big triple-A titles either recently released or on the way in the near future. FromTomb Raiderto Uncharted, toThe Last of Us, a lot of these big-name games are headed for the screen, whether fans like it or not.
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One of the big unavoidable problems with video game movies is that most huge video games take a ton of inspiration from existing movies. Often the highest praise of games from the most ardent fans will include comparisons to hit movies. Peoplewho love games likeA Way Outwere more than happy to call it a playable take onThe Shawshank Redemption.UnchartedandLara Croft: Tomb Raiderdraw positive and negative comparisons toIndiana Jones. For its part,Ghost of Tsushimaseemed to take every chance it could to garner comparisons to classic samurai cinema, particularly thework of Akira Kurosawa. When adapting these games into film, all interactivity is removed. This turns a classic hit film that fans can play into a film borrowing everything that makes it special from existing films. Without a new way to experience the material, all the adaptation becomes is a generic film that fails to stand out in the genre. But, if the genre is lacking, perhaps leaning into convention will help the project.
Ghost of Tsushimais coming to the big screen courtesy ofJohn Wickdirector Chad Stahelski. Given the most positive outlook, one would expect that combination to result in a generic modern samurai film borrowing allits gimmicks from Kurosawa. It’ll have decent action films, dull writing, and a handful of scant video game references. It would likely fade from the public consciousness before long, but be moderately fun while it lasted. Stahelski’s idea to make the film a bit more relevant, however, is a baseline decision that could justify its existence.The director has statedpublicly that he would like to cast the film with entirely Japanese actors and write the script in Japanese with subtitles for an international audience.
Since the film is based on a semi-historical story about samurai, anything other than a Japanese cast would be aLast Samurai-esquecase of unacceptable whitewashing. In fact, given the circumstances, an adaptation could keep most of the existing cast and meet that requirement while also making solid casting choices. Doing the film in Japanese by default, however, is a radical choice. Most films made in America by Americans are English as a matter of course, regardless of where they’re set. The only announced crew members so far are American director Stahelski and Atlanta-born screenwriter Takashi Doscher. Shooting the entire film in Japanese is a bold move to push the film in a more culturally appreciative direction. It also gets the film a bit closer in presentation to the obvious series of films it intends to borrow from.
In the world of blockbuster cinema, a film wearing its influences on its sleeves isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Akira Kurosawa created many of the best films ever made and defined a genre, but, since his passing, there aren’t that many films attempting to recapture that magic. No, the manwho directedJohn Wickprobably isn’t going to craft the nextThrone of Blood, but his unique vision might lead him to create something special inspired by works like it. There are plenty of films inspired by Kurosawa’s work, with the Star Wars franchise still proudly representing the director’s work. Though his influence is everywhere, there aren’t many directors or film projects boldly attempting to replicate the kind of film Kurosawa codified and popularized.
Ghost of Tsushimais a fun and well-received game that doesn’t really need a film adaptation. The story isn’t benefited by the removal of interactivity, the medium of gaming doesn’t weaken the impact of the narrative. Adapting the game to the big screen offers very little without the creativity of the team involved. Most fans aren’t that interested in seeing the same story they’ve seen before, but with an appropriate level of commitment, they might enjoy seeing Chad Stahelski take on Akira Kurosawa.
Decades of cinematic development and one of the most interesting action directors in the business could lend something new to the genre’s signature style, and it’s not like the classics are going anywhere. Mashing good ideas together is the best most fans can hope for when it comes to new ideas in cinematic storytelling. There’s no good reason tomakeGhost of Tsushimathe movie, but the name might provide the necessary cover to convince studios to greenlight something interesting.
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