Is it just me, or is the idea of basing a film on a videogame franchise completely moronic?
 
I mean, we all know that damn near 10 times out of 10, a movie based on a videogame will suck really bad.  But that's not my point here.
 
I'm saying that while it makes sense financially, the notion of doing this seems utterly pointless to me.
 
Consider this example: I'm sure many of you are aware, but David O. Russell (an occasionally great director) is to direct the Uncharted movie, with Mark Wahlberg as Drake.
 
Think about Uncharted 2 for a second.  When you played it, you probably thought about several things.  You may have considered it to be very similar to Tomb Raider.
 
But besides that, the great voice acting, dynamic and immersive cutscenes, gorgeous graphics, detailed models, facial expressions and body language of the characters all likely contributed to you thinking, "this is very much like a movie."  Not only is it like a movie, it's like a particular series of movies.  If you don't know what series, then you are likely much younger than I am.
 
Uncharted 2 is fucking Indiana Jones in game form!  The studio obviously set out to make an engaging game, a game that could play like an interactive Indiana Jones movie without having to use the Indiana Jones license.
 
My point is, most games are certainly inspired by other games, but are just as much inspired by movies, and you can trace this all the way back to Space Invaders or possibly even sooner than that.  And games are of course definitely much more like movies these days...pretty much any game with a narrative or any plot whatsoever is not unlike a movie.
 
So making movies based on games is really pointless.  Why make a movie based on Uncharted when it was already pretty much like a movie to begin with and is basically Indiana Jones in disguise?  Well, I know the answer...money.  The human equivalent of Hollywood would be a salesman who's charismatic enough to say "Hey! Here's a waste of time!!" and get you to pay 10 bucks for it.   And a movie based on a game that was itself influenced by another movie does seem like a waste of time.
 
Watching a video-game movie is like watching art eat itself.
 
As interesting as a Metal Gear Solid movie would be (if the planets aligned and it actually turned out decent), I know there is a reason it hasn't been made yet.  The reason is because the games are already available.
 
As much as I think church and State should be separate is similar to how much I think film and games should be separate.
 
HOWEVER, there is one exception.  If there ever were an Assassin's Creed movie directed by Christopher Nolan, starring Christian Bale as Ezio...I'd actually say that's a damn fine idea.
 
But the only videogame movies I've ever liked are the first Mortal Kombat movie, and the animated Street Fighter movie, but those are purely for the sake of nostalgia, they aren't by any means great achievements in the world of cinema.  If Scott Pilgrim technically counts as a videogame movie then I'd include that too, but that's where I draw the line.  Enough with the recycling of ideas.  We need more original film.