Guns And Swords And Really Bad Hair: Devil May Cry Coming To The Big Screen
By TK | Posted Under Trade News | Comments (14)
It seems like Hollywood’s neverending quest to make a good adaptation of a video game continues, and sadly, I don’t think this is going to be the one to break the mold. Although for the record (as I’ve said before), I still believe that the first Resident Evil movie is not only the best of that sad heap of celluloid, but also a generally good movie — and based on a very good game. Capcom’s (the company that created Resident Evil, incidentally) hyper-violent, stylistic Devil May Cry is the next test subject.
I remember playing the first Devil May Cry, and enjoying the hell out of it. It’s a seamless, well-executed action game featuring a half-demon protagonist, Dante, who is equally adept with swords and guns, and who rampages through a mystical world filled will all manner of weird-as-hell monsters. It’s spawned a few sequels, though it seems like they get weaker with each successive effort. But still, Devil May Cry was a hell of a game.
The problem is, in its current incarnation, it’d be an absolutely terrible movie. The writing in the game was shit, and the lead character, Dante, was simply annoying. Capcom wanted a brash, arrogant, rockstar prettyboy as their lead, and they got that… except that he was also kind of a jackass. And the stylized action, while well-suited for a video game, simply wouldn’t translate particularly well to the big screen.
This is one of the few instances where, if an adaptation was going to happen, I’d want to see them do some substantial reworking of the story, if only to make the main character less of an insufferable ass. Oddly, Resident Evil deviated substantially from the game — Milla Jovovich’s Alice was created entirely for the movie — and it worked, for the most part (until the increasingly godawful sequels, anyway).
In any event, Screen Gems, who are behind the Resident Evil franchise, is moving forward with Devil May Cry, with Kyle Ward (the still unmade Kane & Lynch adaptation) on board to write the screenplay. Here’s the trailer for the first game, if you’re curious:
Man, there was some brutal dialogue in those games.
(source: The Playlist)
Each Time You Like, Share, Tweet or Stumble a Pajiba Post, An Angel Does the Paul Rudd Dance
← In Defense of James Franco | Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank →
Comments
Posted by: Fredo at March 2, 2011 1:37 AM
Top of the menu at Bad Idea Cafe.
You want to know why video game movies fail at the big screen? Because they pick games like Devil May Cry and Resident Evil to adapt. Don't get me wrong. They are fun games. But what makes them so much fun can't be translated into a movie without also taking half of the batshit insane ideas that turn mainstream audiences off.