![]() But no one has the emotional connection to Angry Birds which might render a poor adaptation a cause for concern or rage. The characters are cute, the concept is a little Worms and appeals to the ’90s kid in us all, and damn, if the game didn’t make quite the impact on the download market. It’s the workhorse of the adaptation game. On a wing and an Angry Bird-like prayerĪngry Birds 2, on the other hand, is fine. It had a huge audience and appealed to those two crowds well. There were enough small references for those who had prior experience with the series - like the classic Game Boy-esque battle music - and stuff everyone could understand like its cute cast of creatures. Rather than skating on the peripheries of the universe, it engages with the politics and rules of the Poke-verse clearly and enticingly enough to bring in fans and non-fans alike. The joy of Detective Pikachu, as one critic put it, is that in this film Hollywood understands Pokemon. The success here makes almost perfect sense, though: solid marketing, fairly well-written ,and beautifully animated, coming off the back of a successful franchise and hitting the market in the sweet-spot post the general furor of Pokemon Go. Admittedly, it’s still uncanny to hear the dulcet tones of Ryan Reynolds from that tiny creature, but that’s sort of the point. Detective Pikachu broke the mold by creating a fairly standalone cutesy premise, but really, it was destined for success when the first images came out and we lost our hearts to that yellow puff-ball beauty. Pokemon, however, delivered Detective Pikachu in the golden hour, and avoided the fate of the Mario Brothers. The Prince of Persia (despite accusations of racially insensitive casting), most of the Resident Evil films, and even Max Payne have all been financial successes, but the crown currently goes to Detective Pikachu. When we get adaptations of well-known, beloved classics, inevitably, these will fall short of our great expectations. The thing about them is that we as an audience are extremely picky about the offerings. There have been a plethora of video game adaptations down the years, some more successful than others but Super Mario Bros. In the years since, however, in a similar way to The Room, the film has picked up a fond cult following. The film, built on an insane pseudo- Ghostbuster, part Labyrinth-style premise was a box office failure, grossing less than half of the production cost, and blighting Nintendo’s reputation to the point that future productions were limited. A very good year but not for the brothers themselves. ![]() The first, and arguably most cult offering in the field was the critical failure of Super Mario Brothers from 26 years ago. Video game adaptations are hardly uncharted territory. In the wake of one of the first largely successful video game adaptations, Angry Birds 2 might be holding its own in the pre-American market, but it is one odd duck in the video game film department as a whole.Īdvertisement The ghosts of brother’s past Detective Pikachu emerged from a fairly comprehensive cultural moment, however, and a universe of Pokemon and people which have been influencing fashion, games, and literature for the past 23 years. ![]() We’ve had 18 (count ‘em) iterations of the game for different devices, a line of toys, an animated TV series and now, for the second time, the small birds are on the big screen.Īdaptations of video games have been something of a poisoned chalice in the past, but we are really in prime adaptation territory these days, with the runaway success of Detective Pikachu earlier this year. However, it’s been 10 years since that first foray, and the anniversary is being marked by the second outing in movie form. ![]() It was an admirable way to disappear during your commute or to avoid speaking to co-workers on your lunch break. As a game, it was compulsive, fun, and the harmless concept was accessible. Angry Birds 2 is the movie adaptation that few of us knew we needed, and even fewer have the energy to argue against.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |