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Posted: May 26 2010 05:01 am

eldergeek.com wrote:

Almost three years after the original Mass Effect was released, Legendary Pictures has confirmed that it is now working on a movie adaptation of the franchise. Previous work from Legendary Pictures includes “The Dark Knight”, “300″, “Watchmen”, and the recently released “Clash of the Titans.” Additional staff attached to the project include Bioware co-founders Dr. Ray Muzyka Dr. Gregory Zeschuk, who will fulfill the role of executive producers. Additional producers include Avi and Ari Arad, known for “Iron Man”, “The Incredible Hulk”, and more upcoming game-to-movie adaptations such as inFAMOUS and Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. Mark Protosevich, a screenwriter known for his work on “I am Legend” and the upcoming Marvel Comic-adaptation “Thor”, is currently in talks with Legendary Pictures.

Legendary Pictures has confirmed that the project is still in very early stages of development.

I don't care so much for the Arads, but the doctors of Bioware are fine with me. Aaron Scwartz (a guy I've occasionally quoted before) has some insights into this idea.

Aaron Schwartz wrote:

In the olden days, video games were hard to make movies (or even animated TV shows for that matter) out of because there wasn't a lot to work with beyond what the characters looked like and what the player had to do to in order to score points. "But," one might say, "there have been good films about other types of games, like baseball or football." This is true, but the good ones went beyond the game itself to examine the players and their experiences both on and off the field. You could also have whatever cast you liked, since you have more people to work with than just one Italian plumber and his brother. Then, even in the 8-bit era, video games started having a scope that rivaled some feature films, at least in concept (like the old SSI role-playing games, or "Might and Magic," for example). Fast forward to today and we arrive at games like "Mass Effect," an experience with probably at least ten times the content of a movie, at least in terms of plot, character exposition and background information. While Bioware has some of its founding members attached as producers, here's why I think it may run into trouble:

- If it follows the plot of the game, people who haven't played may be confused by information overload, and those who have played it will probably have had a richer experience than the movie can deliver. The game was, at times, like a technical manual with a very pretty user interface. Just the codex part of the game alone could keep you occupied as long as an intense Wikipedia safari. And while the game was on rails (your endgame doesn't change), the choices you make along the way do have some impact on how events appear to play out, so a movie would be kind of like finding out what outcomes are canon for "The Force Unleashed."

- Many sci-fi fans are going to think they've seen this before. Mass Effect is very, very derivative. The games have side quests, races, and other plot bits that have some familiar things visible under a fresh coat of paint: Babylon-5, Aliens, the Borg, Star Wars, the Klingons, and Stargate, just to name a few. I'm not accusing them of outright plagiarism, but I am saying the franchise is very trope-heavy.

- Mass Effect 2 kind of wrecked key plot points in Mass Effect 1. No spoilers, but the big bad they set up for the first game was significantly altered in the second. The villains' goals were changed, and many players didn't care for the fate of Commander Shepard from the first mission onward (especially given the group he works with in ME2, as they were portrayed as amoral villains in ME1). So if we do get a movie, unless it "fixes" some of the plot bits, any sequels will suffer from the same problems.

- If they make a new adventure for Commander Shepard set in the Mass Effect universe, I'd ask "why didn't you just make another game?" For all its flaws (and endless elevator scenes, at least the first time out), Mass Effect 1 & 2 are pretty darn fun. The only advantage to the movie is that, good or bad, I only lose 2 hours of my life. Smile

- The love story. In both games, Shepard can romance a character, and you can guide him/her to the one you'd like to, ah, "engage" with (or at least you can try). It's probably also why the games have a touch of infamy. I'm sure that whatever character the scriptwriters pick will only please about 1/3 of the audience, the rest complaining that he should have picked up the blue woman, or the one in the environmental suit, or, in extreme cases, one of the Krogan. While it'd be in keeping with the theme of the game, I kind of doubt they'll film multiple endings the same way they did with "Clue" starring Tim Curry.

Posted: May 26 2010 12:21 pm

eldergeek.com wrote:

- Mass Effect 2 kind of wrecked key plot points in Mass Effect 1. No spoilers, but the big bad they set up for the first game was significantly altered in the second. The villains' goals were changed, and many players didn't care for the fate of Commander Shepard from the first mission onward (especially given the group he works with in ME2, as they were portrayed as amoral villains in ME1). So if we do get a movie, unless it "fixes" some of the plot bits, any sequels will suffer from the same problems.

It does? I thought it was pretty much the same; the Reapers still want to eradicate all life in universe and still want to get back in to the universe in general, how is that different from the first one? Also, I really liked the idea of Cerberus employing Sheppard and yeah the whole beginning is a real violent shift from what you might expect, but I don't think it "ruins" anything about the first one's plot. In fact, I don't really see how that part effects anything from the first one...

Posted: May 26 2010 01:01 pm

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted: May 26 2010 10:33 pm

is the movie going to have a shitty driving scene and a boring over hyped sex scene?

Posted: May 29 2010 01:32 am

After my second playthough of Mass Effect (the save I carried into 2) I fell in love with the female Sheperd, Male Sheperd always seemd like a cocky asshole. I have no doubt any movie will destroy that for me

Joined: May 29 2010 Posts: 168

For the romance, they should have Shepard be a bisexual playah. That way, he gets it on with everybody and the whole audience is left with a feeling of satisfaction.