Why the Mass Effect Movie Could Be A Bad Idea

No genre of film has had a spottier track record than that of the video game adaptation. For every feature-length motion picture that clings well below the level of mediocrity like the Prince of Persia movie, there is something like House of the Dead or Silent Hill: Revelation that pierces the bottom of the barrel and falls into a gutter conveniently positioned right below it. What is it about the transition from game to screen that produces such consistently horrendous results? Is it the fact that interactivity in the proceedings is being eschewed for something that feels far more conventional in terms of story and character? Is it just that the producers typically don’t care considering name brand recognition helps generate considerable coin no matter the quality? I guess there are multiple other reasons that could constitute an entire paper, but I believe whatever the full gamut of reasons may be, they will end up applying to the proposed Mass Effect movie that is apparently in the works at Warner Brothers and Legendary Pictures.

Mass Effect is about humanity’s growing influence in the intergalactic scene after discovering technology on Mars and utilizing it to travel farther into space. Humans have discovered they are not alone in the universe, as several species co-exist, begrudgingly or otherwise, with direct knowledge of each other. There’s a United Nations of alien species known as the Citadel, where three different alien races sit to keep diplomacy across the galaxy. They have a police force at their disposal known as Spectres (Special Tactics and Reconnaissance), peacekeepers who work alone and are above the law.

The player is situated into this universe through Commander Shepherd, a decorated human war hero who is in the process of becoming the very first human Spectre. The first game unfolds as you try to stop a renegade Spectre named Saren from unleashing an ancient alien force with designs to destroy all sentient life.

Admittedly, this premise is rife with cinematic potential. However, part of the appeal of the series is that the main character can be whomever you want. The beginning of the game gives you the option of making the character male or female along with whatever ethnicity you may desire. Dialogue options make it possible for your character to be kind or rude, thus changing the way people regard you. Also, the game gives you several characters that can serve as a love interest if you are willing to broach conversations and know which dialogue option to take.

A movie cannot possibly do all this. A movie has to cast an actor to play this lead role, and that will most likely take away some of the connection people have to the game away months before they even see the movie. Plus, the movie has to have a screenplay that can’t possibly work in the same way a video game can, where video games can allow the game to be decided (up to a point) by the whims of the player, a movie has to be played for as wide an audience as possible and follow a structure. This attempt to make the story more accessible to the general movie-going spectrum could end up ironically alienating all who played the game.

Not to say that the decision-making system in the game is the only source of appeal, as the universe itself is quite interesting and complex, it’s just that a lot of spirit of the game is lost when transplanted to another medium. Perhaps that argument could be made for any video game adaptation.

I could be wrong, of course, and the move could turn out to be a big hit with audiences. Lord knows there is always room in my schedule for an action-packed space romp. I’m of the mind, however, that certain things are meant to be what they are and not something else entirely.

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