How (Not) to Adapt a Video Game

Recently, the long-awaited television

adapt

ation of The Last of Us aired the finale of its first season, and while the season wasn't completely perfect, it proved that with the right amount of care and thought,

video

game

stories can be successfully

adapt

ed to other media after seeing the show become such a massive hit that it made us think of

game

developer Naughty Dog. Naughty Dog has been known for over a decade as the industry leader in narrative

video

games and that got us thinking about what other Naughty Dog games. could be adapted into a TV show or even a movie, what about the Uncharted movie, uh, the Uncharted movie with Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg from last year, oh my god, I totally forgot that was a thing, yeah, it's strange because when it comes to Naughty Dog?

Its two main series are Uncharted and the last of us and it seems that no one has been comparing the two because everyone forgot about the Uncharted movie but Tom Holland's Uncharted did not stop the trend of video game adaptations in Hollywood. Sushima is going to have a movie in the works of John Wick director Chad Stachelski, and after the Mario movie just blew up at the box office, we're sure to see a wave of video game projects adapted to other media, but adapting something to another medium is a tricky thing to pull off. successfully. Especially with an interactive one like video games, there is no single model to follow to make an adaptation good.

The Mario movie is not an adaptation of a fully developed narrative like The Last of Us or a movie based for the first time on a book. although we have two projects adapted from video games made by the same company with narratives co-written by the same writer that looks at the fact that The Last of Us was a hit with fans, critics and audiences and the fact that Uncharted The Movie already is basically forgotten, it's very clear that The Last of Us did something right and Uncharted did something very wrong in 2007, when the first in the Uncharted series was released Drake's Fortune, making video games more cinematic was all the rage as the As technology improved, it seemed like the industry was hell-bent on improving graphical animations, narratives, and acting, and at the time Uncharted Drake's Fortune was a perfect example of one of those games that became more cinematic the moment you looked at the game. first Uncharted without Nostalgia glasses in 2023, of course.

I can see its importance and how it moved the industry forward, but it feels alternate on its own and it breaks my heart to say this, but it also applies to Uncharted 2 among the thieves. Don't get us wrong, we love Uncharted 2. I can already see people rushing to write that that game is a masterpiece and doesn't deserve any criticism, but I just want to say that the graphics and cinematic quality of Uncharted are what made it a masterpiece in 2008 and newer games have just surpassed the quality of Uncharted 2., which of course is simply the nature of how games progress and improve, especially when the appeal of a video game is its cinematic nature, a As the industry becomes more cinematic, it's left in the dust a bit, but that doesn't mean that.

Uncharted 2 didn't surprise everyone when it came out here if you weren't a gamer when Uncharted 2 Among Thieves came out in 2009 it felt like naughty dog ​​traveled into the future five years and brought back a video game from there, really. I liked that the graphics were amazing, the puzzles were fun and intuitive. The narrative was a thrilling rollercoaster ride as you joined Nade on a dangerous adventure around the world. Oh, but when we talk about adapting Uncharted into a movie, you have to look at what. Drawing people to the Uncharted games in the first place, the whole experience ultimately gave players what it felt like to be in an action-packed adventure movie like Indiana Jones or the Mummy, like riding a train wreck that hang off a cliff being attacked by a psychotic helicopter pilot and fight your way through a collapsing building just to name a few, most importantly these things happen while the player is in control you are playing through these big events, you are boarding a train wreck, you are racing through an active collapse. building around you you're Indiana Jones you're Brendan Fraser oh my god oh my god thank you wow oh my god that was amazing okay sorry I missed that was amazing.

I was on it, you were on it now, that brings us back to the Uncharted Movie, but first a quick word from our sponsor. I'm in a fish tank, don't ask. Today's video is sponsored by Aura. Aura can identify data. Brokers post your information and submit opt-out requests on your behalf. Brokers are legally required to delete your information. information if you ask them but they make it very difficult to do and Aura can handle it for you. You can try Aura free for two weeks using our aura.com link. It's also in the description below. It is very easy to configure.

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So the pitch for Tom Holland's Uncharted would be What if instead of playing an Indiana Jones movie you could watch an Indiana Jones movie? I've never seen that before. except Indiana Jones one two three four uh the new uh The Mummy Cheats Gold with Matthew Matthew McConaughey that's the one where they're diving in the water, don't say you can't know that about fool's gold and then you say that the one you clearly know Fool's Gold, don't lie to them, it's embarrassing to know and yes, it's because dad saw it while we were on vacation. Uncharted's appeal, unlike The Last of Us, came from its ability to create spectacle in similar games. to most of the 2000 Blockbusters, but when you turn it back into a movie in 2022, you just get an average Blockbuster starring Spider-Man and Marquee, a hate crime.

Mark, does everyone remember that we do Wikipedia right there? They read it The Last of Us, however, is completely The fame of the game comes from the fact that in 2013 the linear narrative was executed so well that it was shocking to see in a video game the structure of the story, the dialogues and especially the performances made This game shined and that doesn't mean Uncharted 4 doesn't. It doesn't have that appeal either, but it would be a bit naïve and a bit nostalgic to say that Uncharted 1 and 2 have a Killer story similar to that of the last of us pirates, yes, the modern ones, at least they don't take prisoners. no male prisoners wait, do you know how to use one of these? uh yeah, it's like a camera, you just point and shoot well, good girl, so it starts to make sense why this worked better on screen, especially when you have talents like Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. building on what Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker did so successfully a decade ago, and that's not to say Uncharted isn't a love for its characters or performances.

Nola North as Nathan is amazing, he's one of my favorite characters in the games, but if you're looking at the actual story and again we still like Uncharted 1 and 2. Nathan Drake doesn't really have much depth as a character in the first two games, He's a funny, wisecracking guy who adds a layer of comedy to the series, but that's about it, in Uncharted 3 we finally start to see interesting aspects of Nate's character and past because a central motivator of his life as a thief and one and Two is the fact that Nate is pursuing the greatness of his explorer ancestor, Sir Francis Drake, but in the third game you learn that Nate has been living a long time.

Not only was he an orphan that Sully picked up off the street, giving Sully a more interesting relationship with Nate, but Nathan has been lying to himself and others about being a descendant of Francis Drake's father Surrender. . son to state at age five entrusted to Saint Francis Children's Home is also Dickensian, but then sets up Uncharted 4 to be a really deep dive into the character and who he really is, but that's what's so frustrating from the movie Uncharted and The In the TV show Last of Us we got real portrayals of Joel and Ellie and in the movie Uncharted, Nate is not really the character of Nate the Beloved, Victor Sullivan aka Sully is not really Sully , why are you here?

Victor, because someone has to keep an eye on him, this is Mark Wahlberg playing Mark Wahlberg, wait which way we should turn left or right. I don't know, what the fox says, oh, right here, they both turn the keys clockwise at the same time. Thank you so much. It almost got me killed clockwise. Sully, well, it was 50 50, so I figured yeah, it could have been our heads. Clearly, we should turn the keys the other way and Elena, who is not Nate, is the most central part of this series, whether you want to admit it or not.

The series begins with Elena and Nate and ends with Elena and Nate. She is also the only reason Nathan Drake isn't unbearable in most games. Elena wait, I don't understand you. I wanted to tell you that you know enough, no. I wanted to but how could I? I don't know how to just say it. I had to protect you, that friend. You just didn't have the courage to face me again. I knew you would react like that. How would you react? You lied to me for weeks if they killed you. I wouldn't have even known it and now you have a brother and they completely cut his character out of the movie.

She doesn't exist and the absence of a central character in the story made us realize that if you're adapting something from a book or a game, what will likely make it a successful adaptation is its narrative. The Halo show, who cares about the plot. People like to shoot aliens. Percy Jackson's Lightning Thief was good, but what if we removed the main villain from the first book and also the main antagonist of the entire series in this movie you can make small changes to a story or world when adapting it to the screen, but it has It has to be a careful decision that doesn't alter the core of the why.

First of all, it resonated with people and as we mentioned, Drotto Encharted includes its plot, but the plot it offers is that of a Blockbuster movie that we have seen many times before, but The Last of Us is not only praised for its story. automatically makes it a better project to adapt on screen the game's writer Neil Druckman and co-creator Craig Mason were extremely careful when adapting the game into television episodes in 2019 18 Craig had just left the show directing his HBO show Chernobyl after the program was a success with critics and audiences. HBO basically gave him the option to work on whatever he wanted, so I'm going into this meeting not knowing what to expect.

I follow Craig's lead and he pitches the story to the executives in the room and then I say, "Okay, I'll step in, I'll help," I thought, What if I don't? What if I just lean back in my chair and watch someone else's story I've presented? Millions of times over and over again I feel the passion that this guy has for the material and then he finishes the speech and then Casey stands up and says, well, Craig, I told you that whatever your next project is it has to make you float, this is clearly like that and they turned back. for me and he told me it was a pleasure meeting you, let's do this show.

Craig put a lot of thought into how they were going to transition this narrative to television while maintaining everything that made the game so great. He did this because he is a showrunner who really loves The Last of Us and respects it as a game. Complexity is why The Last of Us as a narrative is so beautiful, why it is the most beautiful story told in the entire video game genre, why Neil is a genius and why I am. He wanted to make the show in the first place, now whether you agree with that point or not, it's clear that Craig is here because he is truly passionate about making this show.

He wanted to retell this exact story for a different audience and he and Neil put a lot of thought into it. on what had to change and what had to be kept to maintain the identity of the games that made it so popular in the first place, in an interview with a New Yorker Craig said that when you play in a section you are killing people and when you die, you they send back to the checkpoint, all those people come back moving the same way at a certain point, they interpret it as obstacles, not as human beings in the show, such encounters would have more weight when watching a person die, I think it should be very different from seeing pixel things, bothThey knew that the amount of violence in the game would not translate to television and the viewer would become desensitized, so they reduced the amount of action to make those moments more impactful for the viewer.

Although the story and characters perhaps corrected too much. since there are almost no infected in the show after the fifth episode, but they definitely had the right idea of ​​the needs of the game versus the needs of the show, so the good video game adaptation was hand-crafted. chosen by a showrunner fresh off a critically acclaimed season of television and made in collaboration with the game's original writer, so what happened to Uncharted in 2009, two years after the original game's release? Charles Rovin and Alex Gardner began developing a script in 2010. David O Russell began writing and developing a script.

Mark Wahlberg was going to play Nathan Drake and Joe Pesci was supposed to be his uncle. That is the correct quote from Mark Wahlberg. Obviously I'm into whatever David wants to do, but the idea is so off the charts Robert De Niro being my father Joe Pesci Being my uncle, it won't be the watered down version that's for sure, what does that mean? This is not your father's Uncharted that came out three years ago, but next year in 2011, Neil Berger replaced David O Russell and then in 2012, Neil. to make Divergent and then someone else rewrites the script in 2014.

Seth Gordon is now directing the film and the script is being rewritten again by David Guggenheim. Also in 2014, the script gets another writer, Mark Bowl, to write a different script than Seth Gordon in 2015. To make Baywatch in 2016, they get another writer to do a completely new script and hire Sean Levy from Night at the Museum to direct the film in 2017. Tom Holland is cast as Nathan Drake and it is set as a prequel that Rafe Judkins is set to rewrite. this script again in 2018 Sean Levy left to make Free Guy, so I guess he didn't want to turn the video game character into a movie, he wanted to make a movie about a video game character, you have to keep it fresh between projects.

Keep it cool. I like Night at the Museum, although in 2019 they hire Travis Knight to direct the movie and they hire Mark Wahlberg to only play which is a mistake and then in the same year Travis Knight leaves because he is scheduling conflicts and finally In 2020 Ruben Fleischer moves on to direct the film after 10 years of development rewrites and seemingly all of Hollywood releasing this film like a hot potato. It finally releases on February 18, 2022. Uncharted is so damn boring, so boring, it's so boring first and foremost. When it comes to the Uncharted movie, it's very clear that the biggest problem with this movie is its cast and nothing shows Tom Holland's poor performance in the movie more than when they show a flashback of Nathan Drake as a teenager and then slowly fade out to him. as an adult played by Tom Holland, but the fade simply looks like teenager Nathan Drake ages a year or simply becomes another teenager.

We like Tom Holland, but the reason he was cast as Peter Parker is because he has such a uniform teenager's face. Even though he is the age Nathan Drake should be right now, he still looks like a little kid, it all depends on how you look when it comes to casting. Pedro Pascal is 47 years old, but with a little gray hair dye he could pass for an older man. and you know we're 26 which means we're the same age as Tom Holland that's depressing I don't like that hurts and like we said we really like Tom Holland I think he's a really good actor yeah and I like to watch it. him as a gymnast in Spider-Man and even parts of Uncharted, it was the right move for Nate as a climber.

Sometimes it's not important whether a character looks like the character he's adapted from, but with Nathan Drake you've seen a lot of things. Of him you want someone to look like him. I agree, yes, and it's not limited to Tom Holland because I think we both agree that maybe the worst part of this entire movie is that they take the father figure away from Nathan Drake Victor Sullivan. and not only did they cast Mark Wahlberg, they turned the character into someone completely different, they turned him into Mark Wahlberg, that's the problem. Wow, that's your expert analysis.

Well, you just gave me the book about an hour ago. What am I supposed to do? I mean, I have So far I have seen the image of the tree Where is the gold? Is it under the tree? It's in the tree? He is not a foster father figure, he is wise and kind to Nathan Drake, he can talk his way out of any situation. yeah, Mark Wahlberg is a selfish paranoid in this movie yeah, he's like he's crazy, that's what it's all about, you drag me here, let me believe I could see my brother again because you think I know something, yeah, right?

TRUE? and not only do they fundamentally misunderstand Sully as a character, but they also misunderstand Nathan Drake because I think the most interesting part of Nathan Drake comes in Uncharted 3 and 4. when they finally address the fact that Nathan is not a descendant of a famous explorer , he's just a thief who constantly wants to prove himself and make a name for himself but completely alienates the people in his life to do so, but in the movie he's just a great guy who doesn't really need any mentoring and nothing proves that more than this clip from the movie you're a good guy Nate too good if Nathan Drake is starting out as a too good guy then what stories are you interested in telling because the most interesting story is Uncharted 4 I think it's the greatest pirate treasure of all time it's a our reach I thought it was about saving Sam, come on, you're both right, we need the treasure to be able to save Sam, how is Elena cool with all that baby Jesus look?

It's just not that simple with that whole thing about you two. We've been through the same thing, she wouldn't understand this. You're not giving him enough credit. I can't take the risk. The games also offer a rich history of the treasure you are searching for. Take this boat scene for example, this scene appears in Uncharted. 4 and the game movie, when you reach this cave, you learn the entire history of a band of pirate captains who pooled their fortunes to create their own society while you travel the world in this game and search for the treasure that almost In real time, experience the story that unfolded in the past when they created this Society and eventually find yourself on a table full of skeletons of the Pirates.

You've been watching the entire game and finding out that once you find the secret. The society had collapsed because one of the Pirates betrayed the rest, finally after seeing all that history and after every stone has been turned over, you want to see the treasure in the movie Uncharted, you get a little bit of history and then just Nate and Chloe. use these keys like 40 times and then find yourself in Eddie's Cave before moving on. I have to talk about this scene. Oh okay, there's a scene where Nate Sully and Chloe drink together while hiding and planning.

I counted and this. The scene has 10 empty wine bottles now. I'd like to do some math here, uh, let's say Tom Holland weighs 150 pounds and let's say he drank for six hours, which I think is a reasonably fair assumption, yeah, that's longer. In the scene, they're definitely only drinking for a couple of hours exactly, so split it up, meaning three and a third bottles of wine each. Each bottle is 750 milliliters at 13 ABV, which is the average amount of a Spanish Rioja. I looked for it. we're looking at a blood alcohol level of around point four three percent, now anything above 0.3 to 0.4 percent is a real possibility of alcohol poisoning, anything above point four percent hundred have a serious chance of death, so I guess as long as they don't continue. drinking, I'm still thirsty, holy shit, I found another red bottle, unlike the last TV show of ours, which is pretty much beat for beat gameplay, but some changes were made to fit it on screen.

This isn't just one Nathan Drake story, this is it. them and none of them at the same time because the movie Frankenstein has specific scenes from all four games and just mixes them into one boring adventure, there is a lack of care for all these characters, especially Nathan Drake and Elena, who are non-existent compared to that. to the last of us and these are tremendously different ways to adapt a project as we have said many times, the Uncharted series is based on movies that we have all seen before, so what they offer is the use of games as a means to tell those movies . differently and its great cast of characters and we don't really blame Tom Holland or the director or the writer, we do blame Mark Wahlberg.

I blame Mark for everything because of course they wanted to make the best movie possible and there are aspects of Uncharted here. but due to more than a decade of development, the Uncharted movie eliminates both, while the final episode carefully and respectfully tells the story of the original game and also respects its characters, which is why one of them worked and the other didn't. 't and as a closer we think it's really important for everyone to see the death of this henchman from the Uncharted movie.