Left4Dead: The Movie
If there is one thing the Valve development team has shown us over the years it is that they staff some of the best writers in video gaming. The Half Life franchise being a modern masterpiece in video game storytelling, and then theres the Meet the: ________ cut scenes from TF2, Valve has proven time and time again that they can write one hell of a story be it 20 hours long, or only 3 minutes. With so many tittles rich in storytelling under their belt, it would only be logical for them to release a movie right? I mean hell you could just expand upon the Meet the: ________ shorts and you have me paying $20 to see it. But yet they have yet to even release plan to turn any of their number of franchises into a feature film. Being a Valve fanboy and movie lover, I thought it would be interesting to speculate on what the first Valve movie should be.
So if you’ve read the title you most likely already know what I think the first Valve movie should be. But why you may be wondering. Well Left4Dead is the perfect game to turn into a movie. Both Left4Dead 1 and 2 followed the same formula, heavily reliant on game play, both of the games featured very little plot, but very well developed characters. This means the writing / directing team does not have to worry about being true to the video game’s plot as there really isn’t one. The game also happens to be part of one of my favorite genres in film; survival horror. I picture the Left4Dead movie as being a mix of Zombie Land and The Thing. While playing the game you sometimes feel a deep sense of isolation, sure you’ve got 3 other survivors tagging along, but they’re complete strangers and what can 4 people really do against millions of zombies. But the games also have great comic parts, be it Elis’ wild stories, or the discourse between Bill and Francis, the Left4Dead games have sometimes made isolation a funny thing.
So we’ve established why Left4Dead should be made into a movie. But by whom? Left4Dead is one of my favorite modern video game franchises, and I would hate for it to be put into the wrong hands. But who would be best?
Writer / Director: Niell Blomkamp
I remember seeing a video interview with Niell Blomkamp on Machinima.com where he talked about turning video games into movies and whether or not he would be interested in working on another video game adaptation movie after Halo (He was working on the Halo movie with Peter Jackson when they pulled out). His answer was something along the lines of; “I would love to make another adaptation movie but I would much prefer a game that did not come with a lot of baggage”. He is a gamer himself, wrote and directed one of the greatest modern sci-fi movies (District 9) and has done previous work on video game adaptations. Perfect.
You can see the interview here.
Actors
As important as the writer / director are the films actors. Because the Left4Dead games feature such richly developed characters, the actors chosen to play the roles will have to be nothing short of perfect to be believable.
Louis – Mos Def
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a movie with Mos Def in it that made me think “man this guy is a bad actor”. I don’t know if its that he plays the same kind of character in most movies, but there’s something about his acting that won’t let me dislike him. He looks like Louis, sounds like Louis, he is Louis.
Zoey – Ellen Page
I think the great thing about the Zoey character is that she wasn’t overtly sexual like what you would come to expect from a video game heroine. She was attractive, and the fact that what was under the red sweater wasn’t shoved in your face made you think about it more. This is the vibe I get from Ellen Page. Attractive, but not in your face attractive. Plus she’s a phenomenal actor.
Bill – Jeff Bridges
The dude has aged a bit. Fortunately this makes him perfect for the part of Bill.
Francis – Ron Perlman
He’s already got the badass biker thing down, why not?
Ellis – James Franco
This guy is perfect for the role of Ellis. He can be funny, he can be dramatic.
Nick – Brad Pitt
One of the best actors of our generation, Brad Pitt can play pretty much any role.
Rochelle – Rutina Wesley
If you have seen True Blood you probably know who she is. If you haven’t, well then you probably don’t. But she would be good for the role, trust me.
Coach – Ving Rhames
Not the greatest actor in the world. But he looks and sounds like what I would picture coach to be in real life. Plus I think it would be nice to see Ving Rhames playing something other than the SUPER OMG BADASS we usually see him play.
Plot
I think in order to tell the stories of both Left4Dead 1 and 2 you would need two movies, and possibly a third to bring everything together. Movie one would tell the story of the beginning of the infection and follow Louis, Francis, Zoey, and Bill as they go through New York (or whatever city the first game was set in) trying to survive the infection in its early stages. The second movie could follow the story of Left4Dead 2′s characters as an evolved version of the infection hits New Orleans. And then the third movie could be focused on curing the infection, and ridding the earth of the infected.
This is all fantasy at this point, but isn’t it a cool fantasy? If you could have any video game turned into a feature film, which would it be? You already have my answer.
Recent Comments