After years of false starts and being trapped in development hell, it looks like a BioShock movie is finally becoming a reality. Netflix has snatched the rights to this iconic sci-fi shooter franchise, and the film is now directed by The Hunger Games’ Francis Lawrence.
Unfortunately, if the last few decades have taught us anything, it’s that great game source material doesn’t automatically translate into great movies. There is one important rule to follow if you want to escape the curse of cinema. A BioShock movie shouldn’t be a direct adaptation of the original game. Instead, it should be a prequel. This is why a prequel movie is likely to do justice to the game.
What’s in the BioShock Prequel?
The good thing about the original BioShock is that there’s plenty of room to explore the events leading up to the game. BioShock is set in his 1960s, when a plane crash survivor named Jack stumbles upon the undersea city of Rapture. Once intended to be a monument to human ingenuity and limitless potential, Rapture has instead become a desolate ruin infested with splicers. Humans rely on a rare genetically modified substance known as Adam.BioShock helps you navigate Rapture, uncover the secrets behind the walls of decay, and save the city and its founder, his Andrew Ryan. It tells the story of Jack’s struggle to come to terms with his own connection with
The game slowly fills in Rapture’s backstory through dialogue and the various notes left by the survivors, but players never get the chance to see the city in its heyday or the horrific massacre of New Year’s Eve 1958. Rather than focusing on Jack himself, the film could focus on Ryan and the other key figures who helped make this impossible city a reality.
The film manages to show us Ryan as a younger, more idealistic figure, a man determined to prove that a society liberated from the constraints of government and religion can achieve utopia. Also his nemesis Frank Fontaine, a gifted con artist who sees Rapture as the greatest scoring opportunity of his life, and a Nazi collaborator who finds a little redemption in protecting his adopted son. We could also focus on Dr. Brigid Tenenbaum.The film sees a once-promising city descend into chaos and ruin, spotlighting the many characters in the midst of that feud. You can also
This one has all the ingredients of a compelling prequel. It’s also a movie that can stand with the game rather than trying to rehash the original plot. But in a franchise like this, reading about the past is one thing, and actually seeing that story come to life is one thing.
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BioShock: Jack’s Problem
The possibility of sticking with the original BioShock is not very appealing. For one thing, there’s the inherent challenge of trying to cram 10-15 hours of gaming experience into his two-hour movie. It’s possible, but it can’t be done without losing the enjoyment of immersing yourself in the world of many flavors and Raptures.
But there are more specific issues with the BioShock adaptation. Jack, as the main character, is not very compelling. He is the quintessential first person shooter hero in his game. In fact, he only has one instance of verbal dialogue throughout the game.
None of that is intended to indict the game. The decision to make Jack a faceless and mute protagonist is very intentional. And while the film may try to flesh out Jack as a character and give him more personality, that essentially goes against Jack’s purpose and his unique role in the Rapture conflict.
2022 has repeatedly shown the dangers of trying to adapt iconic video game characters into live action. While Netflix’s Resident Evil series debuted to middling reviews (IGN’s Taylor Lyles gave season 1 a 7), the show’s off-kilter approach to RE mainstay Albert Wesker drew particular criticism. rice field.
Paramount+’s Halo series has also been controversial among fans. That series embraced its status as a standalone adaptation set in an alternate timeline, embellishing Pablo Schreiber’s Master Chief backstory, repeatedly showing the characters’ unmasked faces, and other unexpected stories. It incorporates the freedom of telling.
Both shows deserve credit for trying to forge their own paths with these franchises. But in the case of Resident Evil, at least, those changes did nothing to help the show gain viewers or stave off cancellations. I don’t see it easily. It’s hard to imagine a scenario where a reimagined version of Jack would work out for hardcore BioShock fans.
Jack is supposed to be a flake of a character. He is specifically intended to be an enigma and a person on which the player can project his motives and choices. That’s where the problem lies. BioShock is basically a game about choice and free will. Throughout the game, the player must choose whether to be merciful when dealing with the Adam-harvesting Little Sisters, or kill them for additional rewards. In he decides which of two possible endings will come to pass. There is also a key moment near the end of the game when the player’s free will is taken away.
For BioShock to be successful, it needs a certain amount of interactivity. However, it is not an element that translates into film. A Netflix movie would be better off focusing on a story with a predetermined beginning and end.
Building the BioShock Multiverse
The BioShock series currently has three main games and several expansions. It’s clear that Netflix has room to build an entire franchise, and that was no doubt part of the motivation for the streamer to acquire the rights in the first place.
Clearly, the first film should focus more on telling a compelling story than laying the groundwork for sequels and spin-offs. A nod to the Shock Multiverse is expected.
For one thing, we’d love to see Sophia Lum as a sub-character in the film. BioShock 2’s main antagonist, Lum, was retroactively established as a major force in pre-fall Rapture. It’s nice to see her more smoothly integrated into this world.
The movie could also work for some of the mythology introduced in BioShock Infinite and its expansion. Infinite features many of the same elements as his first two games – a remote, technologically advanced city ruled by a fanatical leader, warring factions made up of genetically modified citizens Such. its predecessor. However, as time passes, it becomes clear that the undersea city of Rapture and the floating city of Columbia are connected by the forces of the multiverse.
The BioShock Infinite DLC “Burial at Sea” bridges the gap between the two universes by placing Infinite’s protagonists, Booker DeWitt and Elizabeth, within the walls of Rapture itself. Along the way, players will learn more about how Rapture evolved into an underwater hell. The film was able to easily incorporate elements of “Burial at Sea” into its story. In a multiverse story where free will and universal constants are everything, Elizabeth herself could be the common thread connecting all Bioshock adaptations.
For more on the world of video game movies, check out the first-look teaser for HBO’s The Last of Us series, brushing up on all the video game movies and series in the making.
Jesse is IGN’s Gentle Staff Writer. Allow him to lend you a machete to your intellectual bush. Follow @jschedeen on Twitter.
