While more and more video games are being turned into films, we're still waiting for that movie that's the video game equivalent of what Sam Raimi's Spider-Man was for the comic book genre, the film that causes not only fans, but the industry as a whole, to stand up take notice. Whether or not this weekend's Sonic the Hedgehog is that film, remains to be seen, but we can be sure that, whether it is or not, more video game movies will follow it as studios continue to look for that surefire hit.
However, while James Marsden has found himself inside a video game movie, one thing he won't be doing is finding himself watching a movie based on his favorite video game, because, as CinemaBlend's own Jeff McComb learned when he had the opportunity to speak with Marsden, his favorite game was a movie first, Goldeneye. Check out his comments on that game, and others he enjoyed, below.
For those of us that are part of James Marsden's generation, we can probably all understand exactly how he feels about the classic Goldeneye 007 on the Nintendo 64. It was arguably the first great first person shooter for consoles, though, it has to be said, it's pretty rough by modern standards.
The game was, of course, based on the Pierce Brosnan James Bond movie of the same name. Although, the story campaign, that put players in the shoes of James Bond and took them through the plot of the film, was not what endeared the game to a generation. It was the multiplayer, which allowed players to take on the role of a host of characters from the history of the James Bond franchise and go against each other in four v four split screen battles, which allowed for truly endless hours of entertainment.
Between the variety of characters and maps and options the game could be played a nearly endless number of ways, always keeping things interesting and fun. The amount of pizza and soda consumed around this game in the late '90s can likely not even be estimated.
And honestly, Goldeneye 007 might, in its own way, help explain why video game movies have had such trouble making the transition to the big screen. Even if you wanted to somehow try and adapt that game into a movie, pretending of course such a thing was even possible, it would be impossible to translate the experience of playing it. Even making a movie that was some sort of James Bond Battle Royale, would never feel like sitting around with friends, passing controllers back and forth and getting mad at your friend for breaking the "No Oddjobs" rule.
While video games with a more narrative focus have become more popular in recent years, they've only had slightly more success at the box office. Something like Sonic the Hedgehog is taking the game franchise's lack of specific narrative as a license to do something a bit fresh with it. How well all that works, we'll have to wait and see this Friday.
