The Superhero Cinematic Civil War

[chamber-music]

Lin I don't think is really the kind of director who could overcome the assembly line blandness of the MCU but he's a really solid journeyman. Good choice for a Spidey movie.

I would be down for Lin getting his old buddy John Cho as Mister Negative. Could do a gang war between Negative and Fisk with Spidey in the middle.

 

[kguillou]

Awww man RIP to Louis Gosset! Man was a damn legend. Man losing him and Carl Weathers hurts.

 

[chamber-music]

I think MS and Feige didnt really intend to make China as their main target audience when they decided to make Shang-Chi, Sithborg.

At its core, Shang Chi is still about the tale being told from the Asian American (in this case Chinese American)'s POV, not the native Chinese living in China. I think its the same with Black Panther, as it was never intended to pander to native African countries' audience (although the main character was based on the fictional African country), but more geared towards the African American community as its main target audience.

As of why the Chinese rejected Shang Chi, more than anything else, I feel it was because of their openly and blatant dislike of Simu Liu, who they deemed as "too ugly".

Shang Chi and Black Panther were both more for Asian American and African American audiences than native born Chinese or Africans. I'm not saying there isn't culturally recognisable or enjoyable things for non-U.S audiences but certain things in those movies are more about Americans experiences. These are American films made by American filmmakers so obviously their key audience is Americans.

Shang Chi and Black Panther would be very different movies if they were made by Chinese and African born/raised filmmakers in those respective parts of the world.

They changed where Sam is from to where Mackie is from. Did the same thing with Luke Cage.

Any chance he'll actually bother to learn the fight choreography this time around? Or would that be asking too much?

Giving him more than ten minutes to learn the fight choreography before the camera rolls would certainly help!

 

[chamber-music]

Awww man RIP to Louis Gosset! Man was a damn legend. Man losing him and Carl Weathers hurts.

The Dolph Lundgren's Punisher is much maligned but Gosset's performance as Castle's old partner was pretty good.

Carl Weathers passing sucked. I only recently saw Weathers Action Jackson and Hurricane Smith movies for the first time shortly before he passed. Both movies are pure eighties/nineties action thriller movie cheese but enjoyable. Weathers getting to be the lead in those action type of movies Stallone and Schwarzenegger were making was great. Too bad he didn't achieve the action man level of fame as his old buddies did.

 

[Shinobi Shaw]

Mortal Kombat is another example that should be a no-brainer in terms of adaptation. It's all about the kills, the bone-crunching martial arts, and the iconography of the character designs, stages, and fatalities. I've said it before, a really good Mortal Kombat movie would approach the lore not unlike the John Wick movies do, with great care, but it's simplistic and more or less set-dressing for all the fight sequences. Mortal Kombat, or any fighting game adaptation, should have top-notch action and fight choreography and it's unbelievable that still isn't the case. When you're making a movie about a game that's heavily inspired by Enter the Dragon and Bloodsport, how is it possible that the end result has choppy editing and lackluster fight choreography? Once again, there are things I like about former and current adaptations of Mortal Kombat, but the true spirit of the game series hasn't been fulfilled.

I agree with you about the action and fight choreography (those should be a given when you approach a franchise like that, but the last movie lacked those), but at the same time you can't forget the drama either. There is so much story going on during the tournament, that you could do so much with if writers would just respect the source material and use their imagination.

Explore Liu Kang as a character and how it feels for him to be the Chosen One, show how Raiden has his task of protecting Earthrealm and trying to keep his fighters together, you have the whole Outworld saga with Shao Kahn/Sindel/Kitana etc. There's a lot there dramatically where you could do so many movies and spinoffs with in MK.

 

[Link]

I agree with you about the action and fight choreography (those should be a given when you approach a franchise like that), but at the same time you can't forget the drama either. There is so much story going on during the tournament, that you could do so much with if writers would just respect the source material and use their imagination.

Explore Liu Kang as a character and how it feels for him to be the Chosen One, show how Raiden has his task of protecting Earthrealm and trying to keep his fighters together, you have the whole Outworld saga with Shao Kahn/Sindel/Kitana etc. There's a lot there dramatically where you could do so many movies and spinoffs with in MK.

That's the second approach to a good video game adaptation that I didn't get around to on my first post because I was already so longwinded Enhancing the writing, that is. Unlike The Last of Us, something like Mortal Kombat isn't a complete package that's ready to go, a writer could (and should) add stakes, and emotional weight, and improve the characters. I love Mortal Kombat, but as it is, the lore and storyline is mostly convoluted gobbledegook that is held together by how much fun it is to play and how cool it all is audio-visually. The animated films are a good example of how excellent the fight sequences can be on film and they're fun to watch, but the writing doesn't instill much confidence. A lot of that comes with the vastness of Mortal Kombat lore and the huge cast. The first one is my favorite because it keeps it relatively simple. The second one is already lost in the lore, doing a cliff notes version of epic events that weren't particularly well-written in the first place. The third film is pretty cool and it does utilise some of the later games concepts nicely. I just prefer Mortal Kombat when it's simpler, like the first two-thirds of Mortal Kombat 1 with its more emotional storytelling and the excellent production value, but it gets completely lost in the muck by the end, further convoluting something that could've been a fresh start. I would prefer a rather simple take on the first tournament and see where that goes if it goes. Much like Enter the Dragon.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Louis Gossett Jr. has passed away.

Oh man he was a big part of my childhood. Seemed to be in everything back in the 80's. RIP.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

That's the second approach to a good video game adaptation that I didn't get around to on my first post because I was already so longwinded Enhancing the writing, that is. Unlike The Last of Us, something like Mortal Kombat isn't a complete package that's ready to go, a writer could (and should) add stakes, and emotional weight, and improve the characters. I love Mortal Kombat, but as it is, the lore and storyline is mostly convoluted gobbledegook that is held together by how much fun it is to play and how cool it all is audio-visually. The animated films are a good example of how excellent the fight sequences can be on film and they're fun to watch, but the writing doesn't instill much confidence. A lot of that comes with the vastness of Mortal Kombat lore and the huge cast. The first one is my favorite because it keeps it relatively simple. The second one is already lost in the lore, doing a cliff notes version of epic events that weren't particularly well-written in the first place. The third film is pretty cool and it does utilise some of the later games concepts nicely. I just prefer Mortal Kombat when it's simpler, like the first two-thirds of Mortal Kombat 1 with its more emotional storytelling and the excellent production value, but it gets completely lost in the muck by the end, further convoluting something that could've been a fresh start. I would prefer a rather simple take on the first tournament and see where that goes if it goes. Much like Enter the Dragon.

That's why I think Tekken is probably the fighting game that would adapt to movies the best. At its core the games are about a family at war with each other, who doesn't identify with that on some level? Keep it about that but have the tournament built around it and you got a good basis for a decent movie.

 

[Spider-Fan]

That's why I think Tekken is probably the fighting game that would adapt to movies the best. At its core the games are about a family at war with each other, who doesn't identify with that on some level? Keep it about that but have the tournament built around it and you got a good basis for a decent movie.

There already is a Tekken movie. 2 of them!

Not very good ones though



Trailer for 1st one. 2nd one is even more obscure. Called Tekken 2 Kazuya's Revenge

 

[Link]

That's why I think Tekken is probably the fighting game that would adapt to movies the best. At its core the games are about a family at war with each other, who doesn't identify with that on some level? Keep it about that but have the tournament built around it and you got a good basis for a decent movie.

I like that! The Mishima family drama has a soap opera quality to it that could be fun in a movie. I haven't watched the earlier attempts, but what I've seen doesn't look very impressive I wouldn't adapt any fighting game story to the dot, but rather take some core concepts, core characters, and create something out of that. That wouldn't be popular with all the fans, but I think it would ultimately result in a better movie. Fighting game characters are really cool, but the writing always comes with the issue of having to work around so many characters, so many locations, and the gameplay itself, that the storytelling is restricted, even after all the advances NetherRealm in particular has brought to the format.

 

[Spider-Fan]

I like that! The Mishima family drama has a soap opera quality to it that could be fun in a movie. I haven't watched the earlier attempts, but what I've seen doesn't look very impressive I wouldn't adapt any fighting game story to the dot, but rather take some core concepts, core characters, and create something out of that. That wouldn't be popular with all the fans, but I think it would ultimately result in a better movie. Fighting game characters are really cool, but the writing always comes with the issue of having to work around so many characters, so many locations, and the gameplay itself, that the storytelling is restricted, even after all the advances NetherRealm in particular has brought to the format.

The 2nd one was really super boring. But the 1st movie is kind of so bad it's good lol

 

[MbJ]

Funniest possible turn of events.

 

[Shinobi Shaw]

For the record, this is still the best video game movie adaptation ever:



But yall not ready for that conversation.

 

[Link]

The 2nd one was really super boring. But the 1st movie is kind of so bad it's good lol

I've long been planning a marathon with most, if not all, live-action fighting game films. Maybe spread over a weekend, to maintain my sanity The Mortal Kombat movies, the Tekken movies, the Street Fighter movies, the Dead or Alive film... Am I missing anything? Anything good?

 

[Kane52630]

Remember when Doom had an actual first person pov gameplay towards the end of the movie?

 

[Spider-Fan]

I've long been planning a marathon with most, if not all, live-action fighting game films. Maybe spread over a weekend, to maintain my sanity The Mortal Kombat movies, the Tekken movies, the Street Fighter movies, the Dead or Alive film... Am I missing anything? Anything good?

Technically Rampage if you count that, lol

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Remember when Doom had an actual first person pov gameplay towards the end of the movie?

Doom is another property which could be adapted in a much better way.

 

[Drizzle]

For the record, this is still the best video game movie adaptation ever:

View attachment 85241

But yall not ready for that conversation.

Never saw it but is that where this meme came from?



Now the live action Street Fighter I'm more familiar with. Raul Julia was a legend.

 

[Kane52630]

Doom is another property which could be adapted in a much better way.

What's crazy is you can do a redo and keep the same cast because who can say no to a proper Doom movie starring The Rock, Karl Urban, Rosamund Pike, Richard Brake, and Doug Jones?

 

[Shinobi Shaw]

I've long been planning a marathon with most, if not all, live-action fighting game films. Maybe spread over a weekend, to maintain my sanity The Mortal Kombat movies, the Tekken movies, the Street Fighter movies, the Dead or Alive film... Am I missing anything? Anything good?

OMG I forgot all about the DOA movie.

Kevin Nash was Bass and Jamie Pressley was Tina, that was horrible LOL.

Never saw it but is that where this meme came from?



Now the live action Street Fighter I'm more familiar with. Raul Julia was a legend.

Drizzy if you ever find the time, watch Street Fighter II. That clip you posted is from a horrible Saturday morning cartoon that they did years ago, but the movie I'm talking about is a full on anime. The English dub with the soundtrack was amazing.

There's also a big fight between Chun-Li and Vega that's still IMO, the best animated fight ever made.

And that Raul Julia SF movie has a special place in my heart lol.

 

[Drizzle]

Drizzy if you ever find the time, watch Street Fighter II. That clip you posted is from a horrible Saturday morning cartoon that they did years ago, but the movie I'm talking about is a full on anime. The English dub with the soundtrack was amazing.
View attachment 85245
There's also a big fight between Chun-Li and Vega that's still IMO, the best animated fight ever made.

And that Raul Julia SF movie has a special place in my heart lol.

Oh yeah, look at that. The difference in animation is like night and day, lol. I was more of a Mortal Kombat kid than a Street Fighter kid but I did dabble in it every once in a while. I just watched a clip from that movie of Blanka vs. Zangief (two of my faves) and it's pretty awesome.

 

[Lily Adler]

There already is a Tekken movie. 2 of them!

Not very good ones though



Trailer for 1st one. 2nd one is even more obscure. Called Tekken 2 Kazuya's Revenge

I'm getting Dragonball Evolution vibes here.

 

[Kane52630]

Andrzej Bartkowiak... great cinematographer... but my god his directing track record is WILD.

 

[Deck Rickard]

For the record, this is still the best video game movie adaptation ever:

View attachment 85241

But yall not ready for that conversation.

I’ve never seen this but that poster leaves me with questions. Is it called “Street Fighter II,” “Street Fighter II Movie,” or “Capcom the Movie?” And did they make a Street Fighter I, or did they just skip straight to 2 because no one even remembers the original game?

 

[Shinobi Shaw]

Andrzej Bartkowiak... great cinematographer... but my god his directing track record is WILD.

View attachment 85247

What if I told you Romeo Must Die is a classic.