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Get him while he's still alive


So the other night I saw a pretty cool French movie from 2004 called District B13. Probably the only reason this movie got released here is because of the involvement of Luc Besson. Besides directing some pretty great movies like The Professional and The Messanger, he's also produced half the stuff coming out of France in the last few years. Mr. Besson's also found time to do wacky stuff like re-edit and release the amazing Ong-Bak last year. He must never sleep kids(seriously, go check his IMDB profile).

ANYWAY, the reason this relates to video games is because this particular French film is the best action film I've seen since the previously mentioned Ong-Bak. Much of the reason for this is one of the stars, David Belle. Besides being the crazy man in the picture above, he is the inventor and grand master of a kind of freestyle-running/obstacle-coursing known as Le Parkour. It's all a lot of fun to watch, and terrifying at the same time. It also works beautifully in such a well shot action movie. Granted the whole thing is a plot device that leads to fight scenes and chases, it realizes that fact from start to finish.

Still not getting the video game connection? Well, even though there really isn't much more than a few close calls(Tomb Raider, Mortal Kombat 1) heaped on top of many steaming pieces of crap(the list is too long to bear) in the realm of video game related films, I still manage to find hope on the horizon. One of those shining rays of hope is Halo, but that's for another post entirely. I also would be very delighted if someone got off their ass and snatched up David Belle for a particular video game movie. That game is Prince of Persia.

For those unfamiliar with this series of games, it basically takes place in a fairy tale version of the Middle East several hundred years ago. You run around as the Prince of Persia himself, performing all manner of daring acrobatic escapes(including running along walls, jumping huge gaps, swinging from ropes, and combining this with a very long list of other skills), fighting enemies along the way, all the while usually finding a love interest who likely can kick a little ass herself if needed. Believe me, it's all a lot more exciting than it sounds when playing it. In fact it's one of my favorite games out there. It combines puzzles, mystery, incredible tension, action, romance, and above all else, a great sense of storytelling.

I don't know about you, but all that if done right could add up to a great movie. Unlike most video games, the story is simple at it's base, but has lot's of complexity for those looking a little beneath the surface. Any good action movie really only needs to have just enough plot to string together the action scenes and lead to a satisfying climax. After that all you want is a capable and engaging star, and thus we come back to Mr. Belle. Who better to play a daring and nimble character like the Prince of Persia than a man who lives daring and nimble every day.

Basically this is a dream that I know won't come true, but it's the kind of inspired connection that really needs to happen before a video game movie is actually a good film, and not just a decent "video game movie." Hollywood needs to stop trying to cash in on licenses(which still hasn't really even been successful yet), and actually start thinking about making decent films out of the few video games that have potential on the big-screen. They also need to realize that what draws people to video games is different from what draws them to movies, but at the core of both is still good storytelling. It's just a matter of time before SOMEONE get's it right. No one said though that it couldn't still be a very liong wait.

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