Whether we like it or not, Nintendo is making a The Legend of Zelda movie, and it’s going to be live-action (no matter how much I would prefer it to be animated). I love Zelda, so I’m curiously optimistic. It could be great.
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There’s a lot of potential with this series – there are plenty of games to pull from, and the main characters are beloved for a reason. However, it’s exceedingly rare for a video game movie to really hit. I’m hoping the Zelda movie doesn’t fall into these common pitfalls so it actually has a chance of succeeding.
7
Being Too Self-Aware
Being self-aware and breaking the fourth wall seems to be the main schtick of video game movies. But it ruins any chance of the movie coming across as earnest, and ends up all the way at the other end – into cringe territory.
Imagine, if you will, the movie begins with Link being silent, as he is in all Zelda games. After a few moments, he breaks character, and says, “Hang on, why am I not speaking? That would be silly – I’m the main character after all!” That’s the literal worst case scenario. Anything in between would still cause some cringe-induced wincing, and I don’t want any of it.
I’m bracing myself for a scene where Link breaks a bunch of pots and there’s a joke made about it. That one feels pretty inevitable.
6
Appealing To Mass Audiences At The Expense Of Fans
When a video game is made into a movie, it’s typically to expand the core audience and invite new fans – cough, consumers – to get into the series. The problem is, when you approach a movie based on a beloved series this way, it often ends up alienating the people who are already fans. Who wants a sanitised, simplified version of the thing you already like? No one, that’s who.
I hope the Zelda movie goes all-in on its Zelda-ness. Tingle should be there, and no one should explain why. Link shouldn’t speak, and there shouldn’t be a scene where we’re dryly told the reason why he doesn’t. Zelda is already one of the most popular video game series ever made, so it should speak for itself in movie form, rather than catering to the ‘average Joe’.
5
Changing Too Much For Its Own Good
All forms of adaptations – book to movie, game to movie, and beyond – are guilty of changing just a little too much from the source material. I understand that it’s a different medium, and that changes have to be made to fit said different medium, but sometimes, the changes made are just unnecessary.
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If the Zelda movie is based on a specific story within the Zelda universe, it should stick to it and be proud of its source material. I don’t want to see a different version of the Majora’s Mask story, for example. I’d rather see it accurately adapted into movie form.
4
Casting Famous Hollywood Stars
We’ve all seen the jokes about Tom Holland being cast as Link. I couldn’t think of a worse casting choice. Celebrity cameos are fine, but if you really want me to believe that’s Link and Zelda on my screen, you’re going to have to cast unknown actors we’ve never seen before.
When video game movies cast big name Hollywood stars, the focus inevitably changes to them – just look at Jack Black in A Minecraft Movie, and Chris Pratt as Mario.
I know people ended up liking Chris Pratt as Mario, but when you hear his voice in the movie, you know that’s Chris Pratt.
Zelda, Link, and Ganon’s characters should stand on their own without a big name behind them. They don’t need it.
3
Trying To Be Too ‘Game-y’
Games and movies are different mediums. Not everything translates over perfectly. While Heart Pieces are a big part of Zelda games, I don’t see how they’d be particularly useful in movie format. We don’t need to see Link collecting them or gaining more hearts.
Instead, his growth and development should be told in a more ‘show, don’t tell’ way. Rather than shoving in references to appease fans of the games, the movie should lean into the fact it’s a different method of storytelling and use that to its advantage instead.
2
Forgetting Why The Game Is Beloved
If a video game movie adaptation forgets what made the source material so beloved, it’s usually because there isn’t someone who genuinely loves the original game at the helm of it. They choose to focus on what they think fans will like, or what they think will appeal to general audiences the most.
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This is the biggest pitfall an adaptation can fall into. If the people working on the Zelda movie forget it’s the characters and world that ultimately resonates with its fans, then we’re going to be in for a rough few hours watching it.
1
Making The Plot A Mish-Mash Of Different Games
Adaptations taking bits and pieces from across the series and slapping them together to create something ‘different’ is my biggest pet peeve. Sorry, but you’re just making it worse.
I hate when this happens with entire characters, too – they were separate characters for a reason, so why are you now combining them into one?
Most Zelda games have the basic through-line of Link rescuing Zelda and saving Hyrule from Ganon, but the 3D Zeldas add a lot more to the narrative, so I can easily see the writers picking and choosing what they like from those entries, to the movie’s detriment. Please, for the love of god, pick one or write your own original story set in the world. That’s all I ask for.
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