Legend of Zelda

Video games seem to be the new frontier for plot-starved filmmakers. In 2009 a live action movie trailer was released for Legend of Zelda, which I’m sure had millions of fanboys revisiting their old Nintendo consoles to prep for Link’s film debut. To take on the task of an adaptation as widely acclaimed as the Zelda games is a bold and ambitious step. Unfortunately, the trailer does not inspire much confidence in an intriguing or original film. It started off strong with a teasing look at the Hyrule Temple and beautiful cinematography of a fantastical setting but the awe fades quickly and is replaced by many doubts. By the end, the viewer is left uninformed and confused by the lack of a plot summary. The story is not clearly explored through the narration or imagery from the trailer. A lot of emphasis is put into this movie being an epic tale of fantasy but viewers don’t exactly know why they’re supposed to care for the protagonist’s journey. Most of what can be gathered is dictated to the viewer by the narrator, leaving very little to be revealed by an exchange of dialogue. In turn, acting talent is hard to gauge with little verbal interactions. Instead there are many cliched, overextended silent stares at seemingly important objects. More than half of the trailer is a flashy action scene. The computer graphics seem impressive but I worry that too much of the budget was spent on special effects and not enough on the costume materials and design. Some of the footage seems as well produced as a cheap television series or made-for-TV Sci-Fi movie. Not even the enchanting musical themes of the game could divert ones attention from the poor effort put into translating Link’s classic video game garb to something slightly more appropriate for live action film. His bright green getup sticks out like a sore thumb, distracting from the viewing experience. For the exception of the antagonist’s hair, which looks like it was purchased from Party City, his makeup looks fairly decent and effective.

Barry

Tags: fanfilm, fantasy, games, Legend of Zelda, Wii, yt:quality=high, Zelda