Call of Duty: The Movie and Possibilities

Well, I suppose it was inevitable. Yes dear friends, it seems Activision, the publisher of the popular video game series, Call of Duty, filed a trademark to reserve the rights to a movie based on the franchise.

Now, I for one have stated several times that video game movies suck and will continue to suck but a little part of me wants this venture to succeed. The reason being is, unlike many video game movies, the franchise has already been able to tell a very good story. I am not referring to WWII games, because that'll be another Saving Private Ryan. Which I for one will say "No thanks" to. The last game in the series, Modern Warfare, actually had an interesting, (if somewhat generic in our modern age) plot. What made the story stand out so well was the level of execution that was carried out in telling the tale. For one the characters (minus the ones you controlled) all had great personalities that many gamers were able to get attached rather well. Throw in the fact that the developer, Infinity Ward, added in some of the fiercest, white-knuckle sequences in the history of gaming, and you had an engrossing first-person shooter.

It doesn't seem the studio will be letting this level of storytelling die anytime soon. Just check out the latest trailer for the game:


Besides, this is a property that I'm sure Hollywood executives will lick their chops over. COD4 has sold over 14 million copies worldwide across three different gaming platforms. Millions of people are still playing this game 2 years after it was released, myself included. Best of all, the potential for sequels is already showing up. Yet, no movie producer in two decades of game to film adaptation has succeeded in even giving an entertaining piece of art. Most of them aren't even financially successful. So for COD4 to actually succeed, here are some important things to keep in mind:

1) Find a competent director and writer
Again this is a video game property, and for some odd reason none of these movie executives know how to hire a decent director or writer to make a good film. Of the last few disasters we've seen (Max Payne, Street Fighter, and Hitman), none of these directors are any good at their jobs (at least to me they're not). Also the writing has been borderline atrocious in all of these adaptations. Now COD4 had a decent script (not great, but competent), so when Activision sells there money-maker to a studio they should also give them the rights to the script. This is an important consideration as this was part of the deal breaker for Peter Jackson with the Halo film fiasco. Furthermore, the original writers of the game should be consulted as well. In terms of director, the studio should get someone who can properly film a modern war movie. People that come to mind: Ridley Scott, Kathryn Bigelow, etc.

2) Market the film as a suspense movie, not really a war movie
From the title of Modern Warfare, this might seem like an odd choice, but it could make all the difference. Many people are still very sensitive to the idea of modern military conflicts, mostly due to the conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan. But this is precisely what Modern Warfare did not do in the actual game. The Iraq like sequences were only 1/3 of the entire experience. You spent most of the game hanging out with the British S.A.S. using their modern military hardware in a variety of locations as they covertly tried to fix the crisis from behind the scenes. These sequences also are what made the game so damn successful as well and earned incredible praise from critics. So base the game from their point of view.

3) DO NOT make the Americans the primary protagonist
I am a proud American, I love my country to death for all the resources it has given me. Yet I find it perplexing that whenever any property (be it a book or movie) is to be released as a film in this country, the protagonists are always changed to Americans. See The Departed, P.S. I Love You, The Ring, and the upcoming Let Me In and possibly Oldboy. The thing was in COD4, while you played as an American soldier, you mostly spent the time as Soap Mactivish in the S.A.S. So make him the primary protagonist and do not change his nationality for the sake of attempting to appeal to American audiences. Besides, rooting for a Brit wouldn't be too bad. People in this country have been doing for decades with James Bond.

4) Develop the heroes properly
Game to film adaptations seem to suffer mostly because they want to get in on the action right away. What's terrible is that most of these action sequences are poorly done anyways, so trying to care for an unlikable protagonist is just even worse. So aside from making actual decent action sequences, develop the characters featured in this game properly. Give us insight as to who they are: what's their personality like, got people waiting for them back home, etc. While many people crowded theaters to see lifeless cardboard characters in films like Transformers 2, many many more have crowded theaters to see great characters, i.e. The Dark Knight.

So here are my suggestions for a Modern Warfare movie. I have a glint of hope this property could have some potential great film making material. Do you guys have anything to add? Or do you guys think this will suck like every other game-to-film that's been made?