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Credit: Konami
For the umpteenth time, a Metal Gear Solid movie is in the works. While I’m not allowing myself to get too excited, I’ve been thinking about this upcoming video game adaptation pretty much nonstop since first hearing about it. As someone who’s played these games way too many times, referenced them way too much, and has been waiting for this day for nearly 30 years, it should come as no surprise that I have some thoughts about the project. This includes several things I need Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein to get right.
From the “tactical espionage action” at the core of the series to the over-the-top and unforgettable villains to the franchise’s habit of never taking itself too seriously, there’s a lot I want to see here. I honestly think that if the directors keep these three things in mind, we could have the best video game movie in years on our hands…
Credit: Konami
I Need The Movie To Keep The ‘Tactical Espionage Action’ Aspect Intact
If Metal Gear Solid is going to work as a movie, it’s going to need to keep the “tactical espionage action” aspect from the games. With a blend of stealth, action, and intense situations, the games have thrown a lot at Solid Snake, and by virtue, the player. This element has been at the core of the franchise for decades now, and it’s honestly what has set it apart from other action or stealth series over that time.
While I admit that it could be tricky making this work in a movie since we won’t be players forced to overcome some immense obstacles, the long-in-the-works adaptation will need to find that balance of action and stealth to tell the story of Solid Snake sneaking into Shadow Moses to save the world from a rogue FOXHOUND unit. The games have never really been just about guns-blazing action, and neither should the movie.
Credit: Konami
The FOXHOUND Unit Needs To Be There
When I was a kid, I used to pore through the Metal Gear Solid manual to read all about the members of the rogue FOXHOUND unit that takes the Shadow Moses nuclear disposal facility hostage to steal Metal Gear Rex. Led by Liquid Snake, this ragtag special forces group consisted of iconic video game villains like Revolver Ocelot, Vulcan Raven, Psycho Mantis, Sniper Wolf, and Decoy Octopus, and gave gamers some of the most inventive boss battles of all time.
If this movie actually happens and the first game is the story that gets adapted, I NEED to see FOXHOUND. The unique, outrageous, and deadly bosses drawn up by Hideo Kojima are still talked about nearly 30 years later, and several console generations later, remain some of the most fun you can have.
Credit: Konami
Finally, I Need It To Not Take Itself Too Seriously
If the Metal Gear Solid movie is going to work, it needs to not take itself too seriously. While the franchise pushed consoles to their breaking points with some of the most intense battles in gaming history, the whole “tactical action espionage” aspect of the games isn’t everything. To put it bluntly, these games are weird, and they aren’t afraid to let their freak flag fly. In fact, Hideo Kojima’s games embraced the zaniness and silliness of third-person action shooters.
From the Psycho Mantis battle (he reads your memory card) to hiding in cardboard boxes (you can let Sniper Wolf’s wolves pee on you for safe passage in one section) to a genome soldier with a bad case of diarrhea, the first game is full of jokes. And don’t even get me started on the whole AI dilemma in the final stretch of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, a game where the former President of the United States is revealed to be a supersoldier. Oddly enough, that’s not the wildest part of that game.
Who knows what’s going to happen between now and Metal Gear Solid’s release? What I do know is that if the adaptation stays true to the source material and doesn’t go all Max Payne on us, this is going to be great.