Summary
Sure, Alex Garland boasts a rich history in the gaming space. It’s clear he’s developed into a nuanced auteur of beauty among hopelessness. Yes, A24 is the perfect good-faith studio to reassure skeptics wary of such a narratively subtle game’s big-screen adaptation. For what it’s worth, George R.R. Martin’s involvement with the film guarantees some good and faithful counsel. Yet, theElden Ringmovie exists only to disappoint a fan base who have forged their identity through hundreds of hours of suffering.
Despite this, tarnished brave hearts the world over will still find respite in theaters, savoring a brand-new, if brief, meticulously rendered view - because after all, what’s another two hours of gorgeous depravity while emboldened by the flame of ambition?
Sincebeing teased by George R.R. Martinearlier this year, theElden Ringmovie is now officially backed by the unrivaled hit rate of A24 Studios, along with the appropriately niche touch ofCivil WarandEx Machinadirector Alex Garland. Still, as awesome as the movie’s consorts ensure it will be, it will undoubtedly betray the standards of the Souls RPG faithful. For a game in which it is not the voiced narratives, but the fallen leaves that tell a story about how a tarnished became an Elden Lord, it would seem a perfect breeding ground for visionary film adaptation. Alas, like The Lands Between at hand, such a journey is fraught beyond any assurance of success, asElden Ring’s impact is truly ideal in interactive form as it currently exclusively exists.
Why A24’sElden RingFilm Will Ultimately DisappointElden RingFans
To appreciateElden Ringis to harness the dissonant virtue of hope. The game is a graphical marvel, with textures and details that allow a lonesome player to feel fully transported into a lush, living world of evil inhabitants amid luminous flora. One aspect of its design that cannot be overstated, though, is the utter expanse of it all - from sweeping perilous depths to vast starry skies whose horizons promise only further and more grimacing atrocity. In The Lands Between, tip-toeing molten terrain across scalding lava pits and lamp-lighting on eggshells through abyssal woods is sure to reap innumerable deaths and, as a result, abundant beauty.
When the game sets a player’s course toward the glowing and monumental Erdtree at the center of their map, the shining beacon acts as a north star beckoning forlorn warriors, who, even after being pummeled, gnarled, and gored, arise yet again, to set sights upon that towering crucible sanctuary. If ever the Erdtree evades a tarnished view, little Elden Ring shards, known as sites of grace, gleam like flickering echoes of the Erdtree’s light, and offer campfire-like respite for weary travelers.
These tiny light sources, much like the exponentially larger Erdtree they invoke, are simple but profoundly bewitching reminders that even amidst the abject horror of the ruthless world which crumbles around players, beauty exists and remains. In effect, the beauty, no matter how slight, is that much more captivating because of it. It takes long, lonesome stretches of many, many hours for that truth to set in for mostElden Ringplayers, but the film would likely have between two and three to pull off something similar.
Elden Ringfans are likely to be underwhelmed by the relative scope of despondency made possible by a feature-length film along with proper world-building, narrative arc, and standard pacing. With that, Garland would do well to make the first hour or so a resounding nightmare for viewers before the first flicker of an Elden Ring shard or Erdtree ray of golden light. Fortunately, his name is one of few that could deliver a silver-screen effort worthy of making that nightmare a joy.
How A24’sElden RingFilm Adaptation Could Otherwise Be Awesome For Non-Fans
FromSoftware’sElden Ringhas taken a series of brow-raising turns since its critically adored expansion inShadow of The Erdtree-first, with the announcement of a co-op fighting-based survival rogue-like spin-off inElden RingNightreign, and now withThe Elden Ring Movie.The imminent release ofNightreigncould dispel some uncertainty of late regarding FromSoft’s legendarily stalwart direction, as the game’searly impressions have been glowing, leading up to the decidedly odd project’s debut.Nightreign’s weird pivot from an RPG with a concrete identity has all but turned out to be a successful one, which bodes well for the newly announced film.
In the end, it’s no secret that A24 is a boutique film powerhouse, and Alex Garland is a capable director of science fiction projects, including some related to video game properties. Garland previously worked with Andy Serkis on Ninja Theory’sEnslaved: Odyssey to the Westas a writer, and also wrote for Ninja Theory’s enormously successful action gameDevil May Cry(2013). One of his recent projects, FX’sDevs,is visually striking, and nods to the scale, use of light, and color palette necessary to accurately depict The Lands Between.
Bringing all the characters and environments fromthose lands to life would be an insurmountable task for anyone, regardless of who’s at the helm. Margit, Marika, Radahn, and Rennala are fantastic characters who represent just a sliver of the cast met along the way - mere fractions of the Elden Ring. Similar fan favorites are certain to be left out of the film, so it would be wise for Garland to choose a single existing character and effectively tell their story as a prequel or continuation of the game. Because, if we’re being honest, the film will have its shortcomings, but compared to reading a boot’s description inElden Ring, storytelling won’t be one of them.
