Earlier this month, Nintendo announced a Legend of Zelda live-action movie. I wanted to take some time to process my thoughts on it and wait for any other news before writing. The announcement didn’t really have much to it. We know the director and producers. The director is Wes Ball, whose only other work includes the Maze Runner series and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. Producers include Miyamoto-san and Avi Arad. The Mario Bros. Movie was enjoyable but faced an uphill battle due to casting choices and the studio behind it. A more weighty property like Zelda will be held to a much higher standard. The choice of a franchise with a silent protagonist makes it even more awkward. This will be a huge hurdle to clear because it will likely be strange if they let Link talk. If they keep him silent, it will be stranger.
However, I think it can be done. IGN did an April Fool’s trailer for a live-action Zelda in 2008, and it had high production values while actually looking like a film I would enjoy watching. Nintendo is no stranger to outsourced productions of their properties, with mixed results. In the 2010s, however, Nintendo partnered with legendary anime companies and the like to create some high-quality shorts for Kid Icarus Uprising, Star Fox Zero, and Smash character reveals. The recent Super Mario RPG remake also used Nintendo’s new Nintendo Pictures studio for the cutscenes, and they looked great. I’d personally love to see more animated series instead of movies.
What do you think? Is this a trainwreck waiting to happen, or will this be yet another money-printing machine for the studios involved? I’ll hold out hope, myself. After all, Sonic surprised me in his live-action debut. And Ryan Reynolds as Detective Pikachu won me over near-instantly. Speaking of Zelda, we’ve got a music collection that would be a great holiday gift!
