According to Variety:
"Bruce Willis is negotiating to star in 'Kane and Lynch,' Lionsgate's bigscreen transfer of the Eidos Entertainment vidgame 'Kane and Lynch: Dead Men.'
Simon Crane will make his feature directing debut after serving as second unit director and stunt coordinator on such films as 'Hancock,' 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith,' 'Troy' and 'X-Men: The Last Stand.'"
Don't do it. Don't take one of the obvious knee-jerk reactions to this news story. Yes, this will be another game-to-film adaptation. What you may not know with your Gerstmanngate glasses all fogged up with tasteless exaggeration is the excellent storytelling present in Kane and Lynch. Our own Brendon Lindsey had this to say about the game:
"When you get right down to it, Kane & Lynch's strongest (and only above average) features are the titular characters and Kane's story."
Matt Leone of 1up had this to say in his review of the game:
"We rarely see scenarios and story structure this good in a game..."
Here's what the folks at G4 and X-Play had to say:
"But the story carries all of this swearing and violence very well with a sort of gangster movie grit that gives the main characters the proper motivation for what they're doing. Is it over-the-top? Absolutely. But it doesn't ever feel pointless. "
Inversely, Jeff Gerstmann had this to say about the game in his infamous Gamespot review:
"While the journey sounds interesting at first, and has a few bright points, it's weighed down by bad storytelling, a real lack of character development..."
Personally, I enjoyed every bloody second of playing through Kane and Lynch with a buddy (I played as Kane of course). I don't pop Commando into the dvd player to experience a deep story filled with character development. I pop it in because I want to see the governator kick some ass while never having to reload and dropping people off effin' cliffs while spoutin' one-liners.
[via Variety]
The Q Opinion on Activision/IW?
Listen Up 2009 Listen Up Awards
Eddie Inzauto Turning On My Sexy Lady
FilmPLOSION! Up Blu-ray Review
Brendon Lindsey When Game Journalism Gets Lazy
Pro Tip Pro Tip: Resident Evil 5: Lost in Nightmares
OneWordReview One Word Review: God of War
Head 2 Head H2H Deathmatch: Bobby Kotick vs. Major Nelson
Jason Fanelli Sex or Violence: Lesser Evil?
Tyler Cameron Do Achievements Ruin Videogames?
OLD SKOOL Ups and Downs of the 8-Bit RPG: Dragon Warrior
VS Node VS Node: Do You Want Files With That?
Mike Murphy Heavy Rain Has Revolutionized Videogames
Top 5 Takedown Top Five PS3 and 360 "Fails"
Dan Crabtree FOX News: The DS is for Pedophiles
Matthew Erazo BioShock 2: The Anti-BioShock
"What you may not know with your Gerstmanngate glasses all fogged up with tasteless exaggeration is the excellent storytelling present in Kane and Lynch."
"I don't pop Commando into the dvd player to experience a deep story filled with character development. I pop it in because I want to see the governator kick some ass while never having to reload and dropping people off effin' cliffs while spoutin' one-liners."
I am not sure exactly what you're trying to say about this, then. Is it, don't pass this one up because there's great storytelling and character development that will translate well, if adapted correctly, to a movie? Or, is it that there is enough action that character and story doesn't matter with this one? It seems you said it both has great story and characters only to wrap up saying it doesn't, but that doesn't matter because that's not why the game was fun... Thus, I am confus-ed.:p The quotes present from other publications also contradict in the same way, with G4 saying it's over-the-top, but in a good way, and Gertsmann stating it's terrible for story...
Besides my confusion as to what this blurb is saying, just seeing that Bruce Willis wants to do this strikes me as appropriate. It's his type of character, doing his type of characters' things. From what I have seen in videos of the game, having not played it, it seems like its story would fit him well. It all depends on if the makers of the movie adapt it faithfully, and with care, or if they put out another rushed, blah movie based on a video game...
2 points for the pic
^ agreed
I'm saying the game had a good story but if it doesn't the characters are awesome enough to warrant a good popcorn flick.
Ah, ok. Either way, it might be good, in other words. Well, we shall see.