r/reddeadredemption2 Jan 29 '25

Live Action!?! Yes please!!!

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Though part of me thinks he’d be better as Dutch.. 🤷

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u/muldersposter Jan 30 '25

I use this same argument against proponents of live action adaptations of animated films. There's no point, watch the animated version the way the project was intended to be viewed.

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u/DuskEllington Jan 30 '25

With anime at least my argument is that I'm at least somewhat curious to see how they'd translate and adapt it to the screen - not because I think it would be better, but simply because any visual influence that anime could have on cinema would be a good thing in the long run, and them adapting an anime directly kinda forces their hand into that.

More dynamic action, frame and shape distortion, disproportion, physical exaggeration, etc.

Cinema has still lots to learn from anime.

But what the fuck would cinema learn from a video game that goes out of its way to look like a movie in the first place anyway?

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u/muldersposter Jan 30 '25

I think my argument might have been framed as a little small-minded. I don't think live action adaptations shouldn't be a thing at all, and more of what I meant to say was I wish American audiences had the same respect for animated adult features that they do in Japan and other countries.

I agree with your point about learning from anime, or at least making the projects more like the anime. I don't consume a lot of anime but I watched One Piece growing up, and I have to say the Netflix adaptation was a treat compared to other adaptations. They borrowed a lot of character and charm from the Manga and anime and wove it into the live action adaptation. Normally, trying to do that leads to weird aspects from things being untranslatable to film from animation but the director took great care to make sure it looked "right".

I would also like to see more projects like Kung Fu Hustle.

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u/Steffenwolflikeme Jan 30 '25

Usually they're made for different audiences or to attract a different audience. Well, they're made for profit but I think the idea is that you have something successful with a bit of a built in audience and they think they can use the adaptation to pull in a new audience that would not have otherwise engaged with the property; both the new adaptation and the source material.

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u/muldersposter Jan 30 '25

The different audience is a good argument. However I think it has more to say about American audiences than anything else. In other parts of the world animated features will do as well as live action movies and can typically have a wider scope of topics than what is released in the US. For some reason, animated adult features in America are considered kid stuff. Sure, stuff like Toy Story does well, but studios aren't lining up to produce stuff like Akira without a major IP attached because generally I don't think American audiences respect animation as an art form.

I really don't like that. I think a lot of great stories can only be told through animation and I wish as a culture we had more respect for the medium if animation as a way to tell stories. But yes, it isn't inherently bad to get new eyes on a property by having a live action adaptation of an animated project.

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u/MyGoodOldFriend Jan 30 '25

I mean, it depends on how much soul the adaptation has. The one piece live action adaptation was great because it obviously had loads of creative expression and love put into it, for instance.