Summary
The upcoming live actionThe Legend of Zeldamovie has been met with a bit of a mixed response. The idea of aZeldamovie is inherently interesting, but the choice to make it a live action film has left some fans disappointed. The movie is being directed by Wes Ball, who is best known for the less than stellarMaze Runnerfilm series, written by Derek Connolly ofJurassic Worldfame, and produced by Avi Arad, who also produced the massively memed upon 2022Morbiusmovie. None of these picks have inspired much confidence across the Internet.
Still, aZeldamovie obviously has a lot of potential, but it needs to be done right. TheSuper Mario Bros Movieapproach of going with great references to the source material but extremely light story and character development will not work anywhere near as well here.Zeldais a deeper, more story focused series that inherently appeals to older audiences more thanMariodoes. AZeldamovie shouldn’t aim to be a basic crowd pleaser, it should take some risks and try to be genuinely innovative.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Likely due to both being iconic Nintendo series',The Legend of Zeldaoften gets lumped in withSuper Marioas franchises where every game revolves around the hero trying to rescue the princess. This isn’t a completely fair point to make aboutMario,which has made strides to move away from Peach’s capturebeing the main thing moving the plot forward in every single game, albeit with it still popping up consistently. WithZelda, however, the claim is truly baseless and likely comes primarily from people who haven’t actually played the series.
Zelda isn’t even in everyLegend of Zeldagame, and when she is, she tends to either work alongside Link or exists as one of the many people of Hyrule whom Link must save, not the sole recipient of his rescue. InBreath of the Wild, for instance, Zelda does call out to Link for assistance in defeating Calamity Ganon. However, it is all of Hyrule that is in danger, not just her. She is actually taking on a more active role by remaining sealed in Hyrule Castle to keep Ganon contained.
The point of all this is thatThe Legend of Zeldacannot be broken down to its bare essentials the way something like Mario can. TheZeldaseries thrives off of its diversity. Every game takes place in the same timeline, with each incarnation of Link possessing the same soul and the Triforce of Courage. But each Link exists in a radically different place in the timeline. This allows everyZeldagame to feel unique. Any series can switch up gameplay from entry to entry, but theZeldatimeline allows for games to have drastically different tones, worlds, stories, and appearances while still being part of the same canon.
EventheZeldagames that do lead directly into one anotherdiffer drastically. In spite of how hardBreath of the Wildhas been gunning for the title,Ocarina of Timemight still be the most iconicZeldagame as far as the general public is concerned. It has the most standardZeldastory out of any game in the series, the one that has the highest likelihood of being the template the movie works off of. Link and Zelda discover Ganondorf’s plot to conquer Hyrule, and Link travels the land and becomes strong enough to stop him,eventually claiming the Master Swordand working with Zelda to defeat the Demon King.
One would imagine that the sequel to a game like this would be something very similar, but one would be incorrect, asMajora’s Maskgoes for something completely different. Following the time reversal at the end ofOcarina of Time, Link remains a child for the entirety of this adventure, resetting time every three days as he desperately tries to stop the moon from crashing into Termina and causing the apocalypse. It’s a very dark game by Nintendo standards, and completely lacks most notable characters from the series, with Zelda and Ganon in particular being absent.Zeldais not meant to be a rigid series. It’s meant to push the envelope with each entry, always trying new things and reminding players how vast its world really is.
The Legend of Zelda Movie Can Tell Its Own Version Of The Story
It seems almost unavoidable that theZeldamovie will follow the general outline ofOcarina of Time. It best fits the idea of what general audiences will be expecting when they think about aZeldamovie. Director Wes Ball seems to want to introduce the universe as broadly as possible to the world of film, looking atZeldaas an untapped franchise more than something to make a unique work of art out of. AnOcarina of Timemovie where a restless Link starts off in Kokiri Forest and embarks on an adventure with Zelda to save Hyrule from Ganondorf starts a potential series of movies off at its most basic, crowd pleasing point of entry.Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Ball said:
It’s going to be awesome. My whole life has led up to this moment. I grew up on Zelda and it is the most important property, I think, that’s untapped IP, if you will. So we very much are working hard to do something. We’re not just trying to do it because we can. We want to make something really special.
But theZeldaseries isn’tbeloved for being a simple, easy to digest story. Just the opposite, in fact. What makes it special is the way it constantly fluctuates and moves away from what’s expected of it. InLink’s Awakening, Link finds himself on an illusionary island that lacks a single other familiarZeldacharacter but is inexplicably home to a few Mario enemies. InSkyward Sword, rather than meeting later in life, Link and Zelda are childhood best friends living on a floating island high above the earth. InThe Wind Waker, Link navigates the ocean more than the land with the help of the pirate Tetra, who is actually Princess Zelda. This Zelda goes on to become the great great grandmother of the Zelda ofSpirit Tracks, whose Link is canonically the Hero of Trains. Zelda works best when it’s weird and deviates, and the movie would probably be better for it if it did the same thing.
There are a million ways theZeldamovie could be different than anyZeldastory that’s come before it. Link has had a lot of different personalities, but he’s never had dialogue in aZeldagame.Not one that was made by Nintendo, anyway.Having a Link that speaks could be a great chance to give him a personality never seen before in the character. Perhaps this Link could be uninterested in the idea of adventure and leaving his home, and would learn the value of seeing new places as the story goes on. Or conversely, movie Link could be a natural warrior who was eager to fight and gain power, who would have to learn humility and that being a hero is about more than brute strength.
Link could be an outsider, arriving from a far off land to help Zelda, something that has never been done before. Many video game adaptations love having their main characters start off unfamiliar with the world they find themselves in, so this could be an easy point of entry. The film could also take a bit of inspiration from the Skyward Sword dynamic, but this time have Link and Zelda start off as friends in a more familiar setting.
It sadly doesn’t feel very likely that theZeldamovie will take a lot of risks or strike to establish an overly mature tone. Safe and familiar tends to make a lot more money at the box office, and it certainly seems like the goal of this project is to make money. If the aim with this movie is to have a near guaranteed hit and lay the groundwork for moreZeldamovies in the future, then a simpleOcarina of Timenarrative will do just fine. However, if the goal is to make something legitimately good, to really live up to the potential of what aLegend of Zeldamovie could be, then it has to be a fresh take on the series.
