6 best movie adaptations of 2015
Marcus Goh is a Singapore television scriptwriter. He’s also a Transformers enthusiast and avid pop culture scholar. He Tweets/Instagrams at Optimarcus and writes at marcusgohmarcusgoh.com. The views expressed are his own.
Almost every other movie is an adaptation from another medium these days. But crossing over from television, films, manga or books is a tricky task — you need to adapt the story to the strengths of the film medium, while still keeping the core elements of what it popular in the first place. Some adaptations completely miss the point, while others propel the originals into new heights of popularity. Which were the best film adaptations of 2015? Here are some that surpassed expectations.
Vince (Adrian Grenier), E (Eric Murphy), Turtle (Jerry Ferrara), Drama (Kevin Dillon), and Ari Gold (Jeremy Priven). (Warner Bros Pictures)
“Entourage” was a television show about a movie star, and came full circle when it became a movie sequel to the television show about a movie star. It brought back all five of our favourite Entourage characters, as well as numerous supporting characters that made the show so interesting.
But it’s not all just nostalgia in this film. Haley Joel Osment gave us the bratty villain Travis to deal with, reminding us all that sometimes fantastic TV shows or movies are shot down by the most inane of morons.
Colossal Titan attacks! (Encore Films)
The first “Attack on Titan” movie was perfect, capturing everything about the anime that made it such a hit. Horrific violence and gore. An enemy that was unfathomably alien and yet eerily human. A sense of desperation that made the already apocalyptic wasteland even more uninhabitable.
Sadly, the follow-up film, “Attack on Titan 2: End of the World” lost much of the magic that made the first so good. But we may yet see a third “Attack on Titan” film, given how the previous one ended…
Mashiro (Takeru Satoh) and Takagi (Ryunosuke Kamiki). (Golden Village Pictures)
“Bakuman” is one of those anime/manga properties that lends itself perfectly to a film medium, since it could all ostensibly take place in real life anyway. The artistic renditions of our heroes at work, coupled with the wish fulfilment of virtually every J-pop fan out there, made this a film that touched anyone who’s been a child at heart.
But at its core, it was a story about two friends and their shared ambition — a story that everyone can identify with.
Shaun (Justin Fletcher) leads the sheep as they abscond with a sleeping Farmer (John Sparkles). (Shaw Organisation)
For a movie with no dialogue, it managed to tell a surprisingly touching story about a farmer and his animals. The tearjerking scene when Shaun finally locates the amnesiac Farmer only to be rebuffed, and has to be forcibly pulled away by the other animals before the police arrive, encapsulates the theme of the entire film. The bond between them has gone beyond just farmer and farm animals.
For anyone who’s ever had a pet, this strong relationship between man and beast is a familiar one, almost making this a pet movie (but not quite, since no pets die in this film).
Kang Ji-Young as Teacher Jelavic. (Encore Films)
Yes, the main character is effectively a giant emoticon, but it’s the ensemble cast that makes this film work. We can’t help but root for the underdog, be it in manga or in film, and that’s what carried over into this adaptation. After all, haven’t we all struggled with our studies in school before?
There’s also the strong student-teacher bond which appeals to anyone who’s had a good teacher. It helps that Koro Sensei is a huggable icon, too!
Migi (Sadao Abe) and Shinichi (Shota Sometani). (Encore Films)
“Parasyte Part 1” is a great adaptation, but “Parasyte Part 2” drops the ball. What’s with it with two-part anime adaptations that have a disappointing the sequel? This first film felt like live action anime, carrying over all the over the top elements that you can only find in anime, while still being believable enough to happen in the real world.
The special effects were also excellent, which was important given that the antagonists of the film (and one of the protagonists) were man-eating aliens. But it managed to balance horrible aliens with an adorable Migi, which won our hearts over with his earnest looking eyes.
