Live Action Metroid Fan Film Brings Samus to Life

[Lizzy Finnegan]

Live Action Metroid Fan Film Brings Samus to Life


From the studio that broke our hearts with a The Legend of Zelda live action April Fool's Joke.

While I was busy wondering if my dreams of a live action The Legend of Zelda would ever be realized, nonprofit production studio Rainfall was creating a fan film centered around the beloved Metroid franchise.

Metroid: The Sky Calls is just under twelve minutes and follows isolated bounty hunter Samus Aran, played by Jessica Chobot of The Nerdist, and draws inspiration heavily from the Ridley Scott classic Alien. America Young, who worked on Halo 5: Guardians, performed motion capture for the character.

"The classic Nintendo franchise, Metroid, envisioned through the lens of 60s-70s science fiction cinema such as 2001, Alien, and Solaris: this was the concept for Rainfall's most recent production," the description reads. "Instead of using a modern approach, a style was developed more in tune with the themes that inspired the first Metroid game in 1986: isolation, exploration, and the wonders of deep space."

Rainfall was also the studio behind the viciously cruel The Legend of Zelda April Fool's hoax trailer [http://rainfall.tv/legendofzelda/], but I was willing to forgive them (just this once), as the Metroid short is wonderful.


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[flying_whimsy]

I seriously wish this was a full movie now. What a cool story.

Loved the 2001 reference and the old school visuals for the intro and outro. Makes me wonder what a Ridley Scott Metroid movie would look like: arguably way better than prometheus 2 will end up.

 

[thewatergamer]

inb4 nintendo waves it's copyright dick around and takes it down

Seriously though, this was awesome, almost makes me wish that we actually had a real live-action movie...though it probably wouldn't be nearly as cool if it happened because Hollywood

 

[KaosuHamoni]

As a massive Metroid fan, I surely can't be alone in thinking that that 'movie'-thing was absolutely, truly abysmal?

It was far too game-y, and had the exact same vibe of every other Game-to-Film adaptation which makes them all just awful.

 

[Theminimanx]

Well it was pretty and looked like metroid, I'll give it that. But aside from that, meh. The story basically amounted to nothing and I can't say the portrayal of Samus was great or anything. I don't expect a deep narrative or anything, but at least be about something. What did we learn? Where did those mysterious coördinates lead to? Why is there a clone of Samus all of a sudden? Hell if I know, and the film doesn't feel like giving answers.

 

[Michael Tabbut]

Well it was pretty and looked like metroid, I'll give it that. But aside from that, meh. The story basically amounted to nothing and I can't say the portrayal of Samus was great or anything. I don't expect a deep narrative or anything, but at least be about something. What did we learn? Where did those mysterious coördinates lead to? Why is there a clone of Samus all of a sudden? Hell if I know, and the film doesn't feel like giving answers.

no intention of sounding nitpicky but it wasn't a clone, it was the audio log being re-arranged by an outside source (Chozo by the looks of it) in order to communicate with Samus.

OT: I liked it as a homage. Though i wouldn't have had Jessica Chobot as Samus.

 

[Theminimanx]

no intention of sounding nitpicky but it wasn't a clone, it was the audio log being re-arranged by an outside source (Chozo by the looks of it) in order to communicate with Samus.

Then why didn't they just use a standard audio visualiser (waves, multiple lines that kind of stuff). No need to make it more confusing.

 

[Hawki]

Hmm...

Well, that gets a stamp of "good" from me. It draws from the likes of 2001, Alien, and I'd argue even Riddick and Prometheus (in a good way), but it steel feels like Metroid (sort of).* Overall, I'd say it works. It's case of atmosphere before plot - some people have asked about the "other Samus," but while I'm fine with it being representative of the chozo, I don't think that's the point. It's no coincidence that it starts with Samus exploring a world, and ends with her about to explore more.

*I've long felt that there's actually a stylistic divide within the Metroid universe and this veers very much on the Western/Prime side, but that's a different discussion altogether (and likely an unpopular notion).

 

[Hairless Mammoth]

That was a good fan film. There was a little too much dialog for a story where nothing happens, but it probably wasn't in the budget to have more than one action sequence or long shots of Samus just exploring new ground. Still, this was probably the best voiced Samus (besides Jennifer Hale's grunts) we'll ever hear.

 

[sonicneedslovetoo]

And Nintendo tells its lawyers "We've got another group of dedicated fans we can sue for $4,000, get to work."

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

I'm amused at how they didn't even try to make the Morph Ball transformation make any sort of sense.

There's one thing that bugs me, though- the actress's expressions in the "helmet cam" don't really seem to match the virtual actress's movements in the suit; I'm seeing furtive, half-afraid glances on the face while the body seems to be moving smoothly and confidently. Aside from that, though, it's a good effort- better than a few major theatrical releases.

 

[Whoracle]

Eh, more than good enough. Chobot doesn't do Samus for me (her face is too round) and I (who knows shit all about film making) would have cut the hyperspace scene, but it does the asthetic and overall feel of Metroid justice. More of this, please.

 

[Devieus]

no intention of sounding nitpicky but it wasn't a clone, it was the audio log being re-arranged by an outside source (Chozo by the looks of it) in order to communicate with Samus.

Then why didn't they just use a standard audio visualiser (waves, multiple lines that kind of stuff). No need to make it more confusing.

I'm guessing that tech wasn't available in that system. It wasn't confusing me in the slightest.

Also, how many questions do you expect to be answered in a 10 minutes span of fan-movie?

 

[Theminimanx]

Also, how many questions do you expect to be answered in a 10 minutes span of fan-movie?

It's surprising how much information you can convey in 10 minutes if you know what you're doing. Visual storytelling and all that.
Or they could just, you know, ask questions that don't require long answers.

EDIT: You know what, I'm probably way too deep down the nitpicking hole at this point. I wasn't super impressed, you were, tastes differ and life continues.

 

[RedRockRun]

Eh, more than good enough. Chobot doesn't do Samus for me (her face is too round) and I (who knows shit all about film making) would have cut the hyperspace scene, but it does the asthetic and overall feel of Metroid justice. More of this, please.

Just just not cool enough to be Samus. Then again, who is? She's the coolest animated heroine there is for me. But you're right that Chobot simply doesn't look like Samus. Her face isn't angular enough. Maybe someone like Scarlett Johansson would be a better fit? It helps that she's naturally blonde (even though Samus went from green to red hair before blonde) and her face seems shaped more like Samus'.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Well for one thing, it's certainly better than Another M but in saying so any Metroids game/ fan stuff beat M!

 

[WhiteFangofWhoa]

I like this. Better than Hollyowood will ever do it either way.

 

[FalloutJack]

This is pretty cool. Minor nitpick that the suit should be physically larger (because it should be in proportion with its helmet and shoulders), but likeable enough not to care.