Anytime a film worker attached to a game franchise project is asked about their experience with the original property they usually say "I had my assistant play it and summarize it for me" or something like that. Maybe they've concluded that that sort of honesty isn't really worth it considering most of the audience just takes that as a slap to the face.
Russel says that he played the games with his kids, and I can believe that. He also said he's talked about the project with the games' writer Amy Hennig which I don't have any reason to doubt either.
But why then not just make a new franchise? If you really want to make this story in your head, why attempt to con your potential audience? Sure, the information about his vision is out there, but the majority of people probably won't hear about this movie until it's close to release.
He also (rightly) claims that there have been no genuinely good game movies, which is probably true (camp value doesn't count), but then again, has there been a single movie that's been true to it's source material? Not really, it's always been reimaginings and reworkings. Mortal Kombat probably comes the closest to its source, and guess what, it's pretty much exactly what it set out to be!
We've had aliens, pirates, vampires, super heroes and zombies. An Indiana Jones-style adventure story wouldn't exactly crowd the market.
Then again, I don't personally have any insight into the film industry. Directors are probably like most people, sitting on an idea they'd love to do something with, but can't because the window of opportunity just isn't there.