Twisted Metal Proves It's Time To Park Car-Themed Video Game Adaptations In The Garage
"Twisted Metal" started its existence as the go-to video game for the kind of edgy tween who can't decide between racing and fighting games, and went on to spawn the kind of ridiculous number of sequels its license-to-print-money concept suggests. That was a good while ago, though. The most recent game in the series came out when PlayStation 3 was still a thing, so it has seemed reasonably safe to mentally bury the franchise in the brain box that contains the specific era of gaming where studios got away with putting a shirtless dude strapped between two monster wheels against a giant tank while simultaneously pretending that their game is dark and tormented.
And yet, it's 2023, a year many great sci-fi works of the last millennium place firmly in the Future — and here we are, face to face with Peacock's "Twisted Metal" show. What's more, it seems to understand the subject matter well enough to keep things lighthearted, and stars some of the brightest talents from the finest shows and franchises, no less! This makes for a surprisingly entertaining series ... that nevertheless has very little to do with the video game, thus accidentally becoming the latest in a sporadic string of live-action adaptations that prove that it's high time to pour sugar in the collective tank of car-themed video game adaptations as we know them. Let's take a look at why.
Original Hollywood franchises do a much better job with car-themed action
Quick, what's the first thing that comes to mind when someone says the words "car action scene?" Because chances are you'll be able to rattle off a list of shows and movies from various superhero properties to the 1990 action drama "Days of Thunder," otherwise best known for the fact that it stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman (and also for Cruise's character being called "Cole Trickle").
The world is full of films and shows about cars, as well as ones that aren't exclusively about cars but nevertheless feature a car chase or six. James Bond movies. Batman movies. The "Transformers" series. There's also that one franchise about Vin Diesel and his family — what's it called, again? Every action movie and show ever. The list is endless. So, what can a video game adaptation bring into the mix?
Nothing, unfortunately. The need for movies and shows about people driving fast has been so thoroughly saturated by stuff that is exclusively written for big or small screens, that particular corner of the market resembles a 10,000-car pileup. Because of this, whatever a car-themed video game adaptation can do, an original movie or show has already done far better, and many times over. As a result, the only way an adapted work can differentiate itself from the masses is with increased focus on the non-driving parts of the equation, which in turn brings a completely new set of problems, because ...
Taking the action out of the car requires inventing new lore that barely exists in the games
The thing about properties like "Gran Turismo," "Need for Speed," and "Twisted Metal" is that there's barely any plot between them. This is a problem, because if they can't compete with other movies and shows on the car front — and they very much can't — they'll have to spice things up with a dash of lore that they don't have.
Okay, yes, the "Need for Speed" games have featured loose driving-themed plots of the underground racer variety since 2003 — though for whatever reason, the movie decides to tell an unrelated "Fast & Furious"-lite story about a feud between two former race car drivers. It's ... not awful, sure, but the main attraction here isn't cars. It's a cast that has managed to make itself (retroactively) very, very stacked — think Aaron Paul, Michael Keaton, Rami Malek, Imogen Poots, Dominic Cooper, and the like. "Gran Turismo," meanwhile, is largely unconcerned with plot. The "Gran Turismo" movie deals with this by focusing on expert video game players who are recruited for the real-life equivalent (think "The Last Starfighter").
"Twisted Metal" goes for the third route available to car video game adaptations, and focuses on worldbuilding ... at the expense of cars. True, the franchise has this oft-neglected lore of the fighting game variety: Big Bad sets up a tournament with huge rewards, a bunch of creeps decide to take part, you know the drill. Of course, if you've watched even 10 minutes of "Twisted Metal" the show, you already know this isn't what it's about at all — instead, viewers are treated to "Mad Max"-lite where people sometimes remember to get behind the wheel.
Twisted Metal isn't a bad show, but it's also not a car video game show
Don't take all this to mean that "Twisted Metal" is awful. It's actually a pretty fun, low-stakes action adventure that solves some of the source material's biggest challenges (a hulking clown with a gleeful attitude toward murder) with some truly inspirational solutions (have pro wrestler "Samoa Joe" Seanoa portray the physical role, and unleash Will Arnett as the voice). The end result has every chance to become a genuinely entertaining show, and what's more, the fact that the show plays real fast and loose with the source material means that "Twisted Metal" has every chance to become the latest madcap success story in the Peacock arsenal.
That's the thing, though. Does any of that remind you of a car video game, save for a small handful of semi-recognizable characters and vehicles? "Twisted Metal" doubles down on everything – anything – else than the no-holds-barred car battle action the games are known for, only involving a bare minimum of car fights after the obligatory smashing intro sequence. Instead, it seems to be going for a "weird people doing weird super-stuff" vibe. Which is a smart move, but it also means that with some slight cosmetic reworking, "Twisted Metal" could just as easily be an original IP, and be all the better for it because it wouldn't have to tip-toe around the whole car thing all the time. Likewise, "Need for Speed" could just as easily be an original story.
Instead, we've been treated to a slew of car video game adaptations that could've been better without their attachment to an existing IP. If that's not a red flag for the next studio eyeing a car video game adaptation, we don't know what is.