In many stories involving Zelda, Link is usually portrayed as the courageous hero doing whatever it takes to serve Zelda’s plans. It makes sense, as Zelda often represents wisdom or light (or both) in these tales. The ongoing battle fought over the fate of Hyrule is between Ganon(dorf) and the forces of darkness against Zelda and the forces of light. Link, despite his significant role, is essentially just the sword that Zelda wields.
Princess Zelda’s role deserves more exploration, especially considering the recent “Super Mario Bros.” movie, which provided a perfect template for how to accomplish this. In that movie, Princess Peach is not just a damsel in distress but a genuine leader of the Mushroom Kingdom. In contrast, Mario embarks on an isekai adventure and is somewhat clueless. Like Link, he displays great courage to fight evil, but he is not the driving force behind the story’s events.
Some people have expressed dismay over the idea that Mario isn’t the most important character in a movie bearing his name. There has been pushback, regarding the fact that Peach takes on the mantle of being the true hero in the story. However, maybe there’s something to be said about this shift in focus. Perhaps Zelda should be the most important character in a movie with her name on it.
In most Legend of Zelda games, Link is on a quest to find various objects, often with mystical properties. Whether it’s three spiritual stones, four divine beasts, or seven dapper dongles, the objects pursued are somewhat irrelevant to the story. This suggests that the specific items could be easily swapped out without impacting the narrative significantly.
Traditionally, video game movie adaptations tend to assign heightened importance to every object, imbuing them with weight and relying on the mere recognition of these items to capture the viewer’s attention. However, it can be argued that what players of Zelda games would want to experience as viewers of a Zelda movie is the challenge of solving puzzles. It’s notoriously challenging to translate elements like combat mechanics from a game to a movie, but puzzles are something that films excel at presenting.
A potential approach for a Zelda movie could be drawing inspiration from “National Treasure”. In that film, historical artifacts and conspiracy theories are woven together to create a thrilling adventure. Similarly, a Legend of Zelda movie could utilize familiar objects as clues in a mysterious puzzle to solve, rather than relying solely on recognition for their significance.
While a film adaptation of a book can sometimes provide a similar experience to reading it, it’s impossible for a film to replicate the feeling of playing a game. The lack of control over a film’s narrative alters the viewer’s relationship to the story. However, engaging viewers with mystery and puzzles can activate remarkably similar responses to playing a Legend of Zelda game.
By shifting the focus to Zelda and embracing the spirit of solving puzzles, a film adaptation of The Legend of Zelda has the potential to capture the essence of the beloved game while providing an engaging and fulfilling cinematic experience. It would allow for a fresh exploration of the familiar world of Zelda and provide an opportunity for fans to experience Hyrule in a new and exciting way.
