Somehow, Oscar Isaac has returned. (You’re never living that one down, mate.)
The ever-rising Hollywood actor, known for having landed major roles in such franchises as Star Wars and X-Men in recent years, has developed quite the following. When he’s not picking off Stormtroopers or averting apocalypses, he’s dabbling in slightly more intellectual fare or political dramas like Show Me a Hero. Put simply, dude’s got range; so it’s little wonder TIME Magazine named him one of the most influential actors in the biz in 2016. Maybe we should do a list like that for our team. Of course, we’d all have to occupy around 6 or 7 spaces each… yeah, we need to expand, huh?
Isaac’s resume has been further bolstered, then, by him being cast as everyone’s favourite cardboard box enthusiast Solid Snake in the upcoming Metal Gear movie adaptation. Video game flicks have cultivated a bit of a bad reputation since the 90s, with a line of stinkers including the Super Mario Bros. movie (which I’ll throw up my hands and vouch for, actually, despite Bob Hoskins’ utter misery while producing it) and the Mortal Kombat flicks (helmed in part by the same guy who would go on to direct Foodfight and I sincerely wish I was making that up). But thanks to more recent and decent efforts, like SEGA’s very own Sonic the Hedgehog which is due for a sequel, the genre is having a bit of a comeback, so hopefully the MGS picture will follow suit.
In an interview with IGN, Isaac outlined precisely why he took on the role of Snake. As it turns out, he’s a pretty big fan of the games. “”I just loved them,” he said. “I love the feeling that the game would give me every time I’d play. It’s just a strangely isolated, mournful, lonely game to play that has these incredible moments of violence and terror, with these weird, psychedelic concepts and villains. But, yes, it’s kind of like psychedelic military horror things that happen.” It’s this psychological component, it seems, that drew the typically ruminative Isaac to the story.
The themes of the narrative also played a part in him, erm, playing the part. “The truth is, underneath the whole thing, it’s an anti-war story. So I think those are the elements I really love,” he explained. “And, like I said, I love the feel of playing it, and the big question of: can something like that be transferred – or can you explore those themes in a really interesting way – on film?”
Isaac was actually being eyed up for the job for quite a while before it was made official. For years prior he’d been vouching for a Metal Gear movie when the subject of video game pictures would come up, and director Jordan Vogt-Roberts even commissioned an artist to produce a hypothetical mockup of him as Snake. He certainly has the rugged dimensions required for the chiselled, grizzled character. Check it out:
“Very little is known about the movie at this point,” finishes the report, “with neither the film’s release date nor production date having been announced.” Rest assured though, folks, that as soon as those details hit the ‘net, you’ll all be the first to know.
I now can’t wait for this movie to make bank, and for the eventual ninth instalment where the villain from the first movie spontaneously returns with no explanation. Some traditions must be upheld, dammit!
Are you excited by the prospect of Isaac as Snake? Will you be seeing the movie? Let us know!
Via, IGN.
