Cinefile

Though it never made a monolithic splash in the video game market, the frenetic and visually lush first-person thriller, Mirror’s Edge, was able to gain a cult following due to its astonishing skyscraper gymnastics and it’s focus on -running- rather then -fighting-. The game is set against a luminous white-washed environment, throwing the player into a world of geometric blues, red, greens and yellows – a world where every mundane object becomes a path to escape. The sense of tension and anxiety that runs high across the entire gaming experience makes it rife for a cinematic adaptation.

This is a case where a movie could actually improve on the story of the game. Though the outline for the narrative was fairly promising, I have to admit that the game faltered in fleshing it all out. The game developers didn’t quite deliver the goods in terms of effectively spreading and implementing their twisty-turn plot. A movie could fill in all the blanks left by the game and put some much needed punch into the key emotional moments.

For those unfamiliar, Mirror’s Edge takes place in a near-future world where the government has an invasive, totalitarian stranglehold over a nameless metropolis. The player fills in the role of Faith, a high-flying “runner” who is tasked with delivering physical communications to various clientele across the byways of rooftops and cranes. When the current mayor of the city is challenged by a candidate who promises to bring change, the man is murdered in his office with Faith’s sister, Kate, acting as the fall-woman. On the run from the authorities, Faith must uncover who setup her sister and why.

It’d be pretty hard to make this premise dull and boring, but you can trust Hollywood to foul things up pretty quickly. It’s important, as it should always be, to get a director and writer who would understand the unique stylization that Mirror’s Edge offers. Here’s an easy solution: Luc Besson. Time and again the French writer, director and producer has shown that style, action and emotion can have dynamic equality in a film.

Let’s consider the man’s credentials. Thanks to his writing and producing contributions on The Transporter and District B-13, he’s familiar with intense action and the free-running stunt techniques of “parkour”. In the visuals department, The Fifth Element and Angel-A are clear descriptors that Besson knows how to capture a vivid moviescape without turning it into pure spectacle. Of course, the filmmaker’s effort on Leon the Professional is his true call to glory. The film is full of powerful characterization and emotion, with palpable shades of anxiety, frustration and well-tempered retribution.

To achieve the true luminosity of the game, it'd be wise to contract cinematographer Christopher Doyle, the man who practically wrote the book on eye-popping visuals in modern filmmaking. As a long time collaborator of Wong Kar-wai, Doyle has proved his colorful talents on film's such as 2046, In the Mood for Love and Fallen Angels, as well as the epic martial arts movie Hero and the recent Colin Farrell drama, Ondine. Each movie has a distinctive canvas slathered with lavish hues which act as each film's true calling card, but graciously avoids eclipsing the beating heart of plot and characterization. Doyle would no doubt give Mirror's Edge '80s Olympics-esque stylization a true, authentic boost on the silver screen.

In terms of casting the sullen but determined protagonist, I'd cast an eye on the talented Asian actress, Zhang Ziyi. Her fancy footwork in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the intimate emotion she bared in Memoirs of a Geisha would be a perfect one-two combo for portraying Faith and her journey towards the truth. I'd go for Jason Statham as Faith's bald rough-and-tumble boss, Mercury – the action star is obviously no stranger to high-flying stunts with The Transporter and Crank, while Faith's fiery comrade Celeste, could be wrangled by Kate Bosworth (Superman Returns, Beyond the Sea). Then to round things out, Guy Pearce (L.A. Confidential, Memento) would play the duty-bound cop Miller, whose convictions for seeking the truth in Faith's sister's case cause him to help the renegade in her aspirations.

With all that talent floating around, something magical is bound to happen. Staying true to the simple but gorgeous color palette and the intense action of the game is key in effectively translating it to the big screen. Still, the filmmakers would need to infuse the watered-down story with some much needed vitality, turning the mediocre plot twists into palpable surprises that are really felt by the audience. Keeping those ideas close to heart, Mirror's Edge could be made into a really fantastic thriller.

This trailer gives you a good idea of the visual flow in the game: