By I used to like Angry Birds quite a lot. Eventually I got sick and tired of it like everybody else, but I definitely don’t have any innate hatred of the series or the concept. They’re well-made, fun little diversions and nothing more. With that in mind, some of the comments made in an IGN interview with Rovio’s head of North American Operations David Maisel are more than a little bit unnerving. Yes, this was officially announced way back at GDC, but now we have some concrete information/vague PR speak. According to Maisel, who is a former chairman/executive of Marvel Entertainment, the film will “be everything that you’d expect from an Angry Birds movie as a fan of the game, plus so much more with surprises, innovative things, and twists.” To muddle things even further, he compares the series directly to the Marvel Universe: “The one thing that doesn’t exist for Angry Birds that existed for Marvel is the fifty years of stories and mythology. But I actually view that as an asset because we’re able to create this mythology from scratch and have fun with it” (emphasis mine).
I have no idea how to feel about this. Did he honestly just say that the only difference between the Marvel Universe and Angry Birds is the amount of backstory? What backstory does Angry Birds have? Movies that attempt to justify stupid gameplay mechanics suck 100% of the time, what makes him think Angry Birds will buck the trend? And what the hell does he mean by “innovative things”? What do people “expect” from an Angry Birds movie?
I recommend reading the entire interview. It’s kind of a surreal experience. I need to go lie down.
[Via IGN]