In the aftermath ofThe Super Mario Bros. Movie’smassive success, fans have started planning out which seriesNintendoshould adapt for the big screen next.Per a recent poll on ResetEra, fans are hoping that, ifZeldais in the cards, the Big N will opt to adapt the more realistic style ofTwilight PrincessorBreath of the Wild, notThe Wind Waker’scel-shaded look.
While I have quibbles with grouping Breath of the Wild and Twilight Princess' art styles together, the bigger issue is that Breath of the Wild seems like a nightmare to adapt. Its narrative is non-linear, spread over a gigantic map, and most of its fun is found in the stories you make for yourself while exploring its interactive open world. But, after giving it some thought, I think it could be good.If, that is, the director who was handed the keys looked to John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein’sDungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thievesas a blueprint.
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Dungeons & Dragonsand Breath of the Wild are both, at their heart, about improv. In Dungeons & Dragons, the players and the DM collaborate to tell a story. I haven’t played much D&D, but when I have played, the fun has been in working together with other players to improvise a story. For the DM, the fun is in making the plan, then quickly changing it when players surprise you. For players, the fun is in taking on a role and attempting to make your way through the story in a way that is true to that character. Both require improvisation. The player doesn’t know what the DM has in store and the DM can’t perfectly anticipate their players' choices. Breath of the Wild, likewise, is about telling your own story within the confines the game provides. It hands you a world governed by understandable rules and a suite of abilities you’re able to use to push and pull against those rules, testing to see if the game can keep up with your creativity.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is more fun than your average blockbuster because it works that ‘yes, and…’ ethos into its story and the characters steering it. Though Justice Smith’s Simon can do magic, Michelle Rodriguez’s Holga is good in a fight, and Sophia Lillis' Doric can transform into animals, Chris Pine’s bard, Edgin, offers his party no real abilities, except his proclivity for planning. As the movie progresses, the gang swaps between a variety of plans, improvising whenever their current route hits a road bump. This leads to them doing silly things, like interrogating corpses, and cool things, like staging a heist with the magical equivalent of a Portal gun, and the movie feels surprisingly light on its feet for something so effects-heavy.
After watching Honor Among Thieves, I’m convinced that a Breath of the Wild movie could work as long as its creators brought the same ethos to it. Everyone has their Breath of the Wild stories, and one I frequently reference is the time I realized I couldn’t sneak up on a skull-bound bokoblin camp because it was facing me and I couldn’t get any closer without being seen. While I couldn’t stealth my way in on foot, I could sneak in by air. So I set fire to a patch of long grass, and when the smoke began drifting up, jumped above it, opened my glider, and floated onto the top of the skull, with the monsters inside none the wiser. That’s a small example from my own experience, but each BOTW player has their own tale of improvising an interesting solution to a difficult problem.
A Breath of the Wild movie would need to get a lot of things right — the ruined beauty of Hyrule, the epic sweep of Link’s legend,the loneliness of life after catastropheand the importance of community — but if it can capture the glee of landing in a tough situation and having to MacGuyver your way out through sheer force of will, it will be halfway there.
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