Highlights

  • Legend of Zelda movie will focus on Hyrule exploration & dungeons, crucial elements for success.
  • Incorporating multiple dungeons in the film creatively is key to preventing audience fatigue.
  • Hyrule Castle, potentially combined elements from different temples, should be the main dungeon.

Some of the most exciting news for video game fans from 2023 was that a Legend of Zelda live-action movie is in the works. While this might have been something fans thought they wanted in the '90s, they quickly learned that movies adapted from video games for the big screen don't do too well, completely butchering the source material. However, that has changed in recent years, especially with the likes of The Last of Us and the 2023 adaptation of The Super Mario Bros. Movie starring Chris Pratt. It's possible this long-awaited adaptation will see some modest success at the box office, potentially overwhelming.

The Legend of Zelda director has assured fans that the film is in good hands, but there's a lot about a Zelda game that needs to make it into an adaptation. There's definitely some wiggle room on some things. Would it be creative if Link was a silent protagonist just like the games? Yes, but it's not mandatory. Do fans want to see Hyrule? Absolutely, and that means there needs to be a good chunk of Hyrule explored in the first Legend of Zelda movie. Dungeons are especially important to showcase. However, that can also be tricky because the movie shouldn't be dungeon-dense.

Zelda Ghibli LOTR
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Dungeons in Legend of Zelda

Throughout the Legend of Zelda series of video games, there have always been dungeons. These dungeons contain a bevvy of items, enemies, and puzzles that Link needs to overcome to progress through the game. Most dungeons can't be completed without solving the puzzles, and some of the items that Link acquires help against future enemies or and/or dungeons. They're essentially the levels for the Legend of Zelda games.

The dungeons have taken on different shapes as the series evolved throughout the years, becoming more expansive with each newly released console. Tears of the Kingdom dungeons are especially expansive. In the early games, dungeons contained little more than a series of rectangular rooms with some enemies in each one. Now, they're huge, sprawling, three-dimensional labyrinths that often require some head-scratching, possible assistance from a strategy guide, and some devoted time without interruption.

Zelda games gave us several amazing dungeons, and while any one of them would be a great addition to the film, it would be interesting to see which one the creators decide to go with.

Not every dungeon is referred to as a dungeon, either. Some take the form of a temple, a tower, a ship, and, in some instances, Hyrule Castle itself. Some of the most popular dungeons are Ocarina of Time's Fire Temple, Forest Temple, Majora's Mask Stone Tower Temple, and Skyward Sword's Ancient Cistern. Any one of these would make for an entertaining inclusion to the Legend of Zelda film.

Why Only One Dungeon?

zelda-tears-of-the-kingdom-sidon-of-the-zora-walkthrough-water-temple

It would be challenging for a filmmaker to squeeze more than one dungeon into a live-action movie because dungeons are supposed to be time-consuming aspects of every Legend of Zelda game. Most of the time, nothing story-wise happens in them, either. Yes, they progress the story typically, but that's because the item found somewhere in the depths of the dungeon unlocks something for Link on his main quest. Furthermore, it would get fairly repetitive if moviegoers had to watch Link run into multiple dungeons.

Watching Link solve numerous puzzles in multiple dungeons would be tiring for the audience and difficult to make worth watching. There are, however, a couple of ways the director could include multiple dungeons to give the audience the image that they're a part of Link's world. A montage could easily showcase multiple dungeon dives without them feeling repetitive. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves did something similar during its introduction and pulled it off. Naturally, if Link is a silent protagonist, he wouldn't be giving much of a monologue as Chris Pine's Edgin did.

Another way for Wes Ball to introduce a couple of dungeons in this live-action adaptation would be to have one be the central focus of the movie and then treat Hyrule Castle, or wherever the final showdown takes place, act as a dungeon as well. Breath of the Wild made Hyrule Castle its own level before the showdown with Ganondorf, which was a lot of fun for players to experience.

Which Dungeon Should the Legen of Zelda Movie Have?

Link Looking Out At Hyrule Castle

If there were to be only one dungeon in the Legen of Zelda movie, it should be Hyrule Castle. The film should feature the castle at the beginning in its pristine stature, which most fans know it for, and then it should be corrupted and ruined by Ganon and his forces later in the film. There are some other solid choices, of course, but the dungeon really needs to fit the theme of the movie. It would be exhausting to watch Link traverse multiple elemental temples, like the water and fire temple.

Can't include every famous Dungeon in the film? Well, why not pick the popular features from different dungeons to create one "perfect" dungeon for the movie?

However, it's possible to combine some features of several temples to make one cohesive dungeon. It would be a good method for implementing some fan service without doing too much throughout the film so general audiences don't feel lost. Wes Ball is a creative director who is no stranger to large, sprawling set pieces having directed Maze Runner and the recent Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. He'll have no trouble figuring out how to handle dungeons in his movie.

Link wearing Soldier's Armor and standing in front of Princess Zelda in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
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