@Nate - How weird. Seems your friend had some very odd expectations.
I've not seen any movies based on games that were really fantastic, only some that were average (like Silent Hill). Most of them seem to be based on an IP with some recognisable elements or references but actually don't have much else to do with the games they're based on and aren't that well written (like Doom). Others seem to be entirely different from the games they're based on and just share a title (like Final Fantasy).
The annoying thing for me is that there are plenty of games out there with a decent enough plot to base a movie directly on with a few abbreviations or minor changes, keeping the setting and characters, but no director seems to want to do that. Instead, they want writing freedom, and would rather have their own damned "alternate reality" storyline set in the same universes as the games with their own characters.
Either that, or they chose to make a movie based on a game which has a very simple plot, to get the most writing freedom. And something else I notice is that it's almost as if the directors haven't played and enjoyed the games that they're directing a movie about. And have game creators ever taken an active role in making movies based on their IPs? Maybe these are some of the reasons why games don't translate to movies well.
But I digress. Valve are apparently teaming up with Bad Robot and are considering making Half-Life and Portal movies. Considering what I said above, and how Lost (TV series) turned out in the end, that doesn't quite fill me with confidence even if J. J. Abrams and Gaben seem to know what they're doing, but there we are. Maybe if Valve has an active role in their production, then they may turn out to be okay, so good luck to them.
Article about it here.
Video here with Gaben talking to J. J. Abrams making a presentation about it.
Movies adapted from video games
