With one of the most in-depth plots taking cue from some of the most broad sweeping range of conspiracies and mysterious organizations across the globe, the original Deus Ex had all the makings for a cool movie, and the game's protagonist pulled off the leather trench and sunglasses look way better than "I know kung fu" Keanu Reeves.
But a movie based on the property fell into the third layer of development hell, and was never delivered. Then Invisible War came out, and damn near killed off the franchise completely. Now, with Human Revolution, it looks like publisher Square Enix is going to try things again, under the leadership of CBS Films, which had acquired the rights back in July of 2012.
Earlier this week, we learned that Square had gone ahead and registered a trademark for Deus Ex: Human Defiance, which is planned to be an original movie based around the same time as Human Revolution (in addition to a new game). A pity, as while Revolution wasn't as in-depth, I still personally don't like my video game flicks stepping too far away from the source material.
While the idea of Jensen ever gracing the silver screen is more than likely lost, it doesn't mean movies still can't be made. Case in point, a short fan-film based on Revolution's characters has popped up, and when it comes time for CBS to make its own Deus Ex movie, they have a great example to follow.
The work of Moe Charif, the short film's plot deviates a wee bit from that of the game, but as the official summary attests to, "it remains true to the theme." The film centers around Human Revolution's Adam Jensen, his girlfriend and researcher Megan, Tyrant Yelena Fedorova, and Bob Page of the Illuminati. The augmentation special FX shots for Jensen and Tyrant Yelena Fedorova are well done by any standard, especially for a short film, and the first-person shots are a nice sort of homage.
If you're a fan of the Deus Ex franchise, you should definitely watch it below. It's not as action heavy, or humorous as that truly epic bar fight supercut, but it's damn good.