Hmmm. Once again I haven’t answered the question. Bodies or bullets? I guess it just depends on the scene.

What makes a good action movie?

I think the most important thing — and one of the reasons we wrote Face/Off — is having a fascinating antagonist. We kept watching all these Die Hard clones and wondered “why can’t the bad guy be as interesting as the good guy?” Which eventually led to “why can’t the bad guy BE the good guy?” I still believe an action film is only as great as its bad guy. And of course, it always helps to have some awesome twist in the middle of the movie. For us, it was the moment where Archer’s in prison and the warden tells him he has a visitor. He thinks Tito (Bob Wisdom) — his best friend and fellow agent has come to spring him. Instead, Castor Troy struts in wearing Archer’s own face.

Apparently, that twist worked. Because several producers stopped reading — and started calling our agents before they even knew how the story ended. We were kind of in shock — we mostly expected to be laughed at for writing something so ludicrous. But, as time and technology would have it, the plot isn’t that ludicrous one decade later. Face transplant surgery is actually happening.

What are your feelings on how the action genre has changed since Face/Off was first released in 1997?

Special effects are a lot better, that’s for sure. Although what’s cool about Face/Off is the lack of visual effects. Almost everything was done practically, which makes it an interesting relic. I loved the look of the 300 and liked the film as well (although I still think Stephen Pressfield’s novel about the same subject “Gates of Fire” told a more interesting story). I guess we’re entering the era of the video game as cinema.

Looking at your film plate, you are said to be attached to the movie adaptation to the video game Tekken. How did you become involved with it?

The producer, Steven Paul — who had the Namco rights — approached us. Unfortunately, it ended up in a development morass. A director came on, rewrote our script, then left the project and then someone else rewrote him. At this stage I don’t know how much of our work remains.

Are there any challenges with adapting a video game to the big screen given the recent box-office failures of a few adaptations (most notably by *cough*Uwe Boll*cough – and yes this writer has seen those movies)?

I haven’t seen Bloodrayne or House of the Dead, so I can’t really comment about that director. With Tekken, it was a challenge selecting from the 60 or so characters — to find our way into a unified, cinematic story. Our original draft was a coming of age story that focused on Jin Kazama — a young man with special abilities — and someone with no idea he is the scion of the vast Mishima Corporation. Sort of the Godfather meets Star Wars. We wove the fight sequences (using several locations familiar to gamers) into the plot. But now I think it’s much closer to the game. A championship fight taking place on an island – with all the players having certain agendas. I guess kind of like Enter the Dragon or Mortal Kombat. I hope it turns out well … but I’m not up to speed on it.