Film adaptations of popular games seem to be haunted by some evil rock – the vast majority are below all criticism and sometimes even deserve a rating with a minus sign. In this article, we will not analyze why this happened and who is to blame (although we can mention the fact that the infamous director Uwe Boll once loved to shoot his trash based on famous games), but try to find films that can still be watched without pain and copying of the famous meme with the eyes of Mickey Mouse. And they, fortunately, exist.

Let’s just say that this article is a collection of movies based on specific games, not tapes inspired by the world of video games in general, so such good movies as Ready Player One, Free Guy, Pixels, TRON / TRON: Legacy, or Wreck-It Ralph cartoon were not included.

 

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

Year of issue: 2001 | IMDb: 5.7

Angelina Jolie’s “model” of the early 2000s is an almost perfect embodiment of the image of the classic Larry Croft, even before all these reboots and restarts. And this is probably the main positive point of the first part – if not for Jolie, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider would not have had a chance to get on this list. Well, another advantage of the tape is the young Daniel Craig, who at that time had not yet reached the conveyor belt of Bondiana. The sequel, released two years later, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life, surprisingly, it turned out to be better than the original, so if you like the first part, the second is also worth a look.

 

Mortal Kombat

Year of release: 1995 | IMDb: 5.8

Despite the low rating on IMDb, the film adaptation of the famous fighting game of 1995 turned out to be quite good and quite authentic, with well-played characters and quality fights. And now, while watching, it also inspires a pleasant nostalgia for the “classic” action movies of the 90’s.
 

Mortal Kombat

Year of issue: 2021 | IMDb: 6.1

With the latest film adaptation, the situation is more complicated: Mortal Kombat (2021) is performed on a completely different technical level with modern special effects, but the quality of the plot is lower. And there is no tournament here. However, this is not a failure, and once you can see – if you are in the mood and if you know what is happening in the world of Mortal Kombat.

 

Pokémon: Detective Pikachu

Year of release: 2019 | IMDb: 6.5

There is a great number of animations for Pokemon, but everything is very bad with fiction films. According to rumors, Netflix is preparing a serial adaptation and, like, a movie, but there is no official information about this yet. So Pokémon: Detective Pikachu is still the only movie in the world where the events are happening in this universe. To be precise, it is a film adaptation of Detective Pikachu (2016) for Nintendo 3DS, a kind of spin-off of the main franchise. The tape came out light and fun and very typical of Ryan Reynolds, who starred in it. And it very nicely depicts the actual Pokemons.
 

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Year of issue: 2010 | IMDb: 6.6

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, based on the 2003 game of the same name (with elements of other games in the Sands of Time trilogy – Warrior Within and The Two Thrones), received mixed reviews from critics, but viewers generally liked it, so much so that at one time it collected a third of a billion dollars and was the highest-grossing video game movie until WarCraft surpassed it. The main role was played by the famous actor Jake Gyllenhaal, and in addition to his acting, the film can be praised for its good humor, dynamic plot, and decent as at the time special effects.

 

Rampage

Year of issue: 2018 | IMDb: 6.1

Spectacular action movie with Dwayne “Rock” Johnson in the starring role. Rampage is based on the eponymous series of games of the same name Midway Games, which came out in the mid-80s of the last century on arcades and consoles. According to the plot, the heroes save the world from giant mutant animals – gorillas, wolves, and crocodiles. Yes, it sounds as silly as it sounds, but Dwayne Johnson’s charisma and sometimes good jokes make Rampage a lighthearted movie where you can just relax.

 

Resident Evil

Year of issue: 2002 | IMDb: 6.6

It’s hard to believe now, but at first the films in this series were really good, and Mila Jovovich has not yet got tired of the endless stream of worse films. The first part was quite a quality horror with a few spectacular scenes. If you want to continue after watching Resident Evil (2002), you can watch the second and third parts – Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004) та Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004) and Resident Evil: Extinction (2007), but it is better to stop there.

 

Silent Hill

Year of issue: 2006 | IMDb: 6.5

The first film adaptation of the famous Japanese horror. The film did not like critics who complained about the vague plot and primitive dialogues, but thanks to the authentic atmosphere of the original game, the ratings in Silent Hill are much better on IMDb and Metacritic. After the film in 2006, they decided to shoot a sequel Silent Hill: Revelation (2012), but here everything was bad. Now, by the way, the third film is in production, and the director of the first film Christoph Hans, who promises to release a new film in 2023, is working on it.

 

Sonic the Hedgehog

Year of issue: 2020 | IMDb: 6,5

The comedy-action about Sonic the Hedgehog is quite secondary to the plot and uses almost all the clichés about a cute lonely alien who came to Earth and is trying to make friends with locals. However, this is a good family movie with good dynamics, after watching it you do not regret the lost time, in addition, Jim Carrey himself starred in it as a thief. By the way, the second part, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, is to appear in Ukrainian cinemas very soon, on July 21.
 

Uncharted

Year of issue: 2022 | IMDb: 6.4

Uncharted turned out to be a typical entertaining movie about treasure hunters. It is spectacular, dynamic, and also with good actors, although Tom Holland does not look like the character of Nathan Drake. This is probably the main flaw of the movie, everything else in it is done at a decent level, especially for the movie based on the game. And even Mark Wahlberg eventually grew his mustache and became an almost perfect embodiment of Sully’s image.

 

WarCraft

Year of issue: 2016 | IMDb: 6.7

The film was just destroyed by critics (it scored a miserable 32% on Metacritic), but it was much better received by ordinary viewers, especially Blizzard fans. The user rating on Metacritic is 8.1/10, and this is the highest rating of viewers among all game adaptations, only Sonic the Hedgehog has the same score. The fact is that despite the lack of expressive acting, WarCraft offers a lot of fan service, canonical characters and locations, and great graphics – that is, a real holiday for all fans of the game World of WarCraft.
 

Werewolves Within

Year of issue: 2021 | IMDb: 6

Most likely, most of our readers hear this title for the first time, and if it weren’t for the Ubisoft logo at the beginning of the film, they wouldn’t have even guessed that it was a game adaptation. Werewolves Within is a multiplayer VR game set in a medieval town. A werewolf appears in the city, and players must determine which locals are eating their neighbors. The action of the film is transferred to the present, to a distant American province. As for the genre, it is a lighthearted comedy with small elements of horror. The plot is quite simple, but the film is saved by the main characters, who came out surprisingly well.