The Top 10 Best Video Game Movies
5. Silent Hill
It’s time for an unpopular opinion, but hey, it’s my list. I loved the first Silent Hill movie and I’ve seen it multiple times. In fact, it’s probably my favorite video game adaptation that I’ve seen. It’s dark, creepy, twisted, and legitimately scary. Best of all, it doesn’t try to soften the blow of any of the dark elements in it. I mean, if you look at the underlying story of the movie, it’s pretty messed up. Toss in the fact that it stayed true to the survival horror genre, with the characters struggling to put together a mystery with little to no resources for protection. Plus the creatures are some of the most disturbing I’ve seen to date. Of all the video game movies on this list, Silent Hill is the only one I’ll eagerly watch again. It’s too bad that the sequel was so awful in comparison.
4. The Angry Birds Movie 2
Like Rampage, Angry Birds didn’t really have a lot to build off of when it came to developing a movie. Before the big screen, Angry Birds was just a mobile game where you slingshot birds at pigs to save eggs. It’s not exactly rich lore to pull from, but it actually managed to be a pretty funny flick thanks to its talented voice cast (including Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Bill Hader, and Danny McBride). This turned out to be one of those rare cases where the sequel was better than the original, and The Angry Birds Movie 2 proved to actually be one of the better-animated films of 2019. This time the birds and the Pigs have to team up to take on a new enemy (Tiffany Haddish) who is threatening both their islands. Don’t get me wrong, it’s very much a family film geared towards kids, but aren’t we all kids at heart? …Or is that just me?
3. Tomb Raider
Coming in at number two is one of the more recent films to hit theaters. Tomb Raider is not just the best video game movie ever made, but it’s actually a damn good movie in general. Alicia Vikander brings a new take on Lara Croft, making her a character that is much more about indomitable will and determination than incredible skills. Don’t get me wrong, she still manages to pull off plenty of death-defying stunts throughout Tomb Raider. However, this is much more of an origin story, giving audiences a look at all the elements that will come together to give us the video game character we all know and love. Of all the movies on this list, Tomb Raider is the only one to not only show that it understands the character’s origin, but also the driving force behind her. Personally, I’m smelling franchise when it comes to this flick and I can’t wait to see what comes next for this Lara Croft.
2. Sonic the Hedgehog
Things started out rough for the Sonic the Hedgehog movie. The first trailer caused a huge uproar among, well, everyone with the CGI abomination that it tried to pass off as the classic video game character. Then something incredible happened. Sega listened to fans and fixed what they didn’t like. I know, right!? That never happens! The end result was actually a really fun movie because it knew that you couldn’t make a serious movie out of a 16-bit video game character (see Super Mario Bros. as an example). Instead, it creates a crazy road movie where Sonic and a small-town sheriff (James Marsden) try to escape the evil mad scientist, Doctor Robotnik (Jim Carrey). I was honestly shocked at just how much fun I had watching Sonic the Hedgehog and judging by the laughter from the rest of the audience, I wasn’t the only one.
1. Pokemon Detective Pikachu
For years, video game movies have been terrible. However, it looks like Hollywood is finally well on it’s way to bucking that trend. You might have noticed that the majority of the movies on this list have all hit theaters in the last year or two, and coming in at number one is the most recent. Pokemon is a franchise that was a staple of my childhood. That doesn’t buy this film and leniency though. Luckily, Detective Pikachu doesn’t need it. The film doesn’t necessarily try to adapt the original Pokemon games, but tries to create a new story within the world we came to love. The end result is a neo-noir film featuring an impressive cast, including an impeccably cast Ryan Reynolds as the titular Detective Pikachu. Even with nostalgia on its side, I wasn’t prepared for Detective Pikachu to be as much fun as it was. That’s why it easily earns this number one spot!
Yeah, I know what you might be thinking. These video game movies aren’t exactly mind-blowingly spectacular, but they’re the best of a bad situation. I’m hoping that Hollywood can get it together with their adaptations, especially since they seem to be taking them a bit more seriously these days. If only video game movies could get the same treatment as comic book movies, then we geeks could be a little less miserable and off-putting. Still, there are plenty of video game movies that have been made and I want to hear what your favorite is. Comment below about what your favorite is, what game you want to see adapted, or if you even think there’s any hope for a truly epic video game flick!