So, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 right? It’s crazy that we live in a world where the Sonic franchise is largely carried by its movies rather than games. But, honestly, Sonic is a rarity amongst video game movies: a label that’s been maligned ever since the concept of adapting games to film became a reality. Arguably, video game adaptations are some of the most wildly mixed bags in terms of form, function, and reception. Some films are just extensions of games, others attempt to distill the vibe of the franchise into a narrative more fitting for a film, and most fail at whatever they’re trying to be.
When evaluating what I consider a successful video game movie, I focus on the adaptation’s potential goals. The biggest qualifier is if the film is a convincing advertisement for its game because, let’s face it, that’s what most video game movies boil down to. Obviously, the film should also have its own merits aesthetically, narratively, and thematically. Ideally, the best video game movies appeal to both existing fans, giving them something new but sharing the same spirit as the game franchise, and filmgoers looking for a fun, usually low-stakes, time at the theater.
10. Arcane (2021-2024)
Okay, yes, Arcane is technically a limited series. But it can be watched in a day if you’re dedicated enough. Honestly, it’s not hard to accidentally speed through Arcane; the story is engaging, the animation is stellar, and somehow it makes Imagine Dragons sound cool.
Arcane is also the first of many examples of an adaptation taking the iconography and limited lore of a game and turning it into a coherent, entertaining story. Yes, League of Legends has some story to it, but a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) is not the best mode of gameplay for delivering a narrative. Conversely, each episode of Arcane has an incredibly deep and engaging narrative. It’s hard to say any character isn’t compelling (except Caitlyn), and the second season has certainly given a few more characters their due–especially Eko (Reed Shannon) and Viktor (Harry Lloyd).
But, after gushing about how good Arcane is, I hesitate to place it any higher because it’s barely a video game adaptation. When the biggest selling point of your show is that it’s nothing like the game it’s based on…is that a good thing? It feels wrong to call Arcane a video game adaptation because, apart from the use of characters, it’s its own beast. But, it is a League of Legends property and a very, very good show.
9. The Super Mario Bros Movie (2023)
If this was purely a list based on ironic enjoyment, The Super Mario Bros Movie would be much higher–it’s 1993 predecessor, the film that set the acrid tone for all video game movies going forward, would also be on this list. Super Mario is, famously, a franchise that lives and dies by gameplay rather than narrative. The story of saving Princess Peach and the Mushroom Kingdom has carried the franchise across its various iterations of gameplay.
Of course, Mario has also built recognizable iconography over its nearly forty years of existence. Arguably, that’s where the original version of the film failed: twisting the bright colors of the Mushroom Kingdom into a cyberpunk-esque fever dream. So, twenty years later, it’s clear the course correction was massive and to its benefit. While Illumination’s animation style isn’t for everyone, the saturated colors and rounded shapes associated with the studio make for an appealing take on the world of Super Mario.
What enhances the appeal of The Super Mario Bros Movie is its choice to embrace the relative simplicity of the story and use the space to pay homage to Nintendo’s extensive back catalog. Sometimes the nods veer a bit too hard into blatant pandering, but sometimes it’s just fun to see Chunky Kong on the big screen. I’ll give The Super Mario Bros credit for not being quite as obnoxious as it could’ve been, considering the reputation Illumination has garnered. Sure, the film is simple and cheesy but it’s fun and a succinct summary of the franchise’s history.
8. Five Nights at Freddy’s (2023)
Famously a series with far too much lore, Five Nights at Freddy’s had some massive shoes to fill. So, how does one adapt a franchise with so much contradictory, bonkers background into a feature film? Easy: plan for a franchise and incorporate the less confusing parts of the lore.
Considering the film took nearly a decade to come out, it took a while for this conclusion to be reached. But, despite the persistent influence of FNAF’s original developer Scott Cawthon in the writer’s room, the balance of coherent narrative and series faithfulness that the final film managed to strike seemed to satisfy both fans of the franchise and general audiences. The fact the film isn’t a total incomprehensible mess is kind of a miracle.
Again, the Five Nights franchise somewhat lives and dies by its iconography; the simple yet uncanny animatronic designs are truly the heart of the games. The Afton family is technically the center of the overarching narrative and the film does maintain that with an appropriately goofy performance from Matthew Lillard. But, truly, the animatronics are the stars of the show. The Jim Henson Creature Shop truly shows off some of their best recent work translating the iconic designs of Freddy Fazbear and company into functional animatronics. The plot is a little thin, Mike Schmidt is kind of a waste of Josh Hutcherson, and the MatPat cameo may slam into you like a MAC truck. But, it’s a cogent summation of a notoriously messy series with enough fan service to entice the hardcore fans.
7. Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)
As I alluded to earlier, the Sonic movies are pretty good insofar as video game movies go. Again, like so many films on this list, the Sonic film infamously went through some production issues, especially with the titular Blue Blur’s design. Unlike his once-rival Mario, Sonic’s franchise is littered with narrative-heavy games–most of which the public and Sega themselves would rather forget. But, like Mario, Sonic is also a franchise with tons of recognizable iconography. Sonic also has the benefit of his characterization: he’s cool, he’s kind of goofy, and he’s a chili dog connoisseur. He can thrive (or at least reasonably exist) outside his game world.
Instead of leaning into the iconography of the Green Hill Zone and Chemical Plant Zone, the first Sonic film decides to play coy and bring Sonic (voiced by Ben Schwartz) and Dr. Eggman (Jim Carrey) into the real world. It’s a bold choice, yet not without precedence and not entirely unsuccessful.
Yes, the constant Olive Garden promotion is nonsensical and the “fish out of water” story seems a bit out of place for Sonic, but, the film still captures the general energy of the franchise without delving too deep into pastiche or references. As more characters have been introduced into the franchise, especially the inspired choice of Idris Elba as Knuckles the Echidna, the references and iconography related to the franchise have multiplied. But, so far, there’s been no misses with the Sonic film franchise. They’re fun, mindless romps adequately balancing between silly action and fun homages to the best parts of Sonic’s video game career.
6. Resident Evil (2002)
Honestly, any and all of Paul W.S. Anderson’s video game adaptations could’ve taken this spot. I just happen to have the softest spot for his take on Resident Evil. Again, like Arcane, calling Anderson’s Resident Evil franchise video game adaptations feels mildly disingenuous since it’s more of an interpretation of the source material rather than a direct retelling. The choice to retell the premise of the first two-ish games with an entirely original cast of characters, led by Milla Jovovich, seems almost nonsensical. But, there’s a reason Resident Evil made my list where other survival horror films did not.
Because Resident Evil separates itself from its franchise of origin enough, the issues tend to form from media-specific gaps. While the film can’t replicate the helplessness of playing with clunky TANK controls, it’s also very clearly not trying to replicate what the original Resident Evil games were doing.
This is not survival horror, this is early 2000s action-horror with the leading lady kicking ass and getting unnecessarily wet. And yet, the series iconography is still present and functioning in the same way. Umbrella Corp is still evil and there are still biohazard zombies lumbering around. Arguably, Resident Evil is both an effective way of introducing people to the game franchise and a fun action-horror romp in equal measure.
5. Mortal Kombat (2021)
Fighting games are, usually, some of the worst offenders when it comes to video game movies. Street Fighter: The Movie (1994) and the Tekken (2010) film franchises are weird because they try to balance the bread and butter of fighting games–making collections of pixels bodyslam each other–and giving a cogent narrative reason for said fights to happen. But, the 2021 Mortal Kombat mostly maintains balance. Sure, the titular “Mortal Kombat” doesn’t actually happen in the film, but there’s still plenty of story and action to spare. The implementation of the rivalry between Bi-Han/Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim) and Kung Lao/Scorpion (Max Huang) is, shockingly, well-implemented.
What makes Mortal Kombat special is its commitment to translating the highlights of the franchise. Many of the prior fighting game adaptations, including Paul W.S. Anderson’s own Mortal Kombat from 1995, fail to replicate or replace the engaging mechanics of the games they’re based on. However, the Mortal Kombat game franchise has something that few other fighting games have: a visual gimmick that exists in both film and video games.
The newest iteration of Mortal Kombat leans heavily into the fatalities and damage that catapulted the franchise to popularity. From Jax’s (Mehcad Brooks) arms being frozen and then smashed to pieces to Mileena (Sisi Stringer) getting a hole blasted through her torso, the impact of the fantastical fighting is much stronger in the 2021 iteration than any other. The spectacle of the fighting game is closely, but not entirely, replicated. Mortal Kombat is fun–plain and simple. It is tantalizing enough to potentially convince people to play the franchise.
4. Pokémon: The First Movie (1999)
I’m not above admitting this is a nostalgic pick. I may not have played a Pokémon game ever, but I absolutely had the anime on every day before I went to elementary school. Pokémon: The First Movie is entertaining on its own merits though, especially as a film that mostly exists as a marketing tactic. The film, and its countless successors, essentially serve the same purpose as the anime: marketing the video game and card game. As expected from a Pokémon product, the character designs are adorable and the battle choreography is kinetic. Ash Ketchum and crew’s optimism is as infectious as ever, even in the slightly higher-stakes scenarios of the film. It’s also a very breezy watch at only seventy-five minutes, definitely not overstaying its welcome.
This film, in particular, started the ongoing practice of making the newest legendary Pokémon the central character of a feature film. Pokémon: The First Movie centers on Mewtwo and deals with some refreshingly deep ideas for a family film. Nine-year-old Red was not prepared to confront the ideas of playing God, mortality, and the point of existence the first time he watched Pokémon: The First Movie.
Even though the film does not particularly dwell on any of these ideas in its short run time, it’s interesting to see these ideas getting engaged at all.
Come for Pikachu, stay for the minor helping of existential dread. As much as Pokémon: The First Movie exists as an advertisement for its game franchise of origin, it absolutely has its own, separate appeal to those who lack a deep attachment to the franchise. It’s quick, engaging, and mildly introspective with plenty of cute little guys running around.
3. Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children: Complete Edition (2009)
If Pokémon: The First Movie was a nostalgic pick, this is a purely biased one. I know the story of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is practically incomprehensible for anyone who hasn’t played Final Fantasy VII. (I can admit that because I watched it before I played any Final Fantasy game.) Like Pokémon: The First Movie, Advent Children is another simultaneous extension of and an advertisement for its game of origin. Unlike any other film on this list, Advent Children was a completely in-house project developed by Square Enix and the same creative team behind the original game.
The biggest issue is, of course, the actual story. The original 2005 release of Advent Children had a borderline incomprehensible story with massive gaps that ruined the pacing. Complete Edition, released four years later, fixes some of the bigger issues with underexplaining the plot, but still heavily relies on the viewer’s prior knowledge of the game.
The biggest benefit to Advent Children being an in-house project is its animation. Square Enix had already garnered a reputation for their game’s gorgeous CGI cutscenes. Considering the bulk of the film is elaborate battle and chase scenes, the fluidity of the animation goes a long way. The return of Nobuo Uematsu as composer adds another layer of hype. The new arrangements of songs from the game and the new songs are just as good as any composition from the Final Fantasy games. But, the biggest appeal for the time was seeing and hearing the now-iconic cast of Final Fantasy VII for the first time. Sure, the film has its flaws, but sometimes there’s an appeal in watching a bunch of edgelords with giant swords fight.
2. Werewolves Within (2021)
It’s clear that the theme of this list is “it shouldn’t work…and yet.” Werewolves Within is probably the most well-executed example. Making a movie out of an Oculus VR “Mafia-style” game should not work, but the result is so fun. The rules of “Mafia,” which the film masterfully incorporates, create fantastic stakes for a horror whodunnit. For the number of horror whodunnits that have come out in the past few years, the added intricacies of “secret werewolf” work to great effect. The chaos of a party mystery game is perfectly captured, but the added stakes of actual deaths–complete with solid effects work for its $6.5 million budget–perfectly up the ante.
But, where Werewolves Within shines is its humor which, in its own way, is also a part of the party game experience. Mishna Wolff’s script is funny on its own and truly captures the silliest parts of a game of deceit. The cast, led by Sam Richardson my beloved, elevates it further with their excellent timing.
Adapting such a simple party game should not work this well, especially if something dropped on the Oculus. Perhaps calling this a video game adaptation is a bigger stretch than most because it’s closer to a party game adaptation if anything. But, the humor and horror of Werewolves Within truly elevates such a simple concept into a cute and fun watch, even if this doesn’t convince me to buy a VR headset.
1. Animal Crossing: The Movie (2006)
Perhaps the perfect encapsulation of a series’ vibes placed into film form, Animal Crossing: The Movie takes the calm, slice-of-life feel of the game series and translates it into a cute little movie. Considering the Animal Crossing franchise is so open-ended and centered around player preference, adapting it for film seems like a fool’s errand. But, Animal Crossing is just as much about the iconic and adorable villagers and expansive world as it is what the player can do in it. So, a sweet, episodic slice-of-life film is arguably the perfect compromise.
Obviously, the appeal of Animal Crossing is that it’s peaceful and cute. The art style of the film, while different from the games, still evokes the same cozy energy. The featured villagers, some of the most popular at the time of release like Apollo, Bianca, and Tom Nook, are present and accounted for; hearing villagers speak as opposed to little beeps and boops is a bit of a shock but the voice cast–which includes Takashi Miike in a bit part–is fantastic.
The pivot from life simulator to slice-of-life is also relatively uncomplicated. The gameplay of Animal Crossing is, obviously, important but simply watching a nondescript villager have cute adventures across recognizable landmarks hits the same beats. It’s a cute, peaceful watch that maintains the heart of the series and is a really convincing advertisement for the Wild World era of games. Plus, it’s nice seeing someone else get yelled at by Resetti for once.
List Courtesy of Red Broadwell
Feature Image from ‘Sonic the Hedgehod,’ (2020); Credit to Paramount Pictures via IMDb