What are The Best Video Game Movie Adaptations?

Video games have gone under the scrutiny of film directors and producers for adaptation purposes. From the Tomb Raider to Detective Pikachu, there are a lot of games that have made the jump to the silver screen. In this slogging thread, the gaming community discusses the best and worst video games movie adaptations.

This Slogging thread by Mónica Freitas, Blake Cram, Sara Pinto, kushal tamrakar and Jose Hernandez occurred in slogging's official #gaming channel, and has been edited for readability.

What's the best movie adaptation of a video game? 🎮🎥

It's not a great movie by any means, but the only video game movie I've really enjoyed was the most recent Mortal Kombat flick. It's very hit and miss with its casting and borderline awful in its story. Nevertheless, Mortal Kombat is absurdly over-the-top and pays just enough homage to the series to be a fun movie. Which is a lot more than I can say about other films based on video games.

My dark horse entry in this conversation isn't exactly based on a video game but checks some of those boxes is Ready Player One. It is based on the titular novel by Earnest Cline and revolves around finding hidden “Easter eggs” in a virtual reality video game—essentially a fleshed-out metaverse. There are ample video game references, cameos and Easter eggs in the film, and it cleverly changes the story in ways that make sense for a movie rather than a novel without losing the essence of the source material—which is something most video game movies have had a really hard time nailing.

Blake Cram, the Mortal Kombat one was released this past year, right? I haven't seen it yet, but from the rating, I imagine it's something along the lines of what you said: not terrible, not great.

Blake Cram, I have a strong opinion on Ready Player One. I read the book first and then watched the movie. Though there are great things about the film, and it does give off that futuristic vibe and all, I felt like it didn't do justice to the book. Obviously, movie adaptations are just that, a version of a book, but I think the book does such a great job with the underlying meanings and details of why that world is the way it is and why the main character is pushed to do the things he does... I felt the movie removed that and reduced it to an action/sci-fi storyline.

Mónica Freitas, yes, the Mortal Kombat 2021. Although, I will say I enjoy the 1995 version because it's so bad. It's a different enjoyment haha.

Mónica Freitas, ooooh...I like the strong opinion. I will say, as someone who also read the book long before seeing the film, I would still argue that it mostly did justice to the book. You do lose a lot of exposition from the books' narration and reading characters' inner dialogue, so the story and character motivations are definitely weaker in the film. However, I think they are still present enough (I actually liked how they portrayed Wade's friendship with Aech,). The movie to me did a good job capturing the creativity and surprise of celebrating pop culture in a way that worked in a movie. The racing sequence was fun and the Shining segment was hilarious. That being said, it's by no means an A+ movie for me, more like a very solid B. So, I understand not digging it!

Mónica Freitas, I never paid much attention to it, but I obviously search it on my friend Google and ran into this:

From this list, I've only watched Detective Pikachu. I've watched the older Lara Crofts movies, and I liked them from what I remember, but I haven't watched the most recent one.

Is anyone aware of Dota: Dragon’s Blood? It’s not a movie, but an animated series based on the moba game Dota 2.

The Resident Evil live-action movies are pretty bad. However, the first one is good. It wasn't a faithful adaptation, but it was fun.

Blake Cram, think I'll have to watch it then 😂

Blake Cram, I agree that they did a good job with how they included pop culture and translated that futuristic ambiance into a movie. And they have very good scenes in there. My main issue is just the lack of a few background elements I think make a difference in the story. But hey, it's still a good movie. I'm just picky when it comes to movie adaptations 😂

Sara Pinto, oh I saw Detective Pikachu too! It was better than I expected. I loved how they were able to replicate Pokemon, making them look real instead of too cartoony.
And Ryan Reynolds as Pikachu is just chef's kiss.

Sara Pinto, I haven't seen the other movies on the list but Tomb Raider got my attention.

kushal tamrakar I never saw it but from the trailer, it seems fun.
Which season is the best?

Jose Hernandez, how many The Resident Evil movies are there?
What made them bad? 😂

Mónica Freitas, 1 for sure!

Mónica Freitas, I thought so too! They were able to dodge that realistic creepy animation. They actually looked good! I enjoyed it a lot.

Mónica Freitas, have you seen the old ones or the new one?

kushal tamrakar, I might just give it a go!

Sara Pinto, so true! And Pikachu looked hella cute, ahaha!

Sara Pinto, I only saw bits from Lara Cross. I liked it, but then again, Angelina Jolie can sell me on almost anything. Did you see any of them?

Mónica Freitas, I saw both movies, but I was really young, and I'm not sure if I really liked it for the story or if it was because Angelina was a badass, haha!

Mónica Freitas, haha, they’re too many of them. But what makes them bad is the convoluted storyline that doesn't make sense.

Sara Pinto, we should rewatch it! Let's do a screening session! Either way, Angelina even sold me on Eternals, and the movie wasn't all that good.

Jose Hernandez, are they funny at least? I can take a bad movie if it's so bad that it's good.

Mónica Freitas, Let's go!! I haven't seen Eternals yet, so we can add it to the mix, haha!

Sara Pinto Uh, I have... I can't say that I've liked it 😅