The best video game film adaptations: staff picks

As The Super Mario Bros. Movie bounces into cinemas, it’s time to look back at our favourite video game adaptations of all time.

Few sub-genres have a worse reputation, but things have taken a turn for the better recently. The Last of Us is one of the best TV shows of the year. The Witcher was revered enough to pump a reported $15 million (£12 million) in an episode, with good results. Now, it’s all eyes on The Super Mario Bros. Movie to see if it continues this trend.

There are also a slew of upcoming shows and films based on games to get excited about. Netflix is making a Horizon Zero Dawn series and a BioShock movie; a live-action Twisted Metal show could land on Sky later this year; a Borderlands flick co-written by The Last of Us scribe Craig Mazin is on the way; and Sony’s Gran Turismo movie, starring David Harbour of Stranger Things fame, is hurtling towards an August release.

But today we’re more interested in the past. From cheesy cult classics such as Mortal Kombat, to critically acclaimed shows like Arcane, and all the loveable dreck in between, these are our top picks from one of the most derided categories of them all.

The Mortal Kombat trilogy (1995-2021)

Okay, so this is more like three movies instead of one: 1995’s Mortal Kombat, 1997’s Mortal Kombat: Annihilation and 2021’s Mortal Kombat reboot. But you have to experience them all. Even though the entire series feels like it belongs in a DVD bin at your local charity shop, I love it. It helps that Mortal Kombat was one of my fave games on my knackered old Game Boy.

Though they skimp on some of the funniest finishers from the ultra-violent video game (no babalities here, unfortunately), there’s enough gore, wisecracks and frenzied martial arts action to satisfy most B-movie fans. Binge watch them all in one sitting, and the words “get over here” will be echoing through your mangled brain for weeks.

Warcraft (2016)

Warcraft is seen as a flop, despite grossing a reported $439 million (£352 million). It was based on what was considered the biggest game of the decade at the time, and had a great filmmaker at the helm — Duncan Jones, director of Moon and Source Code. Perhaps going in with low expectations helped, but I was surprised by how engaging this one was despite being mauled by some critics and fans.

I was never that bothered about any connection with the old Warcraft strategy games or World of Warcraft, which I played for a month or so decades ago. However, there was an internal logic and coherence to Warcraft you don’t often see in video game movies. Characters whose motivations roundly make sense? What will they think of next.

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (2010)

Ah, the guiltiest of guilty pleasures. This was the film that arguably resurrected the video game curse. 2003 game Prince of Persia: Sands of Time was adapted into a big-budget adventure all the way back in 2010 and sank like a stone. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal as the titular Prince and Gemma Arterton in one of her more thankless roles as a Persian princess, it features a time-turning dagger, improbable stunts and some extremely signposted plot twists.

Nevertheless, it’s still a romp that takes some of the best elements of the games (the setting, the action) and crafts it into an enjoyable two hours. One to watch when you’re feeling nostalgic.

Final Fantasy: Advent Children (2005)

I defy you to watch this film and not feel a fleeting pang of resentment that you too cannot wield a sword as long as you are tall and do epic combat moves that blast your enemies into skyscrapers. Based, of course, on the beloved Final Fantasy Franchise (specifically Final Fantasy VII), it stands the test of time well for its age (it was made all the way back in 2005) and the animation still looks rather good.

Set two years after the events of FFVII, we follow sword-for-hire Cloud as he tries to cope with the blasted world Sephiroth left behind — specifically, the Geostigma disease. But let’s face it, the plot is not important, which is good as most of it doesn’t make sense: what we’re here for is the fighting, and this film delivers setpieces and spectacle aplenty.

Silent Hill (2006)

For years, Silent Hill was regarded as the one good video game movie. A shiny beach ball floating in a river of effluent. I have clear memories of watching this one in the cinema back in 2006. Of being genuinely creeped out by the lumbering Pyramid Head and the gribblies that infest the world as Silent Hill flips over to its nightmare mode and all the wallpaper crumbles off the walls to reveal a tetanus ridden rust playground.

Watching it more recently, Silent Hill is a bit more cheesy than I remember. And less effective, but still better than most. May go down well with some alcohol.

Detective Pikachu (2019)

In the Pokemon games, Pikachu is a cute little yellow squirrel thingy who can say “pikachu” and not much else. In Detective Pikachu, he’s a wise-cracking, sarcastic detective played by Ryan Reynolds. Your immediate reaction to that concept, and how tired you are of Reynolds’s schtick, will steer how you feel about this film.

You know what? Detective Pikachu is a fun watch. It ticks along at quite a pace, we get to see plenty of the “famous” Pokemon in action, and at 1hr 44 minutes it’s blessedly short by today’s standards. An entirely (well, mostly) respectable lazy weekend watch, even if you’re 38 rather than 8.