With news that Jason Momoa has signed up for a movie version of Helldivers, which are the best movie adaptations of video games to binge on?
One of the big Hollywood trends of recent years has been big budget movie adaptations of popular video game franchises. We have had the Sonic the Hedgehog trilogy and various others, as executives scramble to hop aboard the latest money-making bandwagon.
There are more video game-based movies to come in the next couple of years, including The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, a reboot of Street Fighter, Sonic 4, The Legend of Zelda and Helldivers.
But in the meantime, there are plenty of other movies you can catch on streaming, TV or DVD. Here is our list of the best movie adaptations of video games.
The Super Mario Bros Movie
First off, we’re talking the 2023 movie, not the one from the 1980s – the less said about that, the better. But in 2023, Illumination brought the world of Super Mario to life in a hugely fun story of Mario and Luigi being sucked out of Brooklyn and helping to save the Mushroom Kingdom. Fans loved how it stayed true to the games – with plenty of references included – and Jack Black provided a memorable turn as the voice of Bowser, including the hit song, Peaches.
Sonic the Hedgehog
The movie that kicked off the trend for movie adaptations of video games. Famously, early trailers left fans horrified by the rendering of Sonic, so much so that the makers quickly reworked Sonic’s look. It worked too – Sonic looked great, and the movie was huge fun. Jim Carrey stole the show with his over-the-top (in the best way) performance as Dr Ivo ‘Eggman’ Robotnik.
A Minecraft Movie
This was another movie that had fans worried before it was released – how would the famous blocky world be convincingly transposed to a live-action version on the big screen? They needn’t have worried.
Again, fans were kept happy with plenty of lore from the game included, as well as in-jokes and references (including to the late Technoblade).
Jack Black (again) was a highlight as Steve – especially his interplay with Jason Momoa’s washed-up gamer. Also, as now seems to be written into his contract for these things, Jack also got to sing a song (Steve’s Lava Chicken).
Detective Pikachu
Live-action versions of Pokemon have been few and far between over the years, but Detective Pikachu from 2019 broke the mould. A detective getting his mind stuck in the body of a Pikachu was good enough, but when that detective was played by Ryan Reynolds, it took it to a whole new level. The story of how detective Pikachu, along with his son (well, the detective’s son… you know what I mean) and a young reporter, manage to uncover a devastating conspiracy and reunite the detective’s mind with his body bowled along with the right mixture of action and comedy.
It also wasn’t just a movie for fans of the franchise – the story was good enough that non-fans of Pokemon (I’m generally thinking parents who took their kids to see the movie) could also enjoy it.
Silent Hill
But it isn’t just the child-friendly franchises that have got the movie treatment over the years. In 2006, a movie version of Konami’s horror game Silent Hill hit theaters, which was based on the first game in the series. It focused on Rose da Silva’s quest to find her daughter, Rose, who has disappeared on Silent Hill, but quickly finds the seemingly abandoned town turns on occasions into a nightmare world of monsters. Two follow-ups were later made.
Werewolves Within
In 2021, a comedy horror movie version of Werewolves Within was released, following a small group of people in a town in Vermont who get trapped in a snowstorm. Matters are complicated by the suspicion that one of them is a werewolf. The movie was generally well received, although it didn’t do well at the box office – but it has since gained more of a cult following on streaming.
