The Super Mario Bros. discourse is coming in thick and fast, as the first trailer was shown off this week. Everything from Mario’s voice to the film’s premise is being debated right now, which brings back the age-old question: what makes a good video game movie?
To answer this, we’re looking back at the last few decades in video game adaptations, celebrating the ones that worked. Out of all the various attempts, what’s the best video game movie out there?
Mortal Kombat (1995)
Rhiannon, News Editor
I am not joking when I say Mortal Kombat is the perfect film. Paul W. S. Anderson somehow managed to strike the balance between not being ashamed of directing a video game movie, but also not letting its source material limit it. Here, he embraces the over-the-top violence and nonsensical lore of the games, allowing his cast to really ham it up and throw themselves into the fight scenes. Hell, it just looks like a fun time. The sequel, Annihilation, followed the games far too faithfully, and absolutely sucked as a result. On the other hand, the latest one, Mortal Kombat 2020, was ashamed to be a video game movie. Give me this cheesy classic any day - it’s pure gold.
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
Helen Ashcroft, Evergreen Editor
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within may have been a box office bomb, blamed for the demise of Square Pictures, but that doesn’t prevent it from being the video game movie that has created the greatest impression on me.
To this day I can remember the feeling of awe watching it in the cinema. The visuals are absolutely stunning, and while the story could have been better in places, the whole thing was so carefully crafted that I was absolutely all in from the start. Its main weakness is that despite being named Final Fantasy, it bears little resemblance to the games. Maybe this is the key to success.
Super Mario Bros. (1993)
James Kennedy, Specialist
Modern video game movies are generally fine. Detective Pikachu is okay, the Sonic movies aren’t terrible, and Rampage was enjoyable enough. They’re typically watchable. However, being passably competent isn’t something that should be celebrated. But what about that Mario movie from the ‘90s? Sure, it is a mess, but it is a mess with a creative spark. This absurd, surreal nightmare is vaguely reminiscent of a less polished, less subversive, version of Brazil. It isn’t even close to as good, but it has a similar energy and enthusiasm. The people behind the film were clearly trying to do something interesting. And in that, they succeeded. Super Mario Bros doesn’t just fade into the background. And when it comes to the bleak landscape that is video game movies, that may be enough to make it the best.
Werewolves Within
Joe Parlock, Tabletop Editor
A great way to circumvent the usual video game problem of “being a bad adaptation that upsets fans” is to make a film based on a game almost nobody played, which is exactly what Werewolves Within did. It took an obscure VR social deduction game and turned into into a fun, camp horror movie full of gags, blood, and inevitable betrayals, with a decent cast giving it an early ‘00s budget feel that really worked in its favour. You can’t cock up something that had almost no material to adapt in the first place.
Street Fighter
David W. Duffy, Evergreen Editor
Now, you’re all reading this thinking I’m going for the seminal Jean Claude Van Damme movie, and that’s quite hilarious. While I’ll always recommend giving that a watch for a classic Raul Julia performance — which was impressive given he was terribly sick during filming — I’m actually cheating a bit and going for Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie. It’s an outstanding adaptation, and the choreography from the founder of the K-1 martial arts series was spot on. It helped cement a love of the series, and inspired me to hit up the arcades every weekend when my grandad took us to the caravan up at Berwick.
Detective Pikachu
Stacey Henley, Editor-in-Chief
There are no good video game movies. There just aren’t. Video games rarely have great stories at the best of times, and whether films try to change these stories to adapt them loyally, the results are rarely any good. I mean, just look at what the other picks here are. There are some great movies that incorporate video games (Scott Pilgrim, Wreck-it-Ralph, Guns Akimbo), but video game movies themselves are bad. Even Detective Pikachu isn’t that good, but the Pokemon look neat and it’s fun, so that’s really all I was expecting.
Yakuza (Like A Dragon)
James Troughton, Cross Department Editor
Stacey already put Detective Pikachu, so I’m chucking Yakuza’s hat in the ring. It’s a video game movie in the most literal sense. Kiryu uses potions and heat attacks to gain the upperhand and beat his enemies, with combos and absurd set pieces like a random fist fight in a grocery store. None of it really makes any sense, especially if you haven’t played the game, but it’s a fun way to kill a couple of hours, so it captures the spirit of games like nothing else.
Sonic The Hedgehog 2
George Foster, Lead News Editor
I can’t believe we’re this far down on the list and nobody’s mentioned Sonic the Hedgehog 2, not even Sonic defender Rhiannon Bevan. The first Sonic movie was surprisingly okay, but the second has a ton more heart and throws in a lot more love and reverence for the series that it’s based on. It’s cringe, but it’s the best kind of Sonic cringe and just a ton of fun to watch. Here’s hoping the third one can be even better.
Mortal Kombat (1995)
Amanda Hurych, Evergreen Content Lead
I’m siding with Rhiannon. If I’m being totally honest with myself here, I think we’ve yet to see a video game movie done to perfection. Given what we’ve seen so far, Mortal Kombat is the best we have. Is it corny? Absolutely. Having the ability to make you cringe in a theater is kind of a must for films based on games at this point. But it’s the most hilarious kind of corny you could want when it’s a story that’s based on otherworldly interdimensional beings hosting one-on-one martial arts fights with super powers of varying degrees of believability. And come on, that theme song? I can’t even hear the words “Mortal Kombat” without following them up in my head with that iconic track. (Dun dun dun dun dun-dun dun dun dun dun dun-dun dun dun dun dun dun-dun dun dun dun du-du–du-dun!)
