Most dedicated gamers have been to see one or two movies based on one of their favorite titles at some point or another, and more often then not said films sucked on a pretty astronomical basis. It's an almost unwritten rule -one that Uwe Boll took to heart- that if you base a film off of a video game, it must be atrocious. Street Fighter, Doom, the sheer monstrosity that is the Super Mario Brothers Movie, one would have little trouble naming a game movie that sucked. So we're going to do the opposite and opt to pick out a few that may not have been treasures of cinema greatness, but really weren't that bad when you give them a chance.
5. Wing Commander
The fact that Wing Commander starred Freddie Prinze Jr. as Christopher Blair notwithstanding Wing Commander isn't a poor flick if all you want is some nice space action tied together by a plot that miraculously makes a semblance of sense. The game follows the exploits of rookie pilot Blair as he and the crew of the TCS Tiger's Claw try to relay information about an impending attack by the catlike Kilrathi that could save Earth from complete destruction. It predates Firefly and Battlestar Galactica so you'll see a lot of the space ships flying like they're in atmosphere. As well a lot of the film is pure fluff, but really that isn't much of a complaint when you think about it. Most mainstream film is fluff, and Wing Commander smartly doesn't try to be more than it is, a cheap, but fun series of thrills centered around some nice action sequences that never slip into the sort of pure ridiculousness that often dominates action films today.
4. Lara Croft-Tomb Raider
Back when Angelina Jolie was still attractive -although I've never seen the appeal- she starred in this little ditty of a film about everyone's favorite buxom archaeologist. I can't remember particularly much about the film. There was a robot at the beginning and a shower scene with some side boob and then a neat little action scene involving bungie cords. What I do remember is that the movie didn't suck and that I liked it enough to rent it again when it came out. The rest of the world seemed to agree, to date Tomb Raider is still one of the highest grossing video game movies ever made and perhaps it might rank higher, but it doesn't. Why? Well, simply because this is my list and I didn't like it as much as some of the others I've chosen to highlight. If you don't like it, go write your own Top 5 article.
3. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
The film that almost single-handedly tanked Squaresoft and was largely responsible for the merger that gave us Squarenix, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within really isn't a bad film. It is a bit generic perhaps, certainly drawing too heavily on cliches and any number of typical sci-fi movie conventions, but it is still relatively solid and entertaining. Beyond that, it is still a powerful demonstration of the capabilities of CGI, which, as any fan of the Final Fantasy series is like to know, Square is no small supporter of. The film follows Dr. Aki Ross as she works to find a way to neutralize the alien “phantoms” that crash landed on Earth decades before and have subsequently been wiping out humanity ever since. The problem The Spirits Within faced is that in a way it followed too closely to the now moot Final Fantasy traditions of old. Like the games that came before it, it was an entirely new story based in a new world with new characters. Unfortunately many fans were turned off by this disconnect and boycotted the film, similarly mainstream film goers, identifying it ironically as just another video game movie opted out as well, resulting in a massive financial bomb for Square. The Spirits Within was never destined to win any Oscars, but it's still a serviceable movie and deserves credit for that at least.
2. Silent Hill
Silent Hill takes a lot of leeway with the storyline of the main series. Though it emulates the first few games most strongly, it changes the lead character from a male to a female, and rather than one of the wonky ends that the game's let you unlock -the alien ending would have been cool here though- it opts for a Carrie-esque revenge sequence involving a burn victim and razor wire that travels up a woman's naughty bits. If I have at all given you the impression that is a bad thing, I apologize, because overall I found Silent Hill to be a stylish and creepy movie. It was actually good enough that my fiancée, who, bless her heart, lacks much of the gaming knowledge that I do, didn't even know it was based on a video game and still thought it was good. It treads a lot of familiar ground but remains interesting throughout. And it co-stars Sean Bean, whom I have sorely missed since Fellowship of the Rings. Why haven't we seen more of him?
1. Mortal Kombat
One of the earliest, and surprisingly best video game movies, Mortal Kombat proved was surprisingly successful. So much so in fact, that it pretty much helped to kick off game movies on its own. The film succeeded on a number of levels. The cast fit their parts, the fighting scenes were well choreographed, the soundtrack had a nice techno vibe. Surprisingly, the story even worked well. The film's scriptwriters smartly kept the plot relatively low key, relying on the action to carry the film, which it was able to. You wouldn't think it, but when you don't try to blow it up into something beyond a martial arts tournament, the story from Mortal Kombat actually works pretty well. There are some moments that are a bit cheesy; Johnny Cage fighting a puppet Goro doesn't work as well as it did back in the 90s, and Lui Kang's bicycle kick was much cooler when I was ten, but overall Mortal Kombat is still great fun and remains superior to a lot of its more modern contemporaries.
