Lights, Camera, Action!

I wasn’t especially impressed by the first run of video game movies in the 1990s. Super Mario Bros., Street Fighter, and Double Dragon failed to capture the spirit of the games they were based on, and I realized that future adaptations were likely to be uninspired cash-ins. That’s why I was so surprised by the Mortal Kombat movie. It was basically a knockoff of Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon with some fantasy elements thrown in, but it was a good fit since the game drew inspiration from martial arts movies in the first place. The movie follows the same plot as the game, and it focuses on an elaborate fighting tournament wherein Earth’s greatest warriors compete to save their realm. The movie was filled with exotic locations, memorable fight sequences, campy dialogue, hilariously dated effects, and one heck of a theme song. Many of its biggest problems could have been solved with a bigger budget, and you simply can’t say the same about most video game films. The best thing about the movie was how well it was cast. Everyone acted exactly like their video game counterparts, and it was clear that the filmmakers were actually familiar with the source material. Mortal Kombat could have marked the beginning of a decent film franchise had the sequel not veered straight into “laughably bad” territory.

Fans of the Pokémon anime might be wondering why I didn’t choose one of the 20+ animated Pokémon movies for this list instead of Detective Pikachu. I certainly recognize the importance of the animated films – Pokémon The First Movie is still the highest-grossing anime film to ever be released in the United States – but they all feel like extended episodes of the television show. Detective Pikachu, in contrast, gave us something new. I had been waiting for decades to see “real world” representations of Pokémon, and I got serious Roger Rabbit vibes from seeing the iconic creatures interacting with humans in a live-action setting. The acting was nothing to write home about and the movie recycled plot points from Mewtwo Strikes Back, but Ryan Reynolds was great as the voice of Detective Pikachu and the special effects actually felt special. I loved how ordinary it made the Pokémon seem. It was surreal to see them on screen, but the characters in the film were altogether unmoved by their presence. This made it feel like we were visiting a fully-realized world where humans and Pokémon lived side-by-side. The movie didn’t quite live up to the hype and the ending was horrible, but it still gave us a lot of standout moments. Pikachu’s fight with Charizard, the out-of-left-field Ditto twist, and the epic Bulbasaur rescue scene were all great moments even if the movie itself had issues.

The 1994 Street Fighter movie starring Jean Claude Van Damme was harmless fun, but the fight scenes were underwhelming and the film took way too many liberties with the characters. Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, in contrast, was much more faithful to the source material. Every character from the game was featured in the movie, and they all felt like natural extensions of their video game counterparts even though they didn’t all get an abundance of screen time. The story deals with the efforts to bring down M. Bison’s terrorist organization, but the fighting sequences were the star of the movie. There were nearly a dozen fight scenes in the film, and they all felt different from one another. The characters used the same moves and fighting styles that they used in the game, and the choreography and camera angles made everything all the more interesting. There were a couple of touching moments, but the filmmakers wisely emphasized the action. The opening scene – in which Ryu and Sagat battle in a thunderstorm – was a great way to start the movie, and the apartment fight between Chun-Li and Vega was downright spectacular. Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie is fluid, vibrant, and beautifully drawn. It’s more alive the live action Hollywood film. I only wish that the soundtrack was better, and I see no reason they shouldn’t have used music from the game. Still, it’s nice to see a video game movie that actually respects the audience. They even threw in a bit of fanservice in the form of a Chun-Li shower scene. Any movie that shows Chun-Li’s tits is alright in my book!

It’s hard to explain what makes the Animal Crossing games so special. Nobody likes running errands or talking to their neighbors in real life, so it’s strange that a game built around these kinds of benign activities could be so much fun. The animated movie follows the same themes as the games, and it’s just as lighthearted. The film (which has never been given an official English release) centers around a precocious young girl named Ai who moves to Animal Village by herself. She’s put to work almost immediately, and she makes fast friends with many of her neighbors after meeting them. Rest assured, the film is laden with references to the games. Throughout the course of the movie, characters will dig up fossils, catch bugs, attend festivals, experiment with their outfits, and spend a lot of time just chatting with each other. The most dramatic plot point involves one of the villagers moving away, and Ai is absolutely heartbroken by the news. (Appropriately, Ai’s reaction echoes how I feel when one of my villagers moves away in the games.) The movie tends to jump around from one event to another, but this helps to paint Animal Village as a place where every day could bring something new. (In this regard, the movie remind me of Yotsuba&!, which is pretty much the greatest manga ever.) I’ve been a fan of Animal Crossing from the beginning, and I think the film did a great job of capturing the spirit of the games.

I grew up watching movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Goonies, so I’ve always had a soft spot for adventure flicks. Angelina Jolie starred in two Tomb Raider movies, but I’m more partial to the 2018 adaptation. Given our current political climate, I was expecting a cringe-worthy feminist power fantasy and a Mary Sue protagonist. What I got instead was a vulnerable Lara Croft who had the odds stacked against her for the entire duration of the movie. She’s overpowered by people who are stronger than her, outsmarted by people who are smarter than her, and she ends up on the losing side of things more often than not. This ultimately makes her victories seem more impressive, and you get a sense that she actually had to work for them. In this capacity, Lara reminds me of classic characters like Ellen Ripley, Sarah Connor, and Beatrix Kiddo. In an era where most action heroines are stronk womyn who never show a modicum of weakness, it’s refreshing to see someone who is defined by their resourcefulness and ingenuity. I liked Alicia Vikander in Ex Machina and her 2014 Oscar win was well-deserved, but I didn’t think I’d buy her in the role of Lara Croft. To her credit, she was charismatic enough to fill the role despite her inability to fill Lara’s bra. Tomb Raider is a by-the-numbers adventure with a predictable plot, but I was rooting for Lara the whole way through.

Dragon Quest: Your Story is a CG animated film that follows all of the main beats of Dragon Quest V. The main character starts off as a child and goes on all sorts of adventures until tragedy strikes and he’s forced into slavery. After he regains his freedom, he falls in love, gets married, and eventually fights alongside his own children en route to saving the world. It’s a story that spans several decades, so everything moves along at a brisk pace without really slowing down. There’s a lot to love about the movie. The artstyle is expressive, the music is exciting, and the characters and monsters are just as whimsical as they are on the games. Dragon Quest V‘s love triangle is a key component of the film, and it was a lot of fun to watch things unfold. I genuinely liked all of the main characters, and there aren’t many game-based movies that I can say that about. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about the ending, however. The movie takes a controversial turn in the final moments and turns into a meta-commentary on the Dragon Quest series. The twist is an obvious attempt to play tribute to the games, but the movie already accomplished this simply by remaining faithful to the source material. Dragon Quest: Your Story felt like a trip down memory lane, and it’s an effective love letter to Dragon Quest V.

Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva is almost certainly the most faithful adaptation on this list. The movie looks exactly like the cutsenes from the games, and the characters act exactly like you’d expect them to. Prior knowledge of the gaming franchise is not a prerequisite to enjoy the movie, however. The film follows Professor Layton and his apprentice Luke as they try to unravel a mystery, and we’re given a brief overview of the characters at the beginning of the film to bring us up to speed. Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva has an entirely new plot that wasn’t lifted out of an existing game. The story is very much in line with the games, though, and it compliments the existing adventures instead of reshaping them or retconning them completely. The movie even incorporates puzzles like the ones found in the games, and its structured in such a way that the viewers can “play along” and try to find the solutions. It’s a perfect film for Layton fans, and it’s a great introduction for those who are unfamiliar with the franchise. If you’re a fan of Sherlock Homes or The Adventures of Tintin, then Professor Layton might be right up your alley. If nothing else, you should be able to appreciate the beautiful artstyle and the incredible music.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Ace Attorney series, the concept revolves a new trial system that’s introduced in response to soaring crime rates and overburdened courts. Under this new system, the prosecution and defense are given only three days to present their cases before the judge renders a verdict. Since neither side has much time to conduct thorough investigations, astounding revelations are often made in the courtroom. Ghosts show up to provide clues, parrots are permitted to provide testimony, and last-minute witnesses are basically a given. Court cases are so entertaining that spectators buy tickets as though they were attending the circus. I honestly wasn’t expecting much from the Ace Attorney movie. It looked like a bunch of actors in cosplay, complete with ridiculous outfits and improbable hairstyles. I’m happy to report that the characters are just as over the top as they are in the games. Ace Attorney newbies might be confused by the frequent tonal shifts, however. Sometimes it feels like you’re watching a serious courtroom drama or a proper murder mystery, but there’s also a heavy reliance on slapstick comedy. You’ll see characters pull their hairpieces off to express their disbelief, attorneys literally throw evidence at each other, and entire rooms of people take synchronized prat falls. Director Takashi Miike used a similar style for his adaptation of Yakuza, but it feels more appropriate for Ace Attorney since the games have the same unusual blend of comedy and drama. Fans will find it easy to predict since the plot is lifted directly from the video game, but it’s always refreshing to see a video game movie that feels like one of the games.

I usually have a pretty good idea of where these lists are headed when I start one, but I was not anticipating The Angry Birds Movie 2 to show up on this list. I’ve never been interested in mobile gaming, so I never bought into the Angry Birds hype. The Angry Birds Movie was way better than it had any right to be, but it’s paper-thin plot was just as pointless as the video game that it was based on. The sequel was produced with the explicit goal of one-upping the first film, and pretty much everything was improved. The story was given a lot of attention, and the writers put the characters in new scenarios that were not seen in the games. The premise sees the angry birds and their pig adversaries working together against a common enemy, but nobody really cares about the lore of Angry Birds. The sub-plots and character interactions were surprisingly entertaining, however, and I was taken aback by how witty the movie was. The Angry Birds Movie 2 is overflowing with sill pranks, jokes, puns, quips, and visual gags. Many of the jokes are recycled and not all of them are bangers, but what it lacks in consistency, it makes up for in volume. It’s alright when a joke misses the mark, because you can always count on three or four additional jokes following in quick succession. I didn’t have high expectations of the movie, but it made me legitimately laugh out loud on multiple occasions. The Angry Birds Movie 2 is the best-reviewed video game movie ever, and I think it would have been given even more respect if not for the fact that it was based on a mobile app. I’d compare it favorably to some of Pixar’s offerings and most films from DreamWorks Animation, and it’s one of the few video game movies that’s worth watching more than once.

If you’re making a video game, you are bound only by your imagination. Creating a fantastical world is no more expensive than using the real world as a backdrop, after all. If you’re making a live-action Hollywood film, it’s a lot cheaper to film in a location that already exists than it is to create a fictional one. When I heard that the Sonic the Hedgehog movie would be taking place in our universe instead of Sonic’s home world, I immediately lowered my expectations. (Detective Pikachu used the Roger Rabbit gimmick to great effect, but Pokémon are supposed to interact with normal humans.) I had little interest in seeing Sonic team up with a traffic cop from Montana, and the first trailer didn’t exactly paint the movie in a positive light. Sonic had inexplicably been given a more human-like physique for the movie, and the backlash was immediate. Paramount wisely delayed the film so they could make Sonic look like he did in the video game, and they spent millions of dollars to fix their mistake. Thankfully, the project was actually worth saving. The filmmakers captured Sonic’s frenetic, child-like energy, and they did a good job of highlighting his speed with various visual gags. The acting was pretty great too, and Jim Carey was in rare form as Doctor Robotnik. It was as though he was channeling a 1990s version of himself, and he was just as vibrant as his animated co-star. James Marsden deserves tremendous credit too, and his comic timing really held the movie together. In a stunning turn of events, Sonic the Hedgehog became one of the highest-grossing movies of 2020 and had the widest release of the year.