What happens when movie makers start experiencing lack of original ideas? They look to books and video games for inspiration. While there were numerous excellent books-to-movie adaptations, the same couldn’t be said for the video games turned movies.
It seems like Hollywood just can’t find a formula to make a good movie based on a video game despite trying countless times. Still, there were some semi-successful attempts of movies based on video games that are worthy of your attention. Let’s check them out.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal as Prince Dastan, this movie is the adaptation of Ubisoft’s 2003 video game Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. The movie also borrows elements from the two other games from the Prince of Persia series, Warrior Within and The Two Thrones. Although the movie received mixed reviews, it was well received by the audience.
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)
Adaptation of the Tomb Raider video game franchise saw Angelina Jolie stepping into the role of Lara Croft, archaeologist-adventurer who explores ancient tombs and ruins all across the world. The critics absolutely hated the movie, but the audience responded well to it and thanks to the good performance at the box office, a sequel was made in 2003.
Resident Evil Film Series (2002-2016)
Although Resident Evil movies are just loosely based on the Capcom’s legendary horror video game franchise, they deserve a place on the list. Milla Jovovich stars in all of the six movies as Alice and fights against the Umbrella Corporation, company which created bioweapons that have triggered a zombie apocalypse. The movies weren’t such a big success with the critics, but they ended up being crowd pleasers and made a significant success at the box office.
Silent Hill (2006)
Based on another horror video game franchise, Konami’s Silent Hill, the movie follows a woman named Rose (Radha Mitchell), as she uncovers a mysterious connection of her adopted daughter with a town called Silent Hill. The movie was praised for its visual effects by the critics but criticized for lack of plot development.
Mortal Kombat (1995)
The reason why Mortal Kombat is probably the best video game to movie adaptation is that there wasn’t a need for well-constructed plot or thoughtful dialogs. The appeal of the video game is an action-packed fight, and the movie delivered the same. It ended up making $122 million at the box office and inspired a sequel in 1997.
