Video Game based Movies Reviews

LBTFan13 · **on:** November 18, 2009, 12:25:49 PM

Yes there are definitely a huge number of movies that are based off of video games, but which of them are good and which are just plain awful. I know a lot of people have different tastes in this genre so what will be cool for one person might be stupid for the other. So I've decided I'm going to look at movies that are based off of video games and give my personal review on them. I'll look at whether the actors best display the characters from the game, whether the storyline of the movie is good whether it follows the game or not, and just above all if the movie works as a stand alone movie or if it is solely made for the fans of the video game.

So I decided I'm going to start with one of the most popular movies based on a video game, Mortal Kombat. I am only reviewing the first movie for now, I will get to Annihilation later. Mortal Kombat is one of my favorite video game based movies and I watch it all the time.

Background: Mortal Kombat is a franchise of fighting games which originated in the arcades. The games were praised for their ridiculous amounts of violence and insane ways to kill a person. Since the games were so popular, a movie was inevitable. Unfortunately this movie had a lot up against it. Before this movie was released another movie based on the popular fighting franchise Street Fighter was released, unfortunately it bombed at the box office and was panned by critics and fans a like. After the failure of Street Fighter, initial reaction to Mortal Kombat was very poor. Luckily, the movie performed well and brought hope back to video game based movies.

Storyline: The movie is based off of the first Mortal Kombat game. The storyline of the game is as follows: A demon sorcerer Shang Tsun hosts a martial arts tournament called Mortal Kombat in order to determine whether or not Earth can be invaded by Shao Kahn, a powerful ruler of another realm. Lui Kang, a shaolin monk, defeats Shang Tsun and saves the Earth. The storyline of the movie pretty much follows the same plot. Three strangers are invited to an island to compete in a tournament called Mortal Kombat, hosted by the sorcerer Shang Tsun, to decide the fate of the Earth. The plot of the movie is great. It follows the story of the game which is good for fans. However, it might help a little bit to have played the games to get the full effect of the story, but it isn't required.

Actors: One big component in movies based off of video games is whether or not the actors can truly portray the role of a character from the game, especially popular characters such as those from Mortal Kombat. All of the actors were well chosen for their roles in this movie, and not all of them are entirely too well known. The two most recognizable actors in this movie are Christopher Lambert (Highlander) who plays the thunder god and protector of Earth Raiden, and Bridgette Wilson (Billy Madison) who plays Lt. Sonya Blade. Some people may recognize Linden Ashby as well, but probably not as much as the other two. Long story short, I believe that all of the actors did a phenomenal job of portraying their video game counterpart.

Action/Music: Mortal Kombat is a fighting game, so there had to be martial arts in the movie as well. In my opinion, the martial arts is done very well here as each character has a different kind of style. Any action movie lover will be pleased to know that the action in this movie is not filmed through dramatic shaking of the camera that seems to have become a habit in recent movies. You can pretty much see everything so clean and crisp. The music is also very well done. The fights in this movie are backed by a mix between full orchestra band and rock/techno, which is a perfect blend to make the movie a bit more dramatic.

Problems: While Mortal Kombat is a very nicely done movie, it is not perfect. The games are rated M because of the obscene amount of violence. However, the movie was toned down to a PG13 rating, because at the time PG13 movies seemed to do better than R rated movies because they expand to a wider audience. While I understand this decision, it kind of alienates the hardcore fans of the game for it's violence. There is only really one bloody scene which is still toned down because of the editing of the environment. Also, like I said before, while it is not required to have played the games, some of the story and characters may be a little confusing otherwise.

Overall, I think Mortal Kombat is an excellent movie. It nails the characters and stays true to the game. If anybody has played the game, I highly recommend you watch this movie. Just don't expect the insane blood and violence of the games.

Littlefoot1616 · **Reply #1 on:** December 07, 2009, 07:14:48 PM

If there is one thing I've found with these two super giant industries is that their mixing never seems to settle quite right. Movies of video games don't tend to do very well and as for video games of movies?! They're even worse! There are a few expections but I'd say that these are moreso down to personal preference. I didn't mind Resident Evil: Apocolypse that much but the other 2 were pretty dire. Tomb Raider movies didn't take off that well. The Street Fighter movies don't deserve being mentioned, let alone gaining airtime (the animes are wickid but not the live action ones)

And I'm sure the Mario Bros Movie I'm sure was a grand low point of Bob Hoskins' acting career seeing as he starred in greats like Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Then there are games like Metal Gear Solid that are pretty much like movies themselves given the intricate detail that the cutscenes and FMVs are displayed in.

Belmont2500 · **Reply #2 on:** February 04, 2010, 09:37:06 PM

Quote from: Littlefoot1616,Dec 7 2009 on 06:14 PM

If there is one thing I've found with these two super giant industries is that their mixing never seems to settle quite right. Movies of video games don't tend to do very well and as for video games of movies?! They're even worse! There are a few expections but I'd say that these are moreso down to personal preference. I didn't mind Resident Evil: Apocolypse that much but the other 2 were pretty dire. Tomb Raider movies didn't take off that well. The Street Fighter movies don't deserve being mentioned, let alone gaining airtime (the animes are wickid but not the live action ones) And I'm sure the Mario Bros Movie I'm sure was a grand low point of Bob Hoskins' acting career seeing as he starred in greats like Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Then there are games like Metal Gear Solid that are pretty much like movies themselves given the intricate detail that the cutscenes and FMVs are displayed in.

Actually only one of the Street Fighter movies dosen't deserve to be mentioned - Street Fighter:The Legend Of Chun Li, the one with Jean Claude Van Damme was (believe it or not) actually pretty good for a video game movie , it had most of the characters who were played by actors that were the same nationality as the characters(Ming Na When as Chun Li,Baron Mann as Ryu) and the soundtrack and fight scenes were great, heck, I own the sound track, the DVD ,have a MAME ROM of the arcade game (yeah,they actually made a video game based on a movie based on a video game

) and plan on getting the PSX game (the only good game LJN has made) so yeah the 1994 Street Fighter film was actually a great film on its own and and as a Street Fighter film but it was just slightly different.

LBTFan13 · **Reply #3 on:** February 05, 2010, 11:52:39 PM

Wow I completely forgot I even had this topic. Way to go me...................

The Legend of Chun Li is terrible, it is worse than the original Street Fighter movie. However, the original movie is not the best either. I still enjoy watching it, but I know it's not a well made movie in my opinion.

There are a few really good video game movies out there that I can think of. I'll make a new review eventually.

Belmont2500 · **Reply #4 on:** February 06, 2010, 12:16:52 AM

To tell you the truth the only two video game movies to ever be good or even close to good were the first Mortal Kombat film( which was great) and the Silent Hill film(a pretty good adaptation except for one thing - what the heck happened to Harry, why was he replaced with some woman) and I guess that's it and I heard that there was supposed to be a Castlevania movie coming out in 2009 but since that never happened it must've been canceled, heh, better that then risk ruining the essence of the games.

The Great Valley Guardian · **Reply #5 on:** February 06, 2010, 02:54:51 AM

Personally, there are very few good adaptations of movies into games. One of my favorites happens to be Star Wars: Episode III the game. not only did it stay true to the movie itself, but they used a lot of the cut scenes as actual gameplay. That impressed me.

Despite that, the co-op could have been far better than what it was. But overall I'm still glad to have played, beaten and then replayed the game. It's replay value is rather high in my opinion.

LBTFan13 · **Reply #6 on:** February 06, 2010, 03:26:59 AM

Normally games based off of movies aren't good at all because they are just rushed to cash in on the name.

However, this is about movies that are based off of games, which is still rare in some occasions. There are some movies which are clear examples of how NOT to transpose from a game, and my next review that I do will be the ultimate prime example of such, The House of the Dead by Uwe Boll

The Great Valley Guardian · **Reply #7 on:** February 06, 2010, 03:33:27 AM

Oh.....just thinking about that movie makes me utterly sick!

Seriously I'm glad all I had for dessert was a glass of water, or I might of lost it at the mention of that HORRID movie adaption. The single even remotely engaging scene was them walking up to the house in bullet time, and somehow against all possible odds, they managed to butcher THAT too!

I'm SO glad I didn't see the direct to DVD sequel...cause I'm sure it would've been worse...if that's even physically possible!!!

LBTFan13 · **Reply #8 on:** February 06, 2010, 04:05:45 AM

Well you've inspired me GVG

I've decided to post my review of that movie now. So here's a look at one of the worst movies based off of a video game ever created. The reason why I say one of the worst is because many believe that honor is reserved for the Mario Bros. Movie.

The House of the Dead

Background - The House of the Dead is a popular arcade rails shooter in which you walk through a building, whether it be a house, lab, or any other random building, and you kill zombies. There are 6 games overall; these games were released among the arcades, Sega Dreamcast, PC, and Nintendo Wii consoles. Since this was such a popular game, obviously a movie had to be made. Unfortunately for us, the producer who was hired for this movie was none other than Uwe Boll, a god at taking very popular video games and making crappy movies out of them.

Storyline - The plot of the games is actually pretty unique. A madman unleashes his zombie mutants to take over the world. Eventually throughout the course of the games, this leads to the apocalypse. The only hope to stop the zombies are certain AMS agents. While the story may not have been the best, it was creative. Unfortunately, the movie does not follow the game AT ALL. In the movie, a group of teenagers travel to an island for a rave. The island is filled with zombies led by a leader who wishes immortality. The story is completely awful. There is no relevance to the game's plot and it above all doesn't make sense.

Actors - Another problem with this movie is the acting. The acting is terrible, but that's mostly because there are no big names in it. Now I'm not saying if you are not a big name then you are a terrible actor, but none of the actors are really recognizable from anything else, and their acting is so bland that you don't even care about them. The only big name in this movie is Clint Howard. He actually does the best acting in the movie and he's not even a main character. Bottom line, acting is terrible.

Action/Music - Again, there is plenty of action in the games, so there has to be action in the movie. While there is action in the movie, it's also another problem. The House of the Dead game is a horror shooter, even if it isn't scary, yet the movie is an action movie. All of the action is over-the-top and cheesy. There is a lot of unnecessary bullet-time sequences, although some are actually kind of cool. The music does not fit the movie at all. It's mostly techno with one rap song during the main fight scene. Overall, action is overused and music is terrible.

Any Positives? - Normally I talk about the downsides of the movie, but because 95% of the movie is flawed I'm reversing it. There are a couple good things about this movie, but they are not enough to make it a good movie. First of all, this is the first zombie movie where the people actually know that they are fighting zombies, so points to them. Also, there is a scene where all of the group is fully armed with all these random guns and are walking, not running, WALKING, AND IN BULLET TIME, towards a house and are just shooting down zombies left and right. This is probably the most relevant to the game you can get, but it's also the most over-the-top.

So what else is there to say about this movie? Well, it is terrible. In fact, it is so bad that it actually becomes good. You can't watch this movie and expect it to be good. So if you ever decide to watch this movie, and may God help you if you do, watch it knowing it will be horrible and you will enjoy it even more. Trust me on this it actually works.

Littlefoot1616 · **Reply #9 on:** February 06, 2010, 07:50:08 AM

Despite my unfavourable contempt for a lot of movies of video games, I have to say that there is one that has actually piqued my interest. They're doing a Prince of Persia: Sands of Time movie due for release in the summer of this year. Now, normally, I'd say, "movie of a video game? Not worth my time!" but having seen the trailer I have to say I'm prepared to lower my guard this time around and actually take a look at it. It's being hailed under the Disney umbrella (which subsiduary I'm not sure) which makes me think that at least a decent amount of funding will be pumped into this feature. I just hope I don't end up bitterly disappointed as I did with the other movies of video games I've already wasted my life on

LBTFan13 · **Reply #10 on:** February 06, 2010, 01:46:25 PM

I saw the trailer for that too. The only reason why I'm not jumping out of my chair for it is because I never really played any of the Prince of Persia games, so it was kind of hard for me to be excited about it.

Just because Disney is producing it does not necessarily mean it will still be good. Remember what happened to Power Rangers when Disney took over it's production?

MrDrake · **Reply #11 on:** February 06, 2010, 05:49:48 PM

Ah yes, Prince of Persia, would be watching it myself. Am a real big fan of the games, and it's also done by the same guy who had done the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, which in my opinion, were rather well done.

As for lame ones, Doom and Alone in the Dark are two that really come to mind....ugh, Doom was good first time watching, but yeah, afterwards, nah....and Alone in the Dark, it just sucked, bad acting and all.

As for the Resident Evil movies, I quite enjoyed them myself and wouldn't mind watching the next one in the series, especially if it's got Albert Wesker, would like to see what they do with him in it.

*shifts eyes* Anyone looking forwards to the Battleship movie that's to come out which is gonna be featuring aliens apparantly?

Nick22 · **Reply #12 on:** February 07, 2010, 12:30:52 AM

power rangers was never about the acting, which was really bad..and got worse as the series went on..

Kor · **Reply #13 on:** February 07, 2010, 01:10:36 AM

I always thought the main focus wasn't doing good job but getting as much money while spending as little as possible. Part of why after rangers in space the cast changed every year.

LBTFan13 · **Reply #14 on:** February 07, 2010, 02:26:06 AM

Quote from: Nick22,Feb 6 2010 on 11:30 PM

power rangers was never about the acting, which was really bad..and got worse as the series went on..

True, but everything about the power rangers besides the acting got worse. The monsters, the powers, everything went downhill.

Kor · **Reply #15 on:** February 07, 2010, 02:50:06 PM

plus under disney all the rangers had powers even when not in their ranger forms.

LBTFan13 · **Reply #16 on:** February 07, 2010, 04:35:31 PM

But we digress. The next review I will do is about what most consider to be the most successful movie based off a video game, Tomb Raider. I will post it when I have the chance.

MrDrake · **Reply #17 on:** February 07, 2010, 04:38:14 PM

Ah yes, Tomb Raider that has the actress my sister does not like one bit, which is why she wont watch Wanted or any other move with Angelina Joile in it

But I forgot about those movies, but I have to admit, they're not that bad, Angelina does seem to be the best choice for them, can't think of anyone else who would've made it better really.

WeirdRaptor · **Reply #18 on:** February 07, 2010, 06:06:02 PM

This is an interesting post, but you're going to have your work cut out for you with the sheer amount of video game adaptations that exist, and that's not including what Japanese adapt, themselves, without Hollywood.

LBTFan13 · **Reply #19 on:** February 07, 2010, 07:03:25 PM

Yeah I realize there's a lot out there. If I can't really get them all then I might consider limiting it down to the really famous or really bad ones, but I'll figure it out.

I just figured that since we have a gaming section I would give my opinion on how Hollywood and gaming mix.