Video game films are a tough promote. It’s important to squeeze anyplace between 10 and 100 hours of content material right into a bite-sized package deal. It’s a veritable Herculean job, and we all know how that ended…he died.
Nonetheless, by way of the years, there have been movies that captured the spirit of the unique video games and others that do their very own factor whereas squeezing sufficient nods and winks to maintain you pointing on the display screen just like the Leonardo DiCaprio meme.
So, listed here are the perfect online game films on streaming.
For extra suggestions, take a look at our record of the best movies streaming on Netflix and Max.
‘The Tremendous Mario Bros. Film’ (2023)
Rotten Tomatoes: 59% | IMDb: 7.0/10
Ever because the famed catastrophe that was the 1993 Tremendous Mario Bros movie (which I feel is nice, however that’s neither right here nor there), followers of the high-jumping, turtle-smashing plumbers thought they might by no means get one other Mario film on the large display screen. The Super Mario Bros. Movie is the reply to a few a long time of players’ prayers to the gods of Nintendo, and any long-time fan of the franchise will love the smorgasbord of Easter eggs all through. The film stars Chris Pratt (The Lego Film) and Charlie Day (The Lego Film 2: The Second Half) as Mario and Luigi as they journey into the Mushroom Kingdom and thru the various worlds of the shared Nintendo universe to take down Bowser — who’s completely forged, getting the total Jack Black (Kung Fu Panda 4) treatment.
‘5 Nights at Freddy’s’ (2023)
Rotten Tomatoes: 32% | IMDb: 5.4/10
Five Nights at Freddy’s is a movie that just about took a decade to return to fruition, however lastly, Blumhouse was capable of take the reins to create a tense thriller that’s simply as weird and wacky as the game. In case you haven’t been down the rabbit gap that’s all of the hidden lore of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, the movie follows Josh Hutcherson (The Starvation Video games) as Mike Schmidt, the brand new nighttime safety guard of an deserted pizzeria with a darkish secret surrounding the animatronic mascots. Although the story generally is a bit jumbled in locations, it’s usually an attention-grabbing movie that makes some huge swings, particularly relating to the performances.
‘Resident Evil’ (2002)
Rotten Tomatoes: 36% | IMDb: 6.6/10
Resident Evil
- Launch Date
- March 15, 2002
- Director
- Paul W.S. Anderson
- Runtime
- 100 minutes
Ever since directing the best, campiest Mortal Kombat film back in 1995, author and director Paul W. S. Anderson (Monster Hunter) appears to be on any studio’s pace dial relating to adapting a online game into dwell motion — and he definitely delivers with this action-horror that captures the vibe of the unique zombie shooter. Resident Evil stars Milla Jovovich (The Fifth Ingredient) as Alice, a mysterious lady who wakes up in an underground facility in Raccoon Metropolis and should battle by way of contaminated people and a lethal safety system to get to the floor. The movie takes lots from the second and third video games and is simply as bone-shakingly scary with simply as a lot fist-pumping motion to maintain followers of the sport (or followers of horror typically) on the sting of their seats.
‘Pokémon: Detective Pikachu’ (2019)
Rotten Tomatoes: 68% | IMDb: 6.5/10
Detective Pikachu
- Launch Date
- Might 3, 2019
- Director
- Rob Letterman
- Runtime
- 105
Loosely based mostly on the Detective Pikachu sport (however deeply steeped within the Pokémon media that got here earlier than), Pokémon: Detective Pikachu is a love letter to the worldwide phenomenon that has captured our hearts for nearly 30 years. This buddy comedy thriller follows Justice Smith (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Amongst Thieves) as a younger man who’s given up his goals of turning into a Pokémon coach — till his seek for his lacking father leads him to an odd, sleuthing Pikachu that solely he can hear communicate. Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool & Wolverine) lends his voice to the titular Detective Pikachu and injects his typical smarmy attraction into the coffee-loving electrical mouse. With Easter eggs and some operating gags from the long-running animation, this can be a Pokémon movie that the entire household can take pleasure in collectively.
‘Mortal Kombat’ (2021)
Rotten Tomatoes: 55% | IMDb: 6.0/10
Mortal Kombat 2021
- Launch Date
- April 7, 2021
- Runtime
- 98 minutes
Since I already talked about the campy ’90s model of the franchise earlier, it’s time I gave the reboot some consideration. The brand new Mortal Kombat throws away the tacky, earnest one-liner deliveries and packs the film stuffed with brutal fights and an entirely authentic storyline — even making a brand-new character to function the viewers surrogate. The movie follows Lewis Tan (Into the Badlands) as Cole, an MMA fighter who’s being hunted by the soldiers of Outworld to weaken the Earth’s forces earlier than the subsequent match. The story foregoes the 1-v-1 fight format of the sport to create a tense chase that places Earth’s fighters on the again foot from the beginning, which makes the seek for the opposite warriors much more dire. The sequel is ready to return out subsequent yr, so be sure that to pop this one on and FINISH IT!
‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ (2020)
Rotten Tomatoes: 64% | IMDb: 6.5/10
In a parallel universe, there’s a movie with the ugliest Sonic you’ve ever seen…fortunately, that’s not the one we dwell in! When the followers banded collectively to get a Sonic the Hedgehog film with a game-accurate hedgehog, it was a second of triumph, however the awesomeness didn’t cease there. Ben Schwartz (Parks and Recreation) brings such whimsy and constructive vitality to the blue blur, completely bouncing off of James Marsden (Enchanted) on this buddy comedy that makes Sonic a fish out of water within the human world. However the greatest draw of the movie is Jim Carrey (The Masks) as Dr. Robotnik, who channels the rubber-faced insanity of his ’90s characters to ship a efficiency that seems like Carrey in his prime.
‘Uncharted’ (2022)
Rotten Tomatoes: 40% | IMDb: 6.3/10
Uncharted
- Launch Date
- February 18, 2022
- Runtime
- 116 minutes
Uncharted options Tom Holland (Spider-Man: Removed from House) platforming into the sneakers of famed treasure hunter Nathan Drake, who solutions the query, “What if Indiana Jones was good at capturing whereas doing parkour?” The film takes components from every of the 4 essential video games whereas being set earlier than the primary one, utilizing this chance to discover how Drake and Sully met whereas permitting the filmmakers to put the tracks to create their very own parallel tales separate from the narrative of the video games. Holland’s boyish charisma is a fairly good match for a younger Drake, and he does a whole lot of his personal stunts, which is superior to see as he places his spider-like agility to make use of.
‘Werewolves Inside’ (2021)
Rotten Tomatoes: 86% | IMDb: 6.0/10
Of all of the titles on this record, Werewolves Within is the perfect stand-alone movie based mostly on a sport that requires completely no data of the supply materials to take pleasure in — it’s simply an all-around hilarious thriller thriller. Starring an ensemble of nice comedic skills, the movie takes place in a small rural city the place mysterious assaults have created an environment of paranoia that has the townsfolk at one another’s throats. Enter the standard, optimistic forest ranger Finn Wheeler, performed by Sam Richardson (Veep), who is decided to resolve this thriller. Along with being wildly humorous, there is a great commentary on corporate disregard for small working-class cities that works very well with the setting. Additionally, the chemistry between Richardson and the native mail girl, performed by Milana Vayntrub (This Is Us), may have shippers howling on the moon.