Video Game Movies are Getting Better Because Gamers are Getting Older

In the past, the words “video game” and “movie” being used in the same sentence spelt trouble. Back then, video game movies were bad. End of story. They were seen as shallow, derivative cash-grabs, desperately hoping to tap into a new gold mine of potential customers, only without doing any of the necessary legwork to stop it from collapsing in on itself. Like games based on movies, not enough time or thought was put into these projects and they fell flat on their faces.

Unlike games based on movies, however, video game movies have survived into the modern day. And they did so by shifting gears. And this wasn’t a minor shift, either, but a tectonic one. As a result, there has been a real change in perspective regarding these movies in the last few years: what once would have been seen as inevitable flops have been released worldwide to critical acclaim and fan adoration.

The recently released The Super Mario Bros. Movie is one such example, garnering praise from fans young and old across the globe. And one only needs to look at its writers, actors, and director to see why: video game movies are getting better because gamers are getting older.

The Sins of the Past

Stepping back in time a moment to the release of the original 1993 version, Super Mario Bros., shows just how far the fusion of mediums has come. The 1993 movie was, to put it politely, a mess. It starred big names like Bob Hoskins, John Leguizamo, and Dennis Hopper, but the problem was, none of these people were gamers. No one involved with the production of the movie truly understood what the games were about, and more importantly, how they made players feel.

Gaming was still a very niche hobby back in the ’90s. The arcade era was over and home consoles had recovered from the crash of 1983, yet, despite a new generation of parents having grown up with video games, they were still thought of as “being for children”. And no self-respecting adult saw them as anything else but a childish distraction. Especially not big-name movie stars.

As a result, the movie needed to cater to a wider audience in order to be successful. And to do that, changes needed to be made. Characters became caricatures of their colourful and cartoonish selves as the filmmakers changed the bright Mushroom Kingdom into a gritty, faux-realistic New York City. All in order to ape the successes of movies like Ghostbusters, and visually differentiate the movie from the game as much as possible, to show audiences this wasn’t “just for kids”. This resulted in some great prop and scenery design, certainly, but at the cost of the game’s heart.

And therein lies the problem with most video game adaptations.

Style Over Substance

Campy silliness plagued the video game movies that followed. Directors like Paul W. S. Anderson and (shudder) Uwe Boll saw the silly costumes, spectacle, and over-the-top gore that dominated gaming, yet ignored the characters. The stories of their movies were nonsense plots that resembled something written on a napkin the night before, often lacking any thought or coherent narrative. They were bare-bones vehicles to get from one flashy set-piece or gory kill to the next. The actors tried, or at least had fun in their roles, but were given nothing to work with.

Paul W. S. Anderson’s Mortal Kombat may have used the characters from the games and dressed them up in their iconic costumes, but failed to capture their spirits. These weren’t the deadly fighters fans knew and loved pitted against each other in a fight to the death, these were amateurish cosplayers flailing their arms and legs at each other hopelessly. It didn’t help that the writing was so atrociously bad.

Mr Anderson fared a little better with his Resident Evil series of movies. By framing the “stories” in an alternate universe and focusing on a brand-new character – Milla Jovovich’s Alice – he was able to create entirely new tales influenced by the games, but taken in an entirely new direction. Unfortunately, due to the wildly outlandish nature of the films, and the constant need to one-up the previous instalment, it wasn’t a direction fans or critics were particularly happy with. Especially when iconic characters from the game were shoehorned in as glorified easter eggs, with no real personality, drive, or stakes in the plot to speak of.

The less said about Uwe Boll’s attempts, the better.

A Lack of Heart

Thankfully, this trend of truly terrible video game movies died out in the early 2010s. Unfortunately, it was replaced with a wave of disappointing video game movies. Titles that worked closely with the studios that created the games, yet still managed to flop at the box office.

Movies like 2014’s Need For Speed, 2016’s Assassin’s Creed, and even, most recently, 2022’s Uncharted. These weren’t inherently bad films, but they weren’t that good either. By working with the developers and producers of these game franchises, they certainly nailed the look of the games they were adapting, with iconic costumes, weapons, even sound effects and camera movements perfectly recreated from game to film. They even worked with the writers of their respective games to create a story that felt as though it could fit in that universe. But something still felt off.

What it all comes down to is not only understanding the source material – recreating the look and capturing the feel of the games – but understanding the characters. Characters drive a story. And when people flock to see a movie, they are there to see a good story. Games can get by with mediocre or lacklustre stories because their main draw is the gameplay – the experience of seeing and doing it all yourself. Movies don’t have gameplay to fall back on – they sink or swim on their storytelling.

The people who go to watch these films don’t want to see one-to-one recreations of a beloved title – protracted shootouts and CGI-filled bloated set-pieces – they’ll play the game if they were after that and get far more out of it. No, they want to see the characters they have grown to love brought to life by people who love them just as much as they do; they want to see them thrust into new dangers; or have a new light shone on their classic adventures. They don’t want to feel like they are watching someone else play their favourite game – they want to see their favourite digital heroes (and villains) like never before.

For Gamers, By Gamers

As gamers have grown older – especially those who grew up with the original PlayStation and Xbox, and stuck with them throughout the generations – gaming as a hobby, as a culture, has shifted in the eyes of the world. No longer viewed as “just a pastime to keep the kids quiet for an hour or two”, gaming has become a media juggernaut.

The video game industry generated over $188 billion in 2022. There are massive conventions, concerts, and even award shows to celebrate the very best in gaming accomplishments. The world recognises gaming as a major form of entertainment. It is accepted in all circles, and is being placed on similar pedestals as film, TV, and novels. And this is all because those who grew up with video games as children are now the adults getting to run things. But more importantly for the movie business, they are the directors, writers, and actors willing to bring the digital world to the silver screen, and do it well.

Movies like Detective Pikachu, Sonic the Hedgehog, and the latest, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, have resonated so well with audiences because every single person behind the screen knows how important it is to get it right. They are all fans. To completely mess up Mario for a gamer would be akin to butchering Shakespeare for a thespian. It’s just not done.

Detective Pikachu’s Justice Smith loves Pokémon (obviously), Super Smash Bros., and Bioshock, and has even lent his voice to a fair few big games. Sonic the Hedgehog’s lead actors James Marsden and Ben Schwartz regaled interviewers with tales of their younger days playing GoldenEye, Chrono Trigger, and Mario Kart. And The Super Mario Bros. Moive’s Jack Black, well, he’s the king of all things nerdy. These guys love games, and their passion shines through for all the fans to see.

But it’s not just movies. Netflix’s Castlevania and HBO’s The Last of Us are stellar examples of how to adapt a video game story to the small screen in a way that keeps all of the fun and feeling of title, while doubling down on its heart. And while movies are a fantastic way to reimagine these characters, they are often too brief to really dive in and get to know them. Perhaps the future of video game adaptations is in TV’s long-form storytelling. Sony certainly seems to think so, with both its Horizon and God of War series set to be adapted for TV in the coming years.

Whatever happens, things should only get better from here. There are now filmmakers, actors, and writers who have grown up with PC and console games from birth, who have only ever seen video games as the art form they rightly are, and it’s these people who are beginning to call the shots. Yes, the future looks bright.