All 46 Video Game Movies Ranked, Including ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’
As a class of adaptations, video game movies don’t get a lot of respect. But that’s just because they, appropriately, lean toward trashiness over respectability. In reality, some video game movies are good, and some of them are really, really bad. Let’s sort them out, by ranking all the video game movies through “Sonic the Hedgehog.”
46. “Postal” (2008)
The pinnacle of director Uwe Boll‘s string of horrendous video game movies (he has five that qualify for this list by getting theatrical releases somewhere), but to be fair it’s probably still a better work of art than the game it’s based on.
45. “Alone in the Dark” (2005)
“House of the Dead” briefly tricked us into thinking Uwe Boll was a camp master, but his next video game movie, “Alone in the Dark,” was such an incomprehensible slog that I have never been able to sit all the way through after my first viewing in the theater.
44. “The Wizard” (1989)
Technically this is an adaptation of a novelty video game peripheral, the Nintendo Power Glove, rather than an actual game. And it’s as much of a joke as you’d expect a feature-length ad to be.
43. “The Angry Birds Movie” (2016)
I’m a negative person on principle, but even I was offput by the misanthropy of this kids movie. When men’s rights activists embrace your cartoon, you probably did something wrong.
42. “BloodRayne” (2006)
In 2003, Kristanna Loken looked like she was gonna be somebody when she starred as a Terminator in “Terminator 3.” And then she starred in two Uwe Boll movies, including this travesty.
41. “Silent Hill: Revelations” (2012)
Worse than the first “Silent Hill” movie in every possible way, down to actors who seem incapable of doing facial expressions. Which is bad news, because most of the acting a “Silent Hill” movie demands involves reacting to all the weird things the characters encounter.
40. “Max Payne” (2008)
Most videos games aren’t really suited for film adaptations, but “Max Payne” is an exception as violent melodramatic noir. The movie version goes for that, to its credit, but ultimately it’s just not very good.
39. “Pokemon Heroes” (2003)
This is the fifth “Pokemon” movie. That’s all I have to say about it.
38. “Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li” (2009)
Usually, bad video game movies are the “boring” kind of bad, but the second attempt at a “Street Fighter” movie almost manages to achieve “accidental camp classic” status at some points. But the rest of it, unfortunately, is just an affront to humanity.
37. “Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within” (2001)
Exactly the sort of half-baked melodramatic garbage you’d expect from the awful “Final Fantasy” series.
“Assassin’s Creed” (2016)
This is a movie that won’t make a lick of sense if you haven’t played one or two of the games it’s based on. But I have played all of the games, and I found it to be a reasonably entertaining action flick. It’s definitely pretty dumb, though.
“Resident Evil: Extinction” (2007)
This one has zombie birds. I can’t imagine why anybody would dislike that.
“Resident Evil: The Final Chapter” (2017)
Paul W.S. Anderson caps off the “Resident Evil” series by throwing out any and all worries about continuity. Iain Glenn is back from the third movie for a chance to be super ridiculously evil again, and we finally get a reason for this zombie apocalypse. “The Final Chapter” more awesome monster-beat downs and more horrific deaths.
5. “Mortal Kombat” (1995)
The ’90s were a rough stretch for movies overall, with seemingly every other film being a bad action movie or a bad supernatural thriller. “Mortal Kombat” feels very much like a product of that sort of time, but thankfully it knows exactly what kind of trash it is, and its cast leans into having fun with the underlying weirdness.
4. “Resident Evil: Afterlife” (2010)
Paul W.S. Anderson directed the first “Resident Evil,” then left the director’s chair to someone else — until he returned for “Afterlife.” There’s a marked leap in technical wizardry with this one, turning the franchise from B-level afterthought to B-level greatness. This is a movie that actually makes great use of 3D to look awesome.
3. “Sonic the Hedgehog” (2020)
This movie is like shockingly sharply written. In a lot of ways, it feels like they made a “Jump Street” movie geared toward children. It’s an absolute blast.
2. “Pokemon: Detective Pikachu” (2019)
The reason why people generally have such a low perception of video game movies is because they very rarely take themselves seriously. But “Detective Pikachu” is hellbent on just being a real movie, and somehow it works incredibly well.
1. “Resident Evil: Retribution” (2012)
It’s goofy, gory, excessive action shot absolutely impeccably. A trash masterpiece that doesn’t get enough credit for being gorgeous, and an easy choice for the best video game movie ever.
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