In the 2020s, we’ve witnessed a significant cultural boom in video game movies. Films like the Sonic the Hedgehog trilogy, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Five Nights at Freddy’s, and A Minecraft Movie have shown that modern adaptations targeted towards younger audiences can be incredibly successful. These characters – Steve, Sonic, and Freddy Fazbear – have turned a once-dismissed cinematic realm into a shining beacon of potential.
Video game films, which might seem absurd to those under 10, have had a reputation as the lowest point in cinema history. Many dismal adaptations such as “Alone in the Dark,” “Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li,” and numerous others have given this niche genre a poor reputation. For gaming enthusiasts who enjoy going to the movies, however, there was one particularly terrible year for video game films in the mid-2010s that stood out. During this time, it seemed like every video game film was doomed to flop.
What Year Were Video Game Movies At Their Lowest?
2016 stands out in the realm of cinema for numerous reasons, particularly its creation of timeless cinematic classics such as “Moonlight”, “The Handmaiden”, and “Shin Godzilla”. Yet, it was a disappointing year for video game movie adaptations. Compared to other years in film history, 2016 saw an unusually high number of poorly received video game movies. In contrast, many years have produced worse video game movies, but they were often the only ones released during that specific year. In 2016, the video game movie genre seemed to struggle, with titles like “Ratchet & Clank”, “Warcraft”, and “Assassin’s Creed” falling flat.
In contrast, the movie adaptation of “Ratchet & Clank” was a fleeting flop that disappeared from cinemas as swiftly as it appeared during the last weekend of April 2016. In stark contrast, “Warcraft”, based on the popular game “World of Warcraft”, made its grand entrance onto the big screen in June 2016, backed by a wide-reaching marketing campaign. At that time, one of the most costly video game movies ever produced, it was a laborious chore to watch due to excessive exposition. The thrill of socializing virtually or embarking on quests within “World of Warcraft” was replaced with an overwhelming amount of explanatory dialogue. Characters portrayed by actors like Travis Fimmel were dull and unengaging, further compounding the numerous issues faced by “Warcraft”.
Approximately seven months after its release, the film “Assassin’s Creed” graced theaters, boasting Michael Fassbender as the main character. Despite an impressive cast that included Michael K. Williams, Brendan Gleeson, and Jeremy Irons, the movie failed to engage audiences due to its tedious nature. The film seemed oddly fixated on the complexities of modern-world lore instead of focusing solely on the exciting exploits of period assassins. Additionally, the visuals were criticized severely, with every indoor setting bathed in an unpleasant blue tone.
As a movie reviewer, I can confidently say that the conclusion of Assassin’s Creed left a bitter taste in my mouth, seemingly more focused on setting up sequels than wrapping up the story. This film unfortunately became another entry in 2016’s disastrous lineup of video game adaptations, ending the year on a truly abysmal note for this subgenre. The fact that three expensive 2016 releases failed to impress is a humiliating outcome, solidifying 2016 as the most disappointing year yet for this struggling category in cinema.
How Did Video Game Movies Recover From 2016’s Failures?
At the close of the 2010s, major film studios started producing projects such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Tomb Raider, and Pokemon: Detective Pikachu. Contrary to the dismal performance of video game films in 2016, these box office failures didn’t seem to deter studio executives. Instead, it appears that 2016 was a low point before video game movies began to flourish. Movies like Rampage and Detective Pikachu concluded the decade on a profitable note with earnings of over $400 million each worldwide. The 2020s brought numerous successful video game adaptations, making the days of Warcraft seem like a thing of the past.
In 2016, this type of movie experienced another challenging phase before undergoing a resurgence, similar to how comic book films faced growing pains prior to Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins and Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man. However, since 2016, video game adaptations have shown signs of maturity by learning from their past mistakes. For instance, movies based on video games in the 2020s aren’t shy about deviating from the original source material. As an example, Sonic the Hedgehog altered its main character to better align with the games following fan criticism regarding the initial design.
Instead, the Sonic films (specifically the first two) were based on Earth instead of the video game worlds like Casino Nights Zone. In contrast, a Minecraft Movie mainly introduced new characters interacting with Steve and his companions. Unlike Ratchet & Clank which strictly followed the initial game of the series or Assassin’s Creed that went to great lengths to adapt its source material’s time-travel aspect, more recent live-action video game movies have opted for a lighter tone and catered to younger audiences rather than the mature themes in Warcraft and Assassin’s Creed.
2020s video games, such as those rated PG-13 like Five Nights at Freddy’s, have been designed primarily for children. Despite their attempts to be serious with titles like Warcraft and Assassin’s Creed, the marketing for Minecraft has been more whimsical, featuring Jack Black songs and alpaca antics. Even as early as Rampage in 2018, Warner Bros. used a zippier, more outlandish marketing campaign to distinguish it from the gloomy video game movies that failed in 2016. The video game movies of the 2020s have gained popularity as pop culture sensations because they are stark contrasts to the three films that made 2016 the worst year for video game adaptations.
A Minecraft Movie is now being playing in theaters, Warcraft is now streaming on Max.
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2025-04-20 06:42