For a while, films that drew their inspiration from video games were quite bad -- almost to the point where one would think they were cursed. However, movie studios kept making them. It's lucky they didn't believe in a curse, because there are finally a few great video game movies, the latest of which is Sonic the Hedgehog.

As video games have grown in popularity over the years, studios have taken notice, as pretty much anything that is big in pop culture has the potential to be turned into a movie, with the most recent (and awful) example being the Emoji movie. Movie studios have been trying for years and years to tap into the potential video games have as movies. It seems like the perfect combination. Video games often have incredibly deep and compelling worlds to explore and stories to tell. People spend weeks engaging with each new game they pick up, so there's a sense they'd want to spend a couple of hours watching their favorite characters on the big screen. Seeing as we've had decade of incredible superhero movies, the next boom in cinema could very well be video game films.

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Legacy of Terrible

Bob Hoskins as Mario and John Leguizamo as Luigi in Super Mario Bros Movie.

The most egregious and famous example of a video game movie being spectacularly bad is probably Super Mario Bros. The movie seems bears such little resemblance to the video game that it's almost funny. Somehow, the production also roped legendary actor Bob Hoskins in to star in what turned out to be an absolute travesty of a film.

Another great example of video game movies being utterly bungled is 1994's Street Fighter. Movies based on other media in the 90s always tended to do their own thing in general, and Street Fighter was no different. This film can't really decide if it's going to take itself seriously or embrace the campy nature of the game, as it skips back and forth between both so quickly it could give you whiplash. Jean-Claude Van Damme stars in this one, and it makes a little bit more sense to have a big name like him in this role as it plays to the over-the-top action genre he's most known for.

RELATED: Sonic Director Explains Why Knuckles Is Not in the Film

Bright Future

Not to say that every video game movie made until recently was terrible -- there are some standouts like Hitman or Mortal Kombat that have some redeeming qualities. The vast majority of these films either crash and burn at the box office in terms of gross or are lambasted by critics as complete trash. That has all changed now.

The biggest relevant news is that after getting dragged by the internet for the terrible look of its lead character, and then the subsequent re-design, Sonic the Hedgehog has gone on to dominate the box office and become the highest-grossing video game movie in US history. Of course, gross isn't everything, and the film is also getting positive reviews from critics and fans.

Sonic the Hedgehog isn't alone either. Detective Pikachu released to a similar reception, earning good reviews and huge box office results. Before that, the Tomb Raider reboot had a positive reception (outside the trolls mad that she didn't look like Angelina Jolie). So it seems like the curse may be lifted, as the video game movie industry seems to be having the awakening that comic book movies have had in the last decade. Studios are much more concerned with getting the spirit of the game correct and the parts of the games that people love up on the big screen. Combined with better technology to have them looking much better than ever before, the next decade could very well be the age of video game movies.

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