Movie adaptations of popular video game properties are great ways to explore creative stories in new ways. Over the past decade, there’s been some tremendous growth when it comes to video game movies. There was a superstitious curse that’s hung over the head of video game adaptations where even the best games would still only translate into mediocre adaptations.

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A rhythm has slowly been found in this regard, and some recent gaming adaptations aren’t just satisfying conversions, but excellent stories in their own rights. That being said, video game movies just can’t win in certain areas. These harsh realities mean that audiences are almost always disappointed on some level.

10 Video Games And Movies Are Different Mediums With Different Goals

Hordes of demon bats attack in Resident Evil: Extinction

Although adaptations have become commonplace, audiences forget that stories are typically told through their respective mediums because that’s where they’re best suited to be experienced. A movie can perfectly replicate the visuals and storytelling of a popular video game, but it’s still going to fall short on some level.

Movies are naturally passive experiences whereas video games force the audience to actively make decisions. It’s next to impossible to properly recreate the feeling of exploring a video game in any movie because it’s not what the medium is designed to do.

9 It’s Hard To Appease The Game’s Existing Fandom

Sonic skids down the highway in Sonic the Hedgehog movie

Toxic fandom is present in every medium, not exclusively video games and movies. However, a fanbase's expectations can derail many video game movies before they even get moving. Some video game fans have impossibly high standards where every fresh choice that the movie adaptation makes is subject to scrutiny.

This can sometimes overpower the movie’s narrative and convince the audience that it’s bad before they’ve even seen it. It’s this same attitude that pushed Sonic the Hedgehog to redesign its Sonic model, although that was a positive change.

8 It’s Harder To Bring A Video Game Spectacle To Life In Live-Action

Kano uses his laser eye in the Mortal Kombat movie

One of the luxuries of video games is that all of their visuals are explicitly created by the programmers. There are some limitations on this front, but it’s considerably easier to indulge in surreal visuals that defy the laws of reality in a video game than it is in a live-action movie.

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A lot of the time, video game movies struggle to bring their source material’s world to life, let alone the big action setpieces that function as their climaxes. Animated video game movies have a little more freedom in this regard, but it can still be a challenging transformation that doesn’t feel authentic to the original.

7 Storytelling Concessions Aren’t As Dire In Video Games

The cast of the Street Fighter movie strike martial art stances

A good story is going to improve any project, but it’s still important to remember that, at the end of the day, comfortable gameplay is king in a video game. There are plenty of video games, especially fighting titles, where the story comes secondary.

Movies don’t have this luxury. If a movie is to directly adapt certain video game stories, then audiences will be less forgiving when they’re cinematically subjected to the same oversights. Video game movies are pushed into the difficult position of expanding upon their source material’s story, which might mean they make too many changes to the original.

6 Casting Often Struggles To Match Expectations

Nathan Drake and Sully explore a temple in Uncharted

Casting is a major hurdle that any adaptation faces. Sometimes, the characters from video games, comic books, or literature are impossible to do justice to in live-action. In video games, it can become even harder because characters will sometimes be fully voiced, which adds even more to their personality.

It’s incredibly rare that a game’s voice actor or motion-capture performer ends up playing their movie counterpart. If anything, the film industry leans in the opposite direction where there’s trendy casting, like Tom Holland as Uncharted’s Nathan Drake.

5 Spoilers And Storytelling Tension Become Problematic

Alicia Vikander's Lara Croft hangs off a mountain in 2018's Tomb Raider

Another challenge that any good adaptation must consider is whether it’s better to deliver a 1:1 experience of the original or slightly change elements so that the long-time fans will still get surprised. It can be a lot of fun to see a video game come to life as a movie.

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However, if a movie just repeats the same story then existing fans will know the whole plot. Therefore, it’s likely that these spoilers can sour the experience. The problem that these game movies then face is where and how to make changes that still feel faithful to the original, but can still surprise fans.

4 Video Game Movies Frequently Lack The Necessary Budget

Sheeva, Rain, Ermac and Motaro in Mortal Kombat Annihilation

Budgetary restrictions are prevalent in the video game industry just like they are with movies, but for years, there’s been a tendency to disrespect video game pictures through lackluster budgets that can’t possibly accomplish what’s necessary. Audiences can quickly dismiss a movie that looks cheap.

However, plenty of these video game adaptations are made with good intentions and are just forced to consistently fight uphill battles. A lack of necessary resources, or a budget that largely goes to the film’s stars, can guarantee that a video game movie will fail or struggle.

3 Any Changes Can Be Treated Like Blasphemy

Lara Croft wielding a knife in Tomb Raider

Most fans understand that changes in any adaptation are a necessary evil. It takes a whole lot more to make a satisfying video game movie than blindly sticking to the original.

However, fans build such a personal relationship with certain titles that any change at all, even seemingly superficial ones, can feel like a personal affront to a section of the fandom. Fans can be more interested in pointing out what’s different rather than stopping to consider why these changes have happened and if they might actually be improvements.

2 Figuring Out How To Please Both Game Fans And Newcomers

Welcome to Raccoon City's recreation of an iconic shot from the original Resident Evil video game.

A limiting decision that any video game movie director needs to consider is if their film is geared toward the franchise’s existing fandom or those who are experiencing all of this for the first time. Both of these demographics are valuable in their own ways, and movies that attempt to toe the line can often leave all parties disappointed.

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Audiences will cite a temptation to appeal to mainstream newcomers as a deterrent of video game movies. That being said, there are films that do the opposite, like Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, that also completely fail to leave an impact.

1 Sequels Get Forced To Feature Certain Franchise Staples

Knuckles (Idris Elba) readies an attack in the movie Sonic the Hedgehog 2

It’s encouraging when a video game movie pleases audiences enough to celebrate sequels. Sequels often get a little more room to breathe, but these are also opportunities to indulge in the gaming franchise’s supporting characters and extended universe. Any creativity that a fresh filmmaker brings to a video game movie can get sucked out of a sequel in exchange for appeasing the fandom.

Sometimes, directors want to take this route, but it can feel like sequels coast and get lost in cumbersome video game lore rather than doing their own thing. The Sonic franchise looks like it might suffer from this in its upcoming third installment.

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