10 Greatest Video Game Movies Of All-Time
The best of a bad bunch, or an underrated collection of films?
2016 could very well shape up to be the year of the video game movie.
Both World of Warcraft and Assassin's Creed are set for release in the coming months, and - considering the talent involved with bringing them to the big screen - there's a real chance they could break the curse of the video game film.
It's well-known that video game movies are usually horrid affairs, mostly because they were never supposed to exist as motion pictures in the first place. Rarely does the premise of a video game translate over to the cinematic medium; it's like trying to get the toothpaste back into the tube after it's all been squeezed out.
That said, there are handful of video game films that are genuinely worth your time - adaptations that manage to justify their existence for one reason or another, be it because they're admirable attempts or just fascinating curiosities.
My only qualification for a flick to earn a place here was that it be based on an existing video game and that - good or bad - it was at least entertaining...
10. Lara Craft Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life (2003)
With an annoying title that probably needed a bit more punctuation in order to make proper sense, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life is the follow-up to the underwhelming and disappointing Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Released back in 2001 the original managed to replicate the fun of the popular video game franchise in, oh, zero ways.
Okay, so Angelina Jolie was neat as Lara Croft, but everything else about that first movie pretty much sucked. It's not up for debate.
Equally, I'm not going to try and claim that its sequel is a masterpiece, but it is an enjoyable adventure movie, and as such it edges its this exalted company on account of the fact that it's a) very watchable and b) in the spirit of the video game series. Not many video game movies happen to be either of those things, by the way, so we should be thankful for that.
A lot of people hate on Cradle of Life, but I'm with Roger Ebert on this one, who went as far as to say the film was "better than the first one, more assured, more entertaining, it uses imagination and exciting locations to give the movie the same kind of pulp adventure feeling we get from the Indiana Jones movies."
Whilst I think talking about this film and Indiana Jones in the same sentence is a little strong (sorry, Rog), I do agree with his overall view: this is a breezy, fun flick.