5 Best Video Game Movies Of All Time, According To Letterboxd

Video game movies are an often dissatisfying strain of cinematic storytelling. For whatever reason, adaptations of works from the realm of Steam Decks and Atari Jaguars come up short creatively. Ranking every live-action video game movie from worst to best is a daunting exercise, really laying bare how often video game films fail to cut the mustard. Titles like “Doom,” “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time,” “Assassin’s Creed,” and more have become infamous duds for very good reason. They’re as difficult to watch as the best video games are fun to play.

However, that doesn’t mean this realm is totally devoid of features that have garnered positive marks  from either critics or audiences. Letterboxd users have certainly found a handful of video game movies to champion as being a cut above the rest. The five video game films with the best user ratings on this site are, in the eyes of Letterboxd users, emblematic that these kinds of films can be more than inert rehashing of familiar brand names. They can deliver character designs, emotions, and imagery that flourish in the specific medium of film. Plus, they carry over the spirits of their respective source materials in fascinating ways.

Granted, the comparatively smaller library of video game movies means there aren’t “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”-level masterpieces in this batch of five movies. However, examining what video game features rise to the top among Letterboxd reviews do illustrate that not every movie in this space is doomed to be as bad as “Alone in the Dark.”

“Pokémon: The Rise of Darkrai’s” Letterboxd reviews reflect the more humorous verbiage often dominating the website. While the user reviews for projects like “Come and See” are rife with poetic meditations on mankind, this 2007 feature has Letterboxd denizens lamenting Ash Ketchum’s short-sighted decisions in Pokémon battles or swooning over the attractiveness of Darkrai. The latter commentary is especially prevalent throughout “Darkrai’s” reviews; so many people on this website are enamored with both the titular Pokémon and its rival, Palkia. “[Darkrai is] just a misunderstood goth king,” one Letterboxd user declared.

Many of these reviews are frivolous and typed away without much thought. However, that’s how many people consume motion pictures. They view this medium as a way to pass time or something you only fixate on during childhood. Furthermore, what drives people to become passionate about a movie can be as simple as a cool character design or just pure nostalgia. “The Rise of Darkrai” seems to have struck a chord with many Letterboxd users in those two regards, with many of these reviews cheering on how this motion picture existed in “Pokémon’s” greatest era.

You won’t find many (if any) in-depth defenses of “Pokémon: The Rise of Darkrai” amongst its Letterboxd reviews to help explain its fairly high user rating score. These reviews do, though, provide thoughtful insight into the endlessly varied ways people define “quality” cinema.

In its own way, 2023’s “Gran Turismo” illustrated how varied modern video game movies had become. For one thing, the feature was helmed by Neill Blomkamp, the director of the best picture Oscar nominee “District 9.” As late as a decade before “Gran Turismo,” it’d be difficult to imagine any Oscar-friendly filmmaker going near a genre often solely defined by the biggest video game movie box office bombs. Meanwhile, Jason Hall and Zach Baylin’s script isn’t just a live-action translation of the game. The true story behind the “Gran Turismo” movie is the real-life saga of underdog racer Jann Mardenborough. In other words, it shares even more DNA with “Invincible” than “Assassin’s Creed.”

Taking a sincere approach to realizing Mardenborough’s dreams of burning rubber inspired many Letterboxd users to give “Gran Turismo” flattering reviews and ratings. Blomkamp’s execution of crowdpleaser moments where Mardenborough triumphed in the face of adversity, as well as the filming of the racing sequences, were chief among “Gran Turismo’s” virtues across its fans. In the latter element, the drone camerawork used to capture certain shots of F1 automobiles zooming around were also praised.

Granted, “Gran Turismo” received far from universal praise among Letterboxd’s user base. Several reviews criticized the feature for its lack of originality, some of the wooden supporting performances, as well as its deluge of PlayStation product placement. By and large, though, “Gran Turismo” garnered decent enough Letterboxd reviews to put it well above most other live-action video game movies on the site.

The 12 best DC animated films of all time have garnered a positive enough reputation to make it common knowledge that Warner Bros. Animation makes tons of direct-to-video animated projects rooted in the DC Comics characters. This label also delivers near-annual doses of DTV “Scooby-Doo” movies and even the occasional “Looney Tunes” films like “King Tweety.” Less discussed, though, is that another piece of WB IP Warner Bros. Animation has exploited for direct-to-video animated films is “Mortal Kombat.” As of this writing, four “Mortal Kombat Legends” movies have been delivered to store shelves.

The first of these features was the April 2020 title “Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge.” This production didn’t skimp on the R-rated violence or fan-favorite “Mortal Kombat” characters. Going this route pleased many Letterboxd users, who found its vibrantly realized animated carnage intoxicating. Many of these reviews even went so far as to declare “Scorpion’s Revenge” significantly superior to the 2021 “Mortal Kombat” movie. The worst scenes in that “Mortal Kombat” installment left many savoring the gorily bravura charms of “Scorpion’s Revenge.”

Granted, even the most euphoric Letterboxd reviews for this project admitted it never rose above being an enjoyably brutal diversion; but sometimes, that’s just what the doctor ordered in one’s cinematic diet. Plus, delivering a vastly superior “Mortal Kombat” experience compared to the live-action films gave another notable achievement to the artists at Warner Bros. Animation.

Typically, third films in a franchise are the weakest installments that quickly become pop culture punchlines. Movies that were sad low end to a trilogy epitomize this phenomenon and how often sagas lose their way once they start churning out multiple sequels. However, the “Sonic the Hedgehog” movies had the opposite trajectory. The 2020 film was a middling title that barely had anything to do with “Sonic the Hedgehog” lore, as its titular character was trapped on Earth and surrounded by boring humans. It was difficult to imagine that any future adventures in this universe would have any sort of merit.

Cut to December 2024, when “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” hit theaters. With this feature, director Jeff Fowler and company finally put Sonic and pals front and center, and didn’t shy away from sincere pathos when it came to the story of new character Shadow (Keanu Reeves). This was a whole other world of entertaining and quality compared to the 2020 film. Letterboxd reviewers were also shocked by this artistic upgrade, given the avalanche of positive write-ups on the site. Elements like the cosmic third act and a deeply committed performance from Jim Carrey were especially hailed as enthralling.

Perhaps some of these upbeat takeaways are informed by Letterboxd users guided by nostalgia for the early 2000s video games that Shadow first debuted in. By and large, though, even non-Sonic fans seemed to find “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” a livelier, more distinctive creation compared to its predecessors.

As video game movies explode in popularity and ubiquity, there will come a time in the not-too-distant future where the best-reviewed video game movie on sites like Letterboxd will be an arthouse darling title or an auteur-driven blockbuster with groundbreaking visuals. Given the deluge of video game movies on the horizon, one — or even some — of these are bound to register as genuinely great pieces of cinema that prove this subgenre has truly moved away from the days of “Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li.”

Until then, “Pokémon: The First Movie” is the champion among theatrical video game movies on Letterboxd. Hailing from director Kunihiko Yuyama, “Pokémon: The First Movie” introduced the world to Mewtwo and Mew, two of the most seminal Pokémon creatures in existence. Many of the positive Letterboxd reviews center on user admiration for those two particular critters, with Mew’s cuteness and Mewtwo’s intriguing tragicness being the qualities that make them especially popular. Some of the more memorable aspects of this feature, such as Mewtwo’s more existential dialogue or a scene where two Pikachus slap each other for way too long, have also informed its strong reputation on this site.

Granted, much of this perception has to be intertwined with nostalgia, with even some euphoric “The First Movie” reviews conceding its storytelling and animation limitations. Still, delivering fond childhood memories and lovable Pokémon action was enough to catapult this feature far above other video game movies on Letterboxd.