Video game movies tend to have a poor reputation, due to either the fact
that the self-insert interactive nature of video games doesn't always
translate well to a linear third-person narrative, or that they get the
goofy "big budget Hollywood treatment", where things are changed to the
point of being almost unrecognizable. I fell like I haven't actually
watched a lot of these, but I thought it would be fun to briefly write
about the ones I recall:

The 80s Super Mario Bros Movie:
This one is definitely a classic example of "big budget goofy
Hollywood" treatment. They changed so much that there is little left of
the Mario world beyond character names and vague visual similarities.
Despite this, I recall enjoying the film as a kid and teenager - I liked
all the weird sci-fi stuff and gross looking fungus effects. But, to be
fair, I haven't watched it since I was a teenager, so it's hard to say
if I would enjoy it now.

- Sonic The Movie (90s Anime OVA):
This one has a lot of nostalgia for me, but looking at is an an
adult I can say that most of the appeal it has is simply in the cool
visuals, badass soundtrack and some nice fight scenes. The story feels
very vague and simple, mostly just a vehicle to move through a series of
cool looking set pieces and action moments - it really does feel like
the script to a Sonic video game rather than a film. There's also some
of the squicky stereotypical creepy anime stuff, like Robotnik trying to
coerce a seemingly very young girl into marrying him, and having
moments of her being sexually degraded for laughs (an accidental boob
grab and a scene where Metal Sonic looks up her skirt). Definitely could
have done without that shit. Interestingly, it's said that that this
was originally going to be an ongoing series, but it only made it to two
episodes, so the American release of it merged the two episodes into a
standalone movie. It's a good thing they titled this "Sonic The Movie"
so that it wouldn't have the same name as the more recent "Sonic The
Hedgehog" live action film. (yet, googling "Sonic The Movie" brings up
the more recent one anyway...you're stupid, google. )

- Red Faction: Origins:
now here's a more obscure one. I loved the Red Faction game on
PlayStation 2, so when this was on TV in 2011, I was excited to see it.
Unfortunately, i can barely remember anything about the film today, so
it clearly didn't leave much of an impression on me. I don't think it
even had any of the characters from the game (such as Parker, Hendrix,
etc).

- Donkey Kong Country: The Legend of the Crystal Coconut:
-
This was another I recall experiencing, but very little details about
it. As a kid, I was having a friend over, and my parents let me pick out
a movie for us to watch at Blockbuster or something. I chose this and
we put it on that night, but my friend and I eventually lost interest
and just started playing with LEGOS with the movie running in the
background. I couldn't tell you anything about the story, but it was
nice and colorful looking, at-least - faithful to the same 3D CGI look
of the SNES games. At-least it made nice background sound for a fun
childhood night with my friend?

-Wreck-It Ralph:
This one might be cheating a little, because
it's more about the general concept of video games, but it has so many
cameos from real game characters I think it's fair to add it to this
list. This is probably gonna be the best one here, too - as it's just a
fantastic film. Moving, funny, looks great, lovable characters, super
catchy soundtrack. Definitely one I recommend watching if you've never
seen it!

- Pixels:
Speaking of games about movies - here's one I never watched. So why is it on my list? Well, it's one that bothered me just from seeing the ads for it. Unlike Wreck It Ralph, which feels like a love letter to the world of gaming, this movies TV ads just felt so cynical, snarky and negative. It DOES feel like I'm being a little unfair by judging it without watching it, but I can only live so long (unless perhaps medical science finally defeats superstitious bullshit within my lifetime), so I'm not in a hurry to try a movie I couldn't even enjoy the ads for.
As a bonus note...I also actually have a copy of the Ratchet & Clank movie in my collection, which I haven't gotten to watching yet. Perhaps when I get around to it, I can update this list with my thoughts on that one, as well.
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