Video games are hugely popular, so it’s no surprise that there are plenty of movies that have been made in their honor. Choosing which ones to watch can be a challenge, as everyone has different tastes. Luckily, there are more than enough movies to suit everyone’s taste. You have the likes of Adam Sandler making comedic references to retro arcade games in Pixel, and the Earnest Cline movie adaption Ready Player One, which launches us into a futuristic world of Virtual Reality. No matter what you’re preferred movie, let us help you to eliminate the endless scrolling as we run through the essential gaming movies you should put on your watchlist this summer.
Free Guy – August 2021
This movie starring Ryan Reynolds promises hilarity from the onset. This story will follow a non-player character (NPC) of a video game who gets fed up with his mundane life. Suddenly, he’s launched into the hot seat as he gets all the gadgets of the playable character of his game Free City and embarks on an epic adventure.
Ready Player One – March 2018
This action-adventure follows the story of Wade Watts and his quest to win the virtual competition of the OASIS (a world designed by James Halliday). After Halliday’s death, he created a series of challenges that would lead the champion to a surprise easter egg. The puzzles all bear reference to Halliday’s life and take a true fan to unlock them. Upon beating down the opposition, Wade Watts inherits the OASIS and decides what is done with it. Take a break from playing your www.spincasino.com games and join this epic VR adventure.
Pixels – August 2015
Adam Sandler never fails to bring the humor, and Pixels is no exception. This game follows retired retro arcade pro, Sam Brenner, as he helps the government to fight off an alien threat. Things aren’t as they appear in this movie, as each alien threat brings about a classic arcade character. The movie sees the challengers of earth go up against PacMan in a real-life game of life or death.
Mortal Kombat – May 2021
Mortal Kombat is hailed amongst the gaming world as one of the most iconic fighter games around. The universe sees contestants from all realms compete in a tournament called Mortal Kombat. However, not everyone plays fairly in this game. The latest addition to the franchise is a reboot of the not-so-successful 90s series. The movie does the job extremely well and pits the legendary Scorpion against Sub Zero.
Ratchet and Clank – April 2016
This is one for the younger audience, with plenty of light-hearted humor thrown in along the way. Based on the game of the same name, the story sees unlikely heroes Ratchet and Clank embark on a journey into the galaxy to save the day.
Sonic The Hedgehog – February 2020
Everyone’s favorite blue hedgehog jumped into live-action and hit the big screen in 2020 after several design delays pushed its release back. The film sees Ben Schwartz step into the red shoes and team up with James Marsden to take on the evil Doctor Eggman (Jim Carey). The film was largely successful and paved the way for an upcoming sequel – with the end credits *SPOILER ALERT* showing Sonic’s iconic friend Tails making his way onto the scene.
Rampage – April 2018
Staring the most popular man in all of Hollywood, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Rampage is a pretty face value film with city-destroying spectacle and carnage, and that is enough for anyone to get a good deal of enjoyment out of this film. Inspired by the classic arcade game of the same name, the story follows Johnson’s character, who teams up with an enormous and robust albino lowland gorilla to beat up two other rampaging monsters and save the city of Chicago from being destroyed. It’s a bit of a nonsense film, but if you buy into it, it’s a lot of fun and does boast some stunning special effects.
Gaming is a hugely popular industry, and movies built on games are largely successful. The movies in this listicle don’t scratch the surface on game-based movies, there are even entries for the horror lovers out there. If you can’t find a gaming movie to suit your tastes, then you’re doing something wrong.
