Can you believe there have been 39 movies based off of video games, but only one of them received a score over 50 on Metacritic? People ask why video game movies are not as successful as their more interactive counterparts and the answer is self explanatory. Video games are interactive while movies are not.
Movies based on books work because most books are not interactive and a set format can be followed, but this is not the case with video games. Video games can be about anything, just like movies and books, but in order for a video game to be called a game a level of interactivity must be present to make use of a person’s decision making abilities.
This is not present in the film industry because every single action in a cinematic is pre-recorded and cannot be changed. When a person watches a movie, they don’t expect to interact with the the events happening. Rather, they react to the scenarios that are presented to them.
In video games however, people are expected to not only react but interact with what is being presented. In video games, the only time interactions not available are during loading screens and cut-scenes. These usually allow players to take a break from whatever they were doing in the game to prepare them for a new scenario or to show some story exposition. There are games that are heavy on cut-scenes, such as “Heavy Rain” and Telltale’s “The Walking Dead,”  but these are still considered games because of the interactivity they have present. There are different choices you can make in these games which can alter the course of the game as well as the endings.
Some ways the film industry make adaptations of video games is by taking the game’s story, using the game’s lore to create their own story, or sometimes co-releasing television series along with the game. Each method has proven not to be successful, however, because when a film for a game is released, the demographic of the audience who come to watch the film are mostly gamers, and usually these gamers are unsatisfied. Mainly because the films do not properly latch on to what make these games so beloved.
Instead, the films have poorly executed plots and are filled with fan-service which usually hurts the film rather than aid it. It’s not the director’s fault, however, except in Uwe Boll’s case, because they have to find a way to condense at least six hours of story, sometimes much more, into a 90-minute full-length film. Other times, they have to work with games that have no story at all.
The worst thing about this is the amount of money that is spent to create these movies. Special effects are expensive to make. There’s also the marketing, which is where most of the budget is spent. Box office revenues that the movie earns aren’t remotely impressive, so why do they continue to do this?
I personally would not want anymore video game movies to be released because they feel like a waste of time and resources for mediocre products. After some quick researching, however, I found out there are still plans to release video game movies—57, to be precise. Some of these will be based off of “Call of Duty,” “HALO,” and “God of War.” Maybe they can change my views on the matter.