Some of the Most Controversial Film Adaptations of Videogames

Videogame adaptations have always been a bit of a scary area for both film and videogame industries alike. Although we seem to be reaching a renaissance period with a string of successful adaptations like The Super Mario Bros. Movie or HBO’s series of The Last of Us, most tend to be met with controversy and criticism. That’s not even to say that the successful releases aren’t met with their own share of controversy, ranging from casting decisions to character adjustments. Today, we’re going to look through a selection of infamous adaptations and some of the reasons why many fans choose to turn a blind eye to them.

Super Mario Bros. (1993)

No, this isn't a scene from The Sopranos, it's meant to be Mario, Luigi and Bowser having a little chat.

In 1993, directing duo Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel bravely asked the question: what happens when you take a beloved titan of a videogame franchise known for its colourful graphics and iconic characters and apply a discount Blade Runner filter to it? Being both a huge commercial and critical failure, Super Mario Bros. (1993) made a mere $38.9 million internationally at the box office against a budget of roughly $48 million. Many criticised the dark and gritty tone, as well as its abandonment of what made the source material so popular to begin with. Although boasting a strong cast with Bob Hoskins, Dennis Hopper, and John Leguizamo, their performances weren’t enough to save this trainwreck, receiving criticism for being overly campy and exaggerated. Taking basic elements of the game series, the film also added many new ideas that were not well-received by critics or fans alike, replacing the colourful and exciting Mushroom Kingdom with the dingy Dinohattan that looks like Camden Market in the 90s. The Super Mario Bros. (1993) disaster led to Nintendo losing interest in Hollywood film adaptations for two decades, cancelling a planned sequel in the process.

Street Fighter

He's American, trust me. Ignore the accent, just look at that tattoo. It's just as good as a Green Card.

One of the all-time staples of the fighting genre, Street Fighter, received its own theatrical rendition in 1994, directed by Steven E. de Souza. Met with mixed reviews, with many critics citing the awful dialogue and painful acting, the movie was still a financial success, almost reaching $100 million at the box office. Another criticism was levied against the controversial casting choices, notably the casting choice of Jean-Claude Van Damme as Guile, the film's lead. Portrayed as a patriotic American soldier in the videogame series, Van Damme’s rendition of Guile in the film instead sported his own Belgian accent and a rather tame hairstyle that looked shameful next to the traditional titan of flat-top hair Guile sports in the games. The film also featured revered Puerto Rican actor Raul Julia in his final film role as M. Bison, the antagonistic general. Julia played the role with an overly exaggerated sense of drama, hamming it up to the rafters to become the clear standout in an otherwise weak adaptation. Despite its countless flaws, Street Fighter has since been regarded as a cult classic and a novelty amongst fans of the series.

Mortal Kombat

Scorpion always gets a bit weird when he pulls out his bootleg Beyblades.

The ultra-violent fighting series saw its own film adaptation in 1995, directed by Paul W.S. Anderson in his first attempt at a videogame movie. The film was a huge commercial success, with many fans flocking to theatres with the hope to see their favourite Fatalities recreated on the silver screen. Many of Mortal Kombat’s diverse cast of characters appeared in the film, including fan-favourites like Scorpion, Johnny Cage, and ice-cold Sub-Zero, but fans of the series were disheartened by various deviations from their original counterparts. The film's violent and gory content also led to criticism from some parents who had clearly never paid attention to the games that their children were playing. Despite both weak critical reviews and the controversy around the time of its release, the movie saw a sequel in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation in 1997, which didn’t do as well financially. Nevertheless, a live-action prequel series followed suit in 1998 before lying dormant until the 2021 reboot.

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

Look, she's got two pistols just like she does in the video game!

2001 saw the release of the movie based on the Tomb Raider series, with Angelina Jolie portraying the titular Lara Croft, a tough and intelligent archaeologist who embarks on dangerous missions to uncover ancient artefacts. Many fans of the games — who played it for a whole different reason than the action and adventure, apparently — were disappointed by the less revealing and more practical outfits worn by Lara in the movies. Despite this rather troglodytic criticism from some fans, many instead praised the film for portraying Lara Croft well as the strong female protagonist she is known to be in the games. A personal criticism of the film is that its existence prompted the writing and release of that awful Elevation track by U2. The film saw a sequel in 2003 with Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life, which was met with a similar critical reaction. Thankfully, there was no accompanying U2 song to go with that one, at least.

This isn't really related to anything, but I just had to highlight Raul Julia's magnificent energy from Street Fighter one more time.

Although providing an existing franchise and a deep wealth of source material for creators to work from, videogame adaptations have always been a huge risk for filmmakers, with many critical and commercial failures littering its sordid past. There are many that could have been added to this list, and maybe I’ll dive through some more in the near future. In the meantime, though, what was the most disappointing videogame movie that you’ve seen? Have there been any that actually surprised you?