Bringing a beloved video game to life at the movies may just be more impossible than expecting CJ to “follow the damn train” in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
Time and time again we’ve seen some of the worst films based on otherwise excellent video games flop into theaters or onto our screens at home. Sometimes it’s due to a misunderstanding of the source material. Other times fans can blame poor writing, bad special effects, or a lack of character development as some of these films tend to focus focus more on the action and spectacle than the heart of the story, atmosphere, or characters that got us invested in the first place.
Hollywood’s inability to make a good video game movie was a running joke for a long time, especially in the 2000s and early 2010s. Films such as Alone in the Dark (2005), House of the Dead (2003), and Tekken (2009) are often regarded as some of the worst of the decade, while movies such as Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001), Silent Hill (2006), and Resident Evil (2002), though not exactly critical darlings, are considered guilty pleasures for many.
In recent years, however, Hollywood has begun to put more effort into releasing quality, compelling, and faithful video game adaptations, such as Uncharted (2022), The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023), and Sonic the Hedgehog (2020). Meanwhile, television has fared even better with critically acclaimed shows such as The Last of Us, Fallout, and Arcane: League of Legends.
Despite all the progress, making a good video game movie still appears to be an impossible challenge for some studios, and we’ve seen plenty of stinkers over the past decade that have made us regret hitting “start.”
Below, check out the 10 worst video game movies of the last 10 years, released between 2015 and 2025.
The 10 Worst Video Game Movies of the Last 10 Years
These disappointing video game adaptations barely made it to screen before audiences said, “Game over.”
Gallery Credit: Erica Russell
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