Breaking the Video Game Curse?

It sucked being a gamer for ages. The options of video games were plenty, but the culture at large thought of video games as a passing fad. It was difficult admitting you liked them to those outside the fandom, which was anxiety-inducing. It was like living a secret life, or moonlighting your hobby. And while that’s changed in the last two decades, the one exception has always seemed to be video game-based movies. Because, simply put, they sucked.

Video games and movies were always akin to oil and water. They never mixed well, leading to embarrassingly-awkward end results. Even when the movie got the game’s spirit right, which sometimes happened, the end result was still a dumpster fire. How do you, after all, translate a medium focused around interactivity and minimal narratives to one that almost exclusively thrives on narratives? Hollywood kept trying, albeit unsuccessfully.

That is, until now.

I generally have low expectations when it comes to adapting video games to the big-screen. Movies that feature video games, like Wreck-it Ralph and Ready Player One, seem to get by, but that’s largely because they’re not the primary objective: the narrative is. The video game component, therefore, merely compliments it. So when I say that video game movies are starting to break “the curse”, you’d better believe I’m being honest; after all, why would I lie when I have nothing to gain?

Let’s start with Detective Pikachu. I covered it already on Nintendo Enthusiast during my time there, and I stand by my thoughts: is it amazing? No. It’s hammily-acted and doesn’t take full-advantage of its “what if Pokémon were real?” premise. It also needed another pass at the script.

But for what it is, I enjoyed it. Granted, I bought a ticket under false pretences, I thought I’d be discussing the movie on a podcast, but there were worse movies to spend money on. The film was short, fast-paced and a lot of fun. I also enjoyed the Pokémon cameos and easter eggs, even those that only franchise die-hards would get. And while Tim wasn’t the most in-depth protagonist, I appreciated the movie giving him a backstory. He, honestly, was someone I could sympathize with.

But the real star was Pikachu. I don’t know if it’s the design-he looks real, yet retains that fantasy appeal-or that Ryan Reynolds was doing “Deadpool for kids” with the voice, but everything Pikachu said was gold. Not every joke landed, sadly, but it worked. (Like I said, the movie needed another pass at the script.)

I also really liked Lucy and her Psyduck. Lucy, like Tim, isn’t too in-depth, but she had believable motives: she felt undervalued as a news intern. Anyone who’s been in her shoes can relate. And her Psyduck’s gimmick of demanding pampering because of his explosive powers led to some really funny moments, including one where he asks that Pikachu give him a foot rub. The two also worked well together, in addition to working well with Tim and Pikachu.

As a final note, I like the look and feel of Detective Pikachu. Semi-realistic Pokémon designs aside, this is a world I can imagine existing. It has rules, it’s lived-in, the people have lives and personalities and there’s an internal logic to how the Pokémon interact with humans. There’s a tangibility to Detective Pikachu that was missing from previous video game adaptations, essentially. It was the Pokémon-equivalent of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, in other words.

Still, I figured this was a one-off. Detective Pikachu was based on a visual novel, so there was already a story-heavy template. If any video game could work as a movie, it was that one. Clearly that success couldn’t be replicated with a more conventional IP, right? Right?!

Enter Sonic the Hedgehog. Delayed by almost a full year when Sonic’s design was met with backlash, I wasn’t expecting much from this one. I mean, it’s Sonic! If the games were already a rollercoaster of quality, then surely the film didn’t stand a chance! What could possibly get me to-wait, the reviews are decent? Really?!

Colour me surprised yet again. Not only is Sonic the Hedgehog not bad, it’s a lot of fun. The time spent on Sonic’s redesign made him more endearing, and his voice actor’s clearly enjoying himself. I also like his relationship with Tom, the audience POV, and their buddy-buddy trip leads to genuine laughs. I especially like Jim Carrey as Dr. Ivan Robotnik. He’s basically Carrey being his usual self, but he’s having fun. If anything, Carrey was made for this role!

The movie’s quick and fast-paced, like Detective Pikachu. And there’s a tangibility to it, like Detective Pikachu. In fact, the entire movie’s pretty much Sega’s answer to Detective Pikachu, even having its titular character, Sonic, be another “Deadpool for kids”. I don’t know what it is with these movies aping Deadpool, but it’s working! That has to account for something, right?

Of course, it’s not “great”, either. Like Detective Pikachu, it’s hammy and doesn’t take full-advantage of its premise. Its story goes on unneeded detours, and Carrey’s Robotnik takes over way too often. Still, for what it is, it’s genuinely enjoyable. It even teases a sequel in its post-credits sequence, which, judging by the box-office numbers, is now guaranteed to happen.

What is it about Detective Pikachu and Sonic the Hedgehog that makes them work, even if not entirely? I think it’s that both respect their sources while changing material to work as a movie. That’s been tricky for previous video game films, namely because of the differences in mediums, hence why so many failed. But these movies give me hope that the curse could finally be broken. They give me hope that future adaptations of video games could be great, instead of okay.

Then again, maybe these were accidents? Only time will tell!