Best to Worst Video Game Movies That I've Seen (So Far)
by Barloq | created - 18 Jan 2017 | updated - 4 months ago | PublicA countdown of the "best" video game movies (and some TV series) that I've seen, updated as I watch more.
NOTE: A few of these movies are not actually "good", but are really funny and enjoyable. Most video game movies are either bland or bad, so this makes these handful of movies more watchable in spite of their objectively worse quality.
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1. Arcane (2021– )
TV-14 | 40 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
Set in Utopian Piltover and the oppressed underground of Zaun, the story follows the origins of two iconic League Of Legends champions and the power that will tear them apart.
Stars: Hailee Steinfeld, Kevin Alejandro, Jason Spisak, Terri Douglas
Votes: 271,356
Arcane stands out for its absolutely gorgeous animation, extremely strong character writing, and its interesting world-building, which all come together to make a show which is downright *addictive* to watch.
2. DOA: Dead or Alive (2006)
PG-13 | 87 min | Action, Adventure, Mystery
The world's best fighters are invited to DOA, an invitational martial arts contest. There, four female rival fighters will have to work together to uncover the secret that the organizer of the tournament is trying to hide.
Director: Corey Yuen | Stars: Jaime Pressly, Devon Aoki, Sarah Carter, Holly Valance
Votes: 46,333 | Gross: $0.48M
This film is surprisingly... awesome. Like, it's campy and dumb, but unlike most crappy video game movies, this is usually done intentionally, with tongue-in-cheek and a wink to the audience, all in the spirit of being incredibly entertaining. The performances are mostly solid as well, and the action scenes are pretty damn well-done. Seriously, just give this film a chance, as it is an extremely fun time guaranteed to leave a huge grin on your face.
3. Castlevania: Nocturne (2023– )
TV-MA | 30 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
During the French Revolution, vampire hunter prodigy Richter Belmont fights to uphold his family's legacy and prevent the rise of a ruthless, power-hungry vampire.
Stars: Edward Bluemel, Thuso Mbedu, Pixie Davies, Richard Dormer
Votes: 14,127
Castlevania: Nocturne takes everything great about the original series, and just makes it all even better. The action and characters are just as fun as before, but what really elevates it is that there's far more thought put into the setting and themes which acts as a through-line to connect everything.
4. Pokémon: Detective Pikachu (2019)
PG | 104 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
In a world where people collect Pokémon to do battle, a boy comes across an intelligent talking Pikachu who seeks to be a detective.
Director: Rob Letterman | Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Justice Smith, Kathryn Newton, Bill Nighy
Votes: 182,746 | Gross: $144.11M
If you're a Pokemon fan, Detective Pikachu is a no-brainer - watch it, you will freak out at all of the highly-detailed Pokemon brought to life and all of the references to the franchise. If you don't care as much about Pokemon, then Detective Pikachu is a little tougher sell. It follows the usual buddy-detective cliches well enough to be fine, but if the script was a little better written then this film could have been truly great. As it is, it's just short of greatness, which is why I put it below DOA. Sure, it's definitely better-made than DOA, but it also feels somewhat disappointing, whereas DOA knows it's dumb and revels in it for our enjoyment.
5. Street Fighter (1994)
PG-13 | 102 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
In the midst of a civil war in South East Asia, a general intensifies the climate of violence by kidnapping 63 UN delegates. To free the hostages, a colonel leads a group of fighters, who will have to use all their skills to be successful.
Director: Steven E. de Souza | Stars: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Raul Julia, Ming-Na Wen, Damian Chapa
Votes: 75,342 | Gross: $33.42M
Despite its terrible reputation, Street Fighter is an incredibly entertaining time. I'm not even entirely sure whether it is intended to be as campy and tongue-in-cheek as it ended up, but it doesn't change that this is an incredibly fun film to watch. And, as anyone who has seen it can tell you, Raul Julia's M. Bison is absolutely amazing - seriously, one of my all-time favourite villainous performances. If that's not enough to sell you on giving Street Fighter a chance, then I don't know what is.
6. Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997)
PG-13 | 95 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
A group of martial-arts warriors has only six days to save the Earth from an extra-dimensional invasion.
Director: John R. Leonetti | Stars: Robin Shou, Talisa Soto, James Remar, Sandra Hess
Votes: 58,161 | Gross: $35.93M
Holy crap, how does this movie exist? It is incredible from start to finish, playing out like a Power Rangers episode which somehow cost millions of dollars and got a theatrical release.
7. House of the Dead (2003)
R | 90 min | Action, Adventure, Horror
A group of college students travels to a mysterious island to attend a rave, which is soon taken over by bloodthirsty zombies.
Director: Uwe Boll | Stars: Jonathan Cherry, Tyron Leitso, Clint Howard, Ona Grauer
Votes: 38,567 | Gross: $10.25M
House of the Dead is objectively a horrendously put-together piece of film that I can scarcely believe got any sort of theatrical distribution. However, in terms of unintentional hilarity, House of the Dead is absolutely amazing. My jaw was agape so many times while watching this movie because I couldn't believe that Uwe Boll had actually put something so ridiculous to film. While it may be easily one of the worst video game movies ever made, it's also incredibly watchable and a lot of fun mock.
8. Castlevania (2017–2021)
TV-MA | 23 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
A vampire hunter fights to save a besieged city from an army of otherworldly creatures controlled by Dracula.
Stars: Richard Armitage, James Callis, Alejandra Reynoso, Theo James
Votes: 80,564
Castlevania is legitimately entertaining, which is a surprising feat for a video game adaptation, let alone one which is as faithful to its source as this. It largely succeeds due to the interesting characters, funny writing and exciting action sequences. Movie studios - this isn't so hard, now is it?
9. Mortal Kombat (1995)
PG-13 | 101 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Three unknowing martial artists are summoned to a mysterious island to compete in a tournament whose outcome will decide the fate of the world.
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson | Stars: Christopher Lambert, Robin Shou, Linden Ashby, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa
Votes: 124,689 | Gross: $70.45M
While the acting in Mortal Kombat is hot garbage, the film is surprisingly well-made with good special effects (aside from the pathetic-looking Lizard), consistent tone and some cool fight scenes sprinkled throughout. Unlike most video game films, it actually manages to nail most of the things it attempts successfully. While it was never going to be an all-time classic, it is a legitimately entertaining film.
10. MGS: Philanthropy (2009)
69 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
The movie is set in 2007, taking place before or right after the first part of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty.
Director: Giacomo Talamini | Stars: Giacomo Talamini, Phillip Sacramento, Patrizia Liccardi, Nicola Cecconi
Votes: 711
Philanthropy is a pretty damn solid fan film with some good special effects and surprisingly good performances. My only regret is that we'll never find out how it ends, as it was intended to be part 1 of 3, and the series was cancelled after Konami wouldn't let Hive Division raise funds on Kickstarter. As it is, if this is the only way to see Solid Snake kicking ass on screen, I'm fine with that.
11. The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)
PG | 92 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
A plumber named Mario travels through an underground labyrinth with his brother Luigi, trying to save a captured princess.
Directors: Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic, Pierre Leduc, Fabien Polack | Stars: Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black
Votes: 237,335 | Gross: $574.93M
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Mario Bros. is an enjoyable but very shallow film, buoyed by a snappy pace and game performances from Jack Black and Anya Taylor-Joy, which make up for the thin plotting and character writing. At its core though, this isn't much different than any other Illumination kids' movie, except that this time it's about a brand I had some fondness for.
12. Tomb Raider (2018)
PG-13 | 119 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Lara Croft, the fiercely independent daughter of a missing adventurer, must push herself beyond her limits when she discovers the island where her father, Lord Richard Croft disappeared.
Director: Roar Uthaug | Stars: Alicia Vikander, Dominic West, Walton Goggins, Daniel Wu
Votes: 227,245 | Gross: $58.25M
The first hour of Tomb Raider is great, giving us some strong action sequences and a good leading performance from Alicia Vikander. However, the second half leaves much to be desired, mainly due to an unfortunate narrative turn which derails the plot and never really recovers its balance. All that said though, Tomb Raider is definitely one of the best video game movies ever made and is certainly a worthwhile and fun time at the movies.
13. Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)
R | 94 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
Survivors of the Raccoon City catastrophe travel across the Nevada desert, hoping to make it to Alaska. Alice joins the caravan and their fight against the evil Umbrella Corp.
Director: Russell Mulcahy | Stars: Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Oded Fehr, Iain Glen
Votes: 205,586 | Gross: $50.65M
I am probably the minority opinion on this one, but as far as I'm concerned, Extinction is by far the strongest Resident Evil film simply due to it having the most accomplished direction in the series. The whole premise is stupid, and it's about as dumb as the series has ever been, but the action scenes are among the most entertaining in the whole franchise in my opinion.
14. Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)
R | 96 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
While still out to destroy the evil Umbrella Corporation, Alice joins a group of survivors living in a prison surrounded by the infected who also want to relocate to the mysterious but supposedly unharmed safe haven known only as Arcadia.
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson | Stars: Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Wentworth Miller, Kim Coates
Votes: 179,274 | Gross: $60.13M
While Afterlife might just be the stupidest film in the Resident Evil series (which is saying A LOT), but it nails it where it really counts - the action sequences in this film are fantastic and the entire film is just extremely entertaining to watch. The slo-mo executioner fight in particular is probably the coolest moment in the entire Resident Evil film series.
15. Silent Hill (2006)
R | 125 min | Horror, Mystery
A woman, Rose, goes in search for her adopted daughter within the confines of a strange, desolate town called Silent Hill.
Director: Christophe Gans | Stars: Radha Mitchell, Laurie Holden, Sean Bean, Deborah Kara Unger
Votes: 244,188 | Gross: $46.98M
Silent Hill is not a good movie, but it gets a ton of credit for absolutely nailing the games' unique atmosphere and creating some genuinely tense and scary moments. The fact that the film has become iconic and has a cult following in its own right is just credit to how solid Christophe Gans' direction is. A shame about the script though...
16. Mortal Kombat (2021)
R | 110 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
MMA fighter Cole Young seeks out Earth's greatest champions in order to stand against the enemies of Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe.
Director: Simon McQuoid | Stars: Lewis Tan, Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson, Joe Taslim
Votes: 190,224 | Gross: $42.20M
Mortal Kombat had a lot of potential but the film is just too hollow to really achieve it. The characters are all a bunch of nobodies, with the exception of Josh Lawson's Kano who's such a hilarious, cartoonish dick that you can't help but love him. The fights are as exciting and bloody as you'd hope so the film at least stays entertaining, but it's too bad that they couldn't inject just a bit more character into a cast which should be far more colourful than they are.
17. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)
PG-13 | 116 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
A young fugitive prince and princess must stop a villain who unknowingly threatens to destroy the world with a special dagger that enables the magic sand inside to reverse time.
Director: Mike Newell | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, Ben Kingsley, Alfred Molina
Votes: 304,139 | Gross: $90.76M
Of all the generic summer blockbusters, Prince of Persia is certainly a prime contender amongst the most boring and most mediocre of them all. I can't really say much more, it's just incredibly dull and not particularly notable in any way.
18. Warcraft (2016)
PG-13 | 123 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
As an Orc horde invades the planet Azeroth using a magic portal, a few human heroes and dissenting Orcs must attempt to stop the true evil behind this war.
Director: Duncan Jones | Stars: Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton, Ben Foster, Dominic Cooper
Votes: 279,019 | Gross: $47.37M
Warcraft does a lot of things right, but it has one crippling flaw - the movie never really bothers to tell you what is doing on or why you should care. I'm not sure if this was an issue with the fast-paced editing, the script or just unclear direction, but the film is incomprehensible for large chunks, which is especially problematic if you don't go in already knowing the Warcraft lore. Beyond that major issue, the Orcs are really interesting but the human characters are very boring, which makes it even harder to enjoy since the humans take up large chunks of the screentime. To make matters worse, the movie clearly has absolutely no resolution as it ends up being little more than a 2 hour trailer for Warcraft II. Hopefully the sequel eases up the pace and gives the movie time to breathe, because there is certainly potential here, but the film just fails to grasp it.
19. Dead Rising: Watchtower (2015)
Not Rated | 118 min | Action, Horror
An ineffective vaccine fails to stop an epidemic which is turning people into zombies. The survivors organize themselves to escape from the living dead.
Director: Zach Lipovsky | Stars: Jesse Metcalfe, Meghan Ory, Virginia Madsen, Keegan Connor Tracy
Votes: 9,476
I'm not really a huge Dead Rising fan, so maybe I "missed" something with this film, but Dead Rising: Watchtower is about as bog-standard as zombie fare goes, with only the brand tie-in nature of it allowing it to stand out in the slightest. The production values are rather low (appropriately, TV movie quality), but other than that it's just barely passable in pretty much every regard. Also... is Frank West this annoying in the games? Because he's pretty excruciating throughout this film, easily the worst part about it. If you enjoy the Dead Rising franchise then you might find something to like about this, but otherwise it's definitely worth skipping.
20. House of the Dead 2 (2005 TV Movie)
R | 95 min | Action, Comedy, Horror
A virus breaks out at a university and people start to become zombies. After 29 days, a team of AMS scientists and soldiers are sent in to deal with the problem. But while they search, things go wrong.
Director: Michael Hurst | Stars: Emmanuelle Vaugier, Ed Quinn, Sticky Fingaz, Steve Monroe
Votes: 6,190
This was the last sequel anyone expected to be anywhere near good... and yet, it's actually pretty awesome. And it's obvious that they took one of the best sequels of all time (Aliens) and used its formula to make a badass film. The acting is pretty terrible, the story is dumb and for a movie focused on soldiers and it's pretty obvious they didn't have a military advisor on set. None of that *really* matters though, because no one really expects that out of this sort of film. House of the Dead 2 is just an absolute blast to watch for all its cheese and cleverness, and is finely crafted b-movie entertainment.
21. Doom (2005)
R | 105 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
Space Marines are sent to investigate strange events at a research facility on Mars but find themselves at the mercy of genetically enhanced killing machines.
Director: Andrzej Bartkowiak | Stars: Karl Urban, Rosamund Pike, Dwayne Johnson, Deobia Oparei
Votes: 118,770 | Gross: $28.21M
Doom is a surprisingly competent film, significantly better than I was expecting. That's not to say that it rises above mediocrity, but it is fairly well made and even has some genuine moments of intensity at times. Unfortunately, it's a bit too long and begins to strain towards the end, but it isn't nearly as disastrous as it is often made out to be.
22. Need for Speed (2014)
PG-13 | 132 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Fresh from prison, a street racer who was framed by a wealthy business associate joins a cross-country race with revenge in mind. His ex-partner, learning of the plan, places a massive bounty on his head as the race begins.
Director: Scott Waugh | Stars: Aaron Paul, Dominic Cooper, Imogen Poots, Kid Cudi
Votes: 178,600 | Gross: $43.58M
Need for Speed is just "okay" - it's not terrible, but it doesn't really stand out, especially compared to the Fast & Furious films which it so clearly wants to emulate. The main issue is that it has WAY too much narrative fat which just makes it feel boring for long stretches.
23. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life (2003)
PG-13 | 117 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Adventurer Lara Croft goes on a quest to save the mythical Pandora's Box, before an evil scientist finds it, and recruits a former Marine turned mercenary to assist her.
Director: Jan de Bont | Stars: Angelina Jolie, Gerard Butler, Chris Barrie, Ciarán Hinds
Votes: 144,925 | Gross: $65.66M
Meh. Doesn't do much to improve on the original, and is ultimately just as forgettable. Again, Angelina Jolie is the standout and Ciaran Hinds brings an unexpected pedigree, but otherwise, the film's about as bog-standard as they come.
24. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)
PG-13 | 100 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Video game adventurer Lara Croft comes to life in a movie where she races against time and villains to recover powerful ancient artifacts.
Director: Simon West | Stars: Angelina Jolie, Jon Voight, Iain Glen, Noah Taylor
Votes: 219,064 | Gross: $131.14M
While Angelina Jolie seems to be having a blast, Tomb Raider is just a mindless, generic, totally forgettable action-adventure movie which fails to even rise above mediocrity.
25. Resident Evil: Degeneration (2008)
R | 98 min | Animation, Action, Horror
Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield must battle a rogue warrior seeking revenge after unleashing the deadly G-Virus, whilst a mutated monster goes on a rampage.
Director: Makoto Kamiya | Stars: Paul Mercier, Alyson Court, Laura Bailey, Roger Craig Smith
Votes: 33,214
Better than the original Resident Evil movie in my opinion... not that that's saying much.
26. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)
PG-13 | 106 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
A scientist makes a last stand on Earth with the help of a ragtag team of soldiers against an invasion of alien phantoms.
Directors: Hironobu Sakaguchi, Motonori Sakakibara | Stars: Alec Baldwin, Steve Buscemi, Ming-Na Wen, Ving Rhames
Votes: 84,096 | Gross: $32.13M
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is a like it or hate it movie. It makes basically no sense and key plot points regarding the titular "spirits" aren't even explained, but after about 30 minutes I was finding myself just going with it and having a reasonably fun time. It's certainly nonsense... but somehow that manages to make it way more interesting than the majority of video game movies that have been released. So... congrats Square, I guess?
27. Double Dragon (1994)
PG-13 | 96 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
Two brothers have half of a powerful ancient Chinese talisman. An evil gang leader has the other half, and determines to get the brothers' half and have a complete medallion so he can gain absolute power.
Director: James Yukich | Stars: Robert Patrick, Mark Dacascos, Scott Wolf, Kristina Wagner
Votes: 13,823 | Gross: $2.34M
Double Dragon is a bizarrely campy film... I think the Movie Boys described it best when they said it was like a kid's version of The Warriors. Personally, I found it excessively silly and dumbed-down, but it's hard to deny that it wasn't at least a little entertaining.
28. Wing Commander (1999)
PG-13 | 100 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Blair, a fighter pilot, joins an interstellar war to fight the evil Kilrathi who are trying to destroy the universe.
Director: Chris Roberts | Stars: Freddie Prinze Jr., Matthew Lillard, Saffron Burrows, Tchéky Karyo
Votes: 17,420 | Gross: $11.58M
Wing Commander isn't awful, but if it has a real crippling flaw it's that it's just not very engaging. It ticks all the bare-minimum levels of what a sci-fi action movie should be, but I can't say it made me care about anything which happened in the runtime.
29. Super Mario Bros. (1993)
PG | 104 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
Two Brooklyn plumbers, Mario and Luigi, must travel to another dimension to rescue a princess from the evil dictator King Koopa and stop him from taking over the world.
Directors: Annabel Jankel, Rocky Morton | Stars: Bob Hoskins, John Leguizamo, Dennis Hopper, Samantha Mathis
Votes: 63,009 | Gross: $20.92M
Despite its wretched reputation, Super Mario Bros is a bizarrely-watchable film... which happens to have basically nothing to do with the game it's based on. Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo have a good comradery which helps make the proceedings more palatable, and the insane dystopian style on display makes things unique at least, but those expecting an actual Mario Bros film will be sorely disappointed.
30. Resident Evil (2002)
R | 100 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
A special military unit fights a powerful, out-of-control supercomputer and hundreds of scientists who have mutated into flesh-eating creatures after a laboratory accident.
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson | Stars: Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Ryan McCluskey, Oscar Pearce
Votes: 288,647 | Gross: $40.12M
As far as the relative quality of video game movies go, Resident Evil is ridiculously overrated. It is really quite dull for the most part, with undeveloped characters, laughable CGI, a dumb plot and mediocre action scenes - in fact, there are a few points in the film where it feels like they never even finished the action scenes (eg, when they're surrounded by zombies, and then a single cut later, are hiding up in the pipes). Resident Evil isn't even mediocre, it's just a poor film in general.
31. Dead Space: Aftermath (2011 Video)
Not Rated | 85 min | Animation, Horror, Sci-Fi
Four survivors aboard the spaceship USG O'Bannon, the first responder ship sent to rescue the members of the USG Ishimura, try to recall the horrific events that wiped out their crew.
Director: Mike Disa | Stars: Christopher Judge, Ricardo Chavira, Gwendoline Yeo, Curt Cornelius
Votes: 4,611
Poor animation aside, this was actually pretty good up until the necromorphs showed up - then it was an even *beep* version of Dead Space Downfall (which was bad in itself). I've played all the Dead Space games, read all the comics and novels and seen both of the movies now, and this is a very disturbing pattern that they (except for the games themselves) share - everything is quite entertaining, up until the necromorphs show up.
32. Dead Space: Downfall (2008 Video)
Not Rated | 74 min | Animation, Horror, Sci-Fi
A team of miners at an outpost in deep space unearth an ancient alien artefact. After the relic is brought aboard their spaceship, the USG Ishimura, for scientific study, an alien species begins to infect the members of the ship.
Directors: Chuck Patton, Curt Geda, Vinton Heuck | Stars: Nika Futterman, Keith Szarabajka, Jim Cummings, Kevin Michael Richardson
Votes: 11,460
I like Dead Space, but this is just a bad movie. While it does give a bit of insight into the Aegis 7 incident, this interesting background is obviously just used as a vehicle for the animators to kill people in increasingly gory ways. On top of that, the animation is really choppy as well.
33. Postal (2007)
R | 100 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
In the ironically named city of Paradise, a loser teams up with his cult-leading uncle to steal a peculiar bounty of riches from their local amusement park. The recently arrived Taliban have a similar focus, but a far more sinister intent.
Director: Uwe Boll | Stars: Zack Ward, David Foley, Verne Troyer, Chris Coppola
Votes: 24,120 | Gross: $18.01M
Postal is far from a good film, but it does capture the spirit of the game it is based on pretty well and is certainly better than Uwe Boll's usual fare. It's also occasionally funny, although more often than not, just offensive for the sake of being offensive (and I can't tell whether Uwe Boll is actually trying to make some grand, assholish statement or not).
34. BloodRayne II: Deliverance (2007 Video)
R | 99 min | Action, Fantasy, Western
Rayne, the half-human/half-vampire warrior, ventures to America's 1880's Wild West to stop the vampired Billy the Kid and his posse of vampire cowboys.
Director: Uwe Boll | Stars: Natassia Malthe, Zack Ward, Michael Paré, Chris Coppola
Votes: 11,582
While it's a huge improvement over the original and the far more ambitious Dungeon Siege film, BloodRayne II is, at its very best, merely competent. This is basically just because it revels in Western tropes and has a reasonably talented cast hamming it up for the most part, rather than due to any sort of actual quality on display. It's still not "good", but it's a fair sight above "typical Boll fare".
35. Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016)
R | 107 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
Alice returns to where the nightmare began: The Hive in Raccoon City, where the Umbrella Corporation is gathering its forces for a final strike against the only remaining survivors of the apocalypse.
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson | Stars: Milla Jovovich, Iain Glen, Ali Larter, Shawn Roberts
Votes: 101,032 | Gross: $26.83M
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter is yet another tired entry in this franchise. Rather than being pure, dumb fun like Extinction or Afterlife, The Final Chapter is just plain dumb and dull, with its action sequences being arguably the worst in the entire series. If you liked the series already then you'll probably enjoy The Final Chapter, but for the rest of us it's just more dull BS.
36. Assassin's Creed (2016)
PG-13 | 115 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Callum Lynch explores the memories of his ancestor Aguilar de Nerha and gains the skills of a Master Assassin, before taking on the secret Templar society.
Director: Justin Kurzel | Stars: Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons, Brendan Gleeson
Votes: 208,973 | Gross: $54.65M
Assassin's Creed had all of the potential in the world, from its cast, to its production values, to its fantastic source material. Unfortunately, it's all completely wasted on a script which strips out all of the mystery and intrigue of its source material, spends 90% of its dialogue rehashing the exact same ideas about free will, and is just plain dull. I wonder where exactly this project was screwed up, because there was so much potential for a great movie here that the fact that they missed by so much is a crying shame.
37. Max Payne (2008)
PG-13 | 100 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Coming together to solve a series of murders in New York City are a police detective and an assassin, who will be hunted by the police, the mob, and a ruthless corporation.
Director: John Moore | Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Beau Bridges, Ludacris
Votes: 130,220 | Gross: $40.69M
Max Payne is a disjointed mess. While you could trash the acting, the script, editing, etc, the movie's biggest sin is that it's just plain dull. The only real nice thing you can say about it is that the cinematography is very pretty, but you know what they say about putting makeup on a pig...
38. In the Name of the King: Two Worlds (2011)
R | 96 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
An ex-Special Forces soldier gets thrown back to medieval times to fulfill an ancient prophecy and ends up finding redemption for his own battlefield experiences.
Director: Uwe Boll | Stars: Dolph Lundgren, Lochlyn Munro, Natassia Malthe, Christina Jastrzembska
Votes: 5,299
This Uwe Boll sequel isn't good by any stretch of the imagination, but it at least is a watchable affair, even enjoyable at times. It's still marred by shoddy direction, a low budget and bad acting, but at least it's a step towards mediocrity, which is an improvement for Boll.
39. Hitman (I) (2007)
R | 94 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A gun-for-hire known only as Agent 47 hired by a group known only as 'The Organization' is ensnared in a political conspiracy, which finds him pursued by both Interpol and the Russian military as he treks across Russia and Eastern Europe.
Director: Xavier Gens | Stars: Timothy Olyphant, Dougray Scott, Olga Kurylenko, Robert Knepper
Votes: 177,827 | Gross: $39.69M
Ahh Skip Woods... if there's a single writer in Hollywood who can sink a film with little more than a convoluted plot, he's your man. It's bad when you're watching a story that is so convoluted and nonsensical that you think "this must be a Skip Woods film", and then check IMDb just to confirm that that is indeed true.
40. Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)
R | 94 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
Alice wakes up in the Raccoon City hospital after the area has been overrun by zombies, and must now make it out of the city before a nuclear bomb is dropped.
Director: Alexander Witt | Stars: Milla Jovovich, Sienna Guillory, Eric Mabius, Oded Fehr
Votes: 210,053 | Gross: $51.20M
Considering that it's adapting 2 of the most interesting stories in the game series (RE2 and 3), Apocalypse is a huge disappointment. The film feels significantly cheaper and sillier than its predecessor did. It's also really, really stupid, but at least the action scenes manage to be more entertaining than in the first one.
41. Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021)
R | 107 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
Set in 1998, this origin story explores the secrets of the mysterious Spencer Mansion and the ill-fated Raccoon City.
Director: Johannes Roberts | Stars: Kaya Scodelario, Robbie Amell, Hannah John-Kamen, Tom Hopper
Votes: 64,204 | Gross: $17.00M
I have so much I want to complain about with this movie, but I'll keep it relatively brief. An adaptation that's more faithful to the source material makes sense for Resident Evil, but there are so many bone-headed decisions made here and half-baked ideas. Tons of easter eggs and callbacks to the games, which end up serving no purpose to the actual narrative. Girlboss Claire is somehow less interesting than if she's just a normal person caught up in a terrifying situation. Leon as a washed-up failure of a cop is an interesting idea, but he is given absolutely nothing to do in the entire movie. Raccoon City as a ghost town feels like it was done to make COVID restrictions easier, but it robs the setting of the mass outbreak and chaos that makes it so compelling in the games. Resident Evil games don't exactly have great stories, but if you mash the shells of two games together, it ends up creating something even worse. Oh, and don't even get me started on the stealthiest zombies I've ever seen in a movie, dear God. The one positive I can say is that the cast are all really good, I just wish they had been given some proper material. As is, Welcome to Raccoon City's as bad as the worst Paul WS Anderson Resident Evils, which is something I never expected to have to say.
42. Monster Hunter (2020)
PG-13 | 103 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
When Cpt. Artemis and her loyal soldiers are transported to a new world, they engage in a desperate battle for survival against enormous enemies with incredible powers. Feature film based on the video game by Capcom.
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson | Stars: Milla Jovovich, Tony Jaa, Ron Perlman, Tip 'T.I.' Harris
Votes: 68,149 | Gross: $15.16M
Paul W.S. Anderson has to be the worst writer-director in Hollywood these days. After ruining the Resident Evil franchise (both the games and the movies, which only got worse under his watch with Retribution and The Final Chapter), Anderson and Milla Jovovich turned their sights to another Capcom franchise, Monster Hunter, and managed to make an even more insulting adaptation. I think that Monster Hunter could make for an interesting fantasy series, but instead Anderson and co. go for that lucrative US military propaganda money and make this a dimension-hopping misadventure. Pretty much everything here sucks, particularly the direction and breakneck pacing, with the brief glimmers of something better coming in the middle stretch where things slow down a bit and Jovovich and Jaa get to play off each other. However, this is just another brainless Anderson flick that shits all over the audience.
43. The Angry Birds Movie (2016)
PG | 97 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
When an island populated by happy, flightless birds is visited by mysterious green pigs, it's up to three unlikely outcasts to figure out what the pigs are up to.
Directors: Clay Kaytis, Fergal Reilly | Stars: Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph
Votes: 103,977 | Gross: $107.51M
Angry Birds probably passes as a kids movie, but just barely... aside from the most easily entertained people, Angry Birds is just a collection of boring scenes stitched together haphazardly and anchored by a bunch of irritating characters.
44. Resident Evil: Damnation (2012)
R | 100 min | Animation, Action, Horror
Special Agent Leon S.Kennedy goes against his superior's orders and works to destroy a series of biological weapons being used in a war zone in Europe.
Director: Makoto Kamiya | Stars: Matthew Mercer, Dave Wittenberg, Wendee Lee, Val Tasso
Votes: 22,434
While the animation is very good, I found this movie very dull. I mean, the story wasn't bad, but it did a poor job of making me care about anyone (even Leon came across as a bit of a brick wall) and the voice acting ranged from monotone to WTF. The second half of the movie is also basically non-stop action, but I couldn't find it in me to care about any of it because the poor investment in the characters. If you're a fan of the series then check it out, but otherwise I don't recommend it.
45. Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)
R | 95 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
Alice fights alongside a resistance movement to regain her freedom from an Umbrella Corporation testing facility.
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson | Stars: Milla Jovovich, Sienna Guillory, Michelle Rodriguez, Aryana Engineer
Votes: 150,207 | Gross: $42.35M
It's hard to believe that the Resident Evil franchise could get stupider, but then a movie like Retribution comes along and not only surpasses the series' standard for idiocy, but manages to just be ridiculously lazy as well with a half-hearted plot and action scenes rehashing highlights from the previous films.
46. Far Cry (2008)
R | 95 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
An ex-special forces soldier turned boatman is hired by a journalist to investigate a top-secret military base on a nearby island.
Director: Uwe Boll | Stars: Til Schweiger, Emmanuelle Vaugier, Natalia Avelon, Udo Kier
Votes: 14,933
Far Cry is a budget action movie from Uwe Boll. While he's clearly improved since the dark days of BloodRayne and Alone in the Dark, Far Cry is still a bafflingly stupid and subpar film which wastes actors too good for this kind of *beep*
47. Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (2009)
PG-13 | 96 min | Action, Crime, Fantasy
When a child, Chun-Li sees her father being captured by wealthy gangster Bison. When she grows up, she goes into a quest for justice and bring down the criminal organization Shadaloo which is led by Bison.
Director: Andrzej Bartkowiak | Stars: Kristin Kreuk, Neal McDonough, Michael Clarke Duncan, Chris Klein
Votes: 25,367 | Gross: $8.74M
Put simply, The Legend of Chun-Li is crap on basically every level. In spite of its reputation, it's pretty embarrassing when you make a Street Fighter film which gets completely outclassed in all regards by the Jean Claude van Damme film. It's not even all that entertaining either, with limp fight scenes. Plus it features some shockingly violent scenes (for PG-13 anyway) which are completely out of place with the rest of the film, further making you wonder what the hell anyone was thinking making this.
48. In the Name of the King: The Last Mission (2014)
R | 86 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
A modern day assassin, wanting out, is hired for one final job: to kidnap the kids of a local businessman. Things go haywire when it turns out he's chosen to return to the Middle Ages and bring back order to a kingdom in chaos.
Director: Uwe Boll | Stars: Dominic Purcell, Ralitsa Paskaleva, Daria Simeonova, Petra Gocheva
Votes: 2,426
While the second In The Name of the King at least had some fun and ambition, this third film feels like no one cared about it at all. Boll is clearly on a miniscule budget, filming on location in Bulgaria with local, no-name actors, and over-utilizing a bad CGI dragon. Probably worst of all though, the film is in critical need of an editor because it has some of the most boring and drawn out action sequences I've ever seen.
49. In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (2007)
PG-13 | 127 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
A man named Farmer sets out to rescue his kidnapped wife and avenge the death of his son, two acts committed by the Krugs, a race of animal-warriors who are controlled by the evil Gallian.
Director: Uwe Boll | Stars: Jason Statham, Ron Perlman, Ray Liotta, Leelee Sobieski
Votes: 51,190 | Gross: $4.54M
In the Name of the King is hardly the worst Uwe Boll film - in fact, it actually has some cool moments peppered sparsely throughout its ridiculously long runtime, as Boll clearly enjoys his bigger budget and technical experimentation. However, it is still plagued with utterly laughable dialogue, editing, acting and a crappy script. It's good for a few belly laughs, but after the first hour it just turns into an utter slog.
50. BloodRayne (2005)
R | 95 min | Action, Fantasy, Horror
In the eighteenth century, a vampire escapes from the freak show, in which she once participated, and teams up with a group of vampire slayers to kill the man who raped her mother.
Director: Uwe Boll | Stars: Kristanna Loken, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Rodriguez, Michael Madsen
Votes: 37,207 | Gross: $2.41M
BloodRayne is a hilariously shoddy film, attempting to create this huge fantasy epic with basically no talent, budget or capability to do such a thing. As far as Uwe Boll films go, it just feels lazy - it's not even as laughable as some of his other, more notorious efforts.
51. Silent Hill: Revelation (2012)
R | 95 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
When her adoptive father disappears, Sharon Da Silva is drawn into a strange and terrifying alternate reality that holds answers to the horrific nightmares that have plagued her since childhood.
Director: M.J. Bassett | Stars: Adelaide Clemens, Kit Harington, Sean Bean, Carrie-Anne Moss
Votes: 66,746 | Gross: $17.53M
Wow... after the original Silent Hill adaptation showed exactly how to make a video game movie with moderately successful results, this movie fails in pretty much every single department. Like, I don't want to be "that guy", but I'm pretty much certain that even I could make a better Silent Hill film than this, based on my very limited experience with the franchise. Seriously, this film is a total disaster - the writing, the acting, the special effects, the direction: everything. Worse, it doesn't even really seem to "get" what makes Silent Hill such an enduring and atmospheric concept, attempting really poor, generic horror instead. For all the faults of the original flim, at least it nailed the atmosphere and earned a TON of credit for that.
52. Alone in the Dark (2005)
R | 96 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
A detective of the paranormal slowly unravels mysterious events with deadly results.
Director: Uwe Boll | Stars: Christian Slater, Tara Reid, Stephen Dorff, Frank C. Turner
Votes: 47,016 | Gross: $5.18M
Alone in the Dark isn't anywhere near as funny as House of the Dead was, although there are a few moments which will bring out a good belly laugh (in particular, the amazing opening narration, which goes on for ages). These few moments of entertainment aside though, this is Uwe Boll at his absolute worst.
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