Token Female Gamer

While Uwe Boll has garnered game to movie adaptations a horrible reputation, there are in fact a few movies about games that have managed to not offend, even entertain.

And though Mr. Boll can be attributed with the most recent epidemic of terrible remakes, the trend was set long before. Super Mario Bros anyone? In a way he is really just carrying on a long-standing tradition.

Actually there are more game related movies then I realized. This is a decent list.  I’m not sure how complete it is, what I can say is that most of the game movies that I have seen are on it.

Some of these movies found their way into my favorite pile and that’s what this is really all about.

I should mention that I chose these movies not for their award worthiness or for their ability to bring about world peace. They managed to sneak into my top five because I enjoyed watching them.  And lets not forget that the genre is sparse on quality, thus expectation is brought down a lot (a LOT).

Here they are, in no particular order.

Mortal Kombat

Mortal Kombat was my very first fighting game love. Its bloody realism mixed with high-powered ninja fantasy was extremely appealing. The huge Mortal Kombat arcade machine at our local pizza place certainly helped cement my affection.

What I love about the movie is that there is no pretending. It owns up to its fighting game roots and doesn’t bog down with hours of unnecessarily dense character and plot development, nor does it attempt to explain away all the characters special abilities so as to fit into reality.

Out of all the movies, I feel that this one represents the game it was based on the best.

Laura Croft: Tomb Raider

It can’t be denied that this movie is quite silly. The high profile cast certainly seemed quite aware of it. When actors take a goofy roll and have a fabulous time, clearly enjoying the experience, it’s incredibly entertaining to watch.

That certainly is the case for Tomb Raider. Oh the plot makes no sense and the script is cheesy, but despite its shortcomings the movie is very enjoyable.

And while the movie certainly has Laura Croft’s look down (with quite a few costume changes) and managed to shoot in many of the same locals, there just doesn’t seem to be much of a connection to the games. It seems to lack the essence of what makes Laura Croft an interesting game heroin (and no I don’t mean boobs!).

Regardless, this movie still holds a solid spot in my top five.

Grandmas Boy

This movie made me pee my pants I laughed so much. Its not based on a specific game but on the entire industry.

If you have had any chance to witness some aspect of this strange collection of people that the game industry contains, there is a good chance you will see familiar faces show up in this movie. Some hilarious caricatures that show up: the CEO that knows nothing about games, the underappreciated QA people, the programmer that needs no help ever, and the token female producer.

The whole plot is ludicrous, but forget that. Enjoy the jokes, enjoy the ribbing it gives the industry and most of all enjoy the extreme silliness.

Dungeons and Dragons

Nostalgia, that’s what this movie evokes. A bunch of teenagers crouched around a coffee table creating ridiculous characters and saving fair princesses. Good times! =D

There really isn’t much more to say about the movie, it’s about as bad as expected, but that never stopped me from enjoying it. So terrible its great!

Don’t expect much from this movie and you might just find yourself grinning and having a good time.

Uber Goober

Unlike the other movies, this one is a documentary. The three groups that are the subject matter, Miniature War Games, Dungeons and Dragons, and LARPing, are depicted in their native environment.

While not all gaming hobbies are represented (that would be a feat indeed), I think the idea is to give a glimpse into this world that most people find alien and strange. The people representing come off as a little strange, but also very sincere, smart and welcoming.

Watching this movie gives me this incredibly strong sense that I know these people. They could be my friends, the person sitting next to me at the latest convention, one of my gaming buddies, or even the random person in my latest pick up group in WoW.

Then again this movie is preaching to the choir. It is a movie about my people after all.

Honorable mentions go to WarGames. It is an excellent movie, but it didn’t make the list because I can’t bring myself to call it a real game movie, since the game its about is tic tac toe.

<3 TFG

Tags: action, adoration, adventure, arcade, d&d, industry, loot, mario, roleplaying, scifi, silly

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 10th, 2009 at 10:26 pm and is filed under Reviews, TV & Movies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.