If you love video games, you’re not alone. Playing video games can be so satisfying. There’s just something special about playing our favorite games and getting lost in their familiar world-building. Most games will give you a challenge to overcome, and the rewarding sensation that comes when you achieve it is so unique. Not to mention, playing games is highly entertaining: sometimes it’s just what you need after a stressful, intense day.
In fact, chances are you’re playing a video game right now. If so, you might be browsing Battlelog to look for game enhancements, such as their Warzone hacks. But if you’re done playing games for the day and are looking for something else to do that will make you feel as rewarded and entertained, why not watch a film about video games instead?
We made a list of 5 great movies that all revolve around the subject of video games, and that will make for different experiences depending on what you’re looking for. Find them all below, in alphabetical order, and happy watching!
1. Free Guy (2022)
Shawn Levy
What if you were an actual character in a video game who one day decided to go rogue? Director Shawn Levy takes that premise and makes it even better in the 2022 movie Free Guy, where not only is our protagonist – the aptly named “Guy” (Ryan Reynolds, of Deadpool) – part of a game, but he’s a background player in it.
Said open-world video game, which combines elements from various popular real-life games (Grand Theft Auto, Fortnite, Ghost of Tsushima: you name it), basically consists of an ultra-violent fictional city where people can be as ruthless as they like. But Guy wants to be a hero, and one day, he decides to be just that. Realizing that he is somehow able to rewrite the code and take charge of his own actions, he sets off on an adventure.
Soon, he meets a real-life player (Jodie Comer) who gives him some bad news: not only is he not a real person, but his home is about to be destroyed, as a new version of the game is about to be released. Which gives Guy his new mission: saving the world.
Free Guy is a fantastic movie that shines with creativity and originality. It’s an effortless, hilarious watch, and if you like Ryan Reynolds and action-packed films, you’re going to adore it. All cast members shine in a subversive, thrilling ride that will have your eyes glued to the screen.
2. Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)
Phil Johnston & Rich Moore
The first video game adaptation on this list is Ralph Breaks the Internet, sequel to 2012’s Wreck-it-Ralph. Which video game, you ask? Well, most of them. The movie, from director Rich Moore, imagines a universe in which arcade video game characters have lives of their own. Think Bowser from the Super Mario franchise, the Ghost Gang from Pac-Man, Doctor Eggman from Sonic the Hedgehog, and various characters from Mortal Kombat, Sugar Rush, Street Fighter, and many more games.
Both movies revolve around villain Wreck-It Ralph (John C. Reilly), from the platform game “Fix-It Felix, Jr.”. In the first film, Ralph’s adventure is a quest to earn his fellow characters’ respect; the sequel brings an even more exciting scenario that sees him traveling to the actual World Wide Web joined by the sharp-tongued but well-meaning Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman). It’s a clever premise that’s directly connected to the film’s year of release, in what is ultimately an analysis of our current world – but an incredibly endearing and entertaining one.
3. Ready Player One (2018)
Steven Spielberg
This highly successful adaptation of Ernest Cline’s 2011 novel comes from director Steven Spielberg. It takes place in the year 2045, where most people have virtual lives into a VR universe called OASIS, which was created to provide human beings with a better environment than the dire place the Earth has become. One day, the creator of OASIS dies, and a competition begins to find a digital Easter egg that will give whoever finds it a treasure he hid somewhere in it.
A lot of players enter the game, including Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan), whom we follow on a magical yet also dangerous adventure that might just take him to victory. Ready Player One is just the kind of film you’d expect from Steven Spielberg: it’s action-packed, entertaining, funny, and it has a lot of heart. On top of this, it’s faithful to the source material and it also features a fantastic cast that includes Ben Mendelsohn, Olivia Cooke, Simon Pegg, and more names you’ll recognize. If you’ve never seen it, you’re in for a ride!
4. Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (2010)
Edgar Wright
This 2010 masterpiece from director Edgar Wright is now just about video games: it is a video game. Our titular hero is a 23 years-old bass guitarist in a garage-rock band. He’s used to fleeting romances where he’s usually the one who has to get rid of them when he’s ready to move on to someone else. But for the first time in his life, Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is dealing with someone new. He has fallen in love with Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), but in order to get her, he has to defeat all her ex-boyfriends one by one.
What follows is an absolute delight of a movie that looks and feels like an actual video game, with an irresistible soundtrack and gorgeous world-building to make everything even more hypnotic and entertaining. Adapted from the “Scott Pilgrim” graphic novel series by Bryan Lee O’Malley, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is funny, chaotic, and self-aware in all the best ways.
5. Tetris (2023)
Jon S. Baird
When it comes to video games, it doesn’t get much simpler than Tetris. But if the popular video game simply consists of sorting shapes into piles, the origin story behind it is thoroughly enthralling. Based on the true story of American video game salesman Henk Rogers (Taron Egerton), Apple TV+’s Tetris takes us back to 1988, when the game was discovered and brought to players all over the world.
We’ll leave it at that to avoid spoilers, but this unbelievable – yet entirely true – story will take you into a dangerous world of spies, corruption, and betrayal, where our hero will risk everything to travel to the Soviet Union and bring the game back to the States. Forget heartwarming biopics: this Cold War-era set movie is a gripping thriller that will have your eyes glued to the screen, with fantastic performances from Taron Egerton and the rest of the cast.
The movies listed above are all connected to video games in one way or another. From video game adaptations to origin stories and movies that feel like video games in themselves, these 5 films will all make for fantastic watches! Enjoy!
