THE GOOD,
THE BAD,
Gaming has always had a notoriously awkward relationship with film, whether through less-than-stellar tie-in games for tentpole films or film adaptations that are panned by critics and fans alike. Change is in the air though, with two of the highest-grossing films of 2022 starring Sonic and Nathan Drake.
The establishing of PlayStation Productions shows Sony’s commitment to creating for the big screen. Most recently it co-produced Uncharted, but it also has a Ghost Of Tsushima adaptation in the works, plus a TV series of The Last Of Us. With adaptations of Minecraft and Metal Gear Solid also on the horizon, the future is promising. But for now, we’re taking a look at the most notable films of games – for better and worse.
AND THE UGLY
THE GOOD
An ever-improving understanding of how to turn videogames into cinematic entertainment has finally resulted in some true movie classics. Here are the best
WEREWOLVES WITHIN
YEAR 2021 / CERT 15 / RUNTIME 97 MINS / DIRECTOR JOSH RUBEN
Sometimes the best videogame adaptations come from the least likely sources. While you may not have heard of either the game or the movie until now, Werewolves Within is a (very) loose adaptation of Ubisoft’s PSVR party game of the same name that sees players trying to find a murderous imposter among the group.
The game’s medieval setting, with its witches and folklore, is tossed aside and replaced with a snow-swept American small town, filled with suspicion and tension as an outsider attempts to convince its residents to greenlight a new fossil fuel pipeline. While the concept of the original game is mostly brushed away, the core idea remains: a hidden werewolf is hungry for blood and on the loose.
“THE FILM EXUDES CONFIDENCE, STRIKING A BALANCE BETWEEN LAUGHS AND SHOCK AND GORE.”
MOON GLOW
What makes a good whodunnit? A great cast. Forced together in this dangerous situation is a group of unlikely allies, between whom disagreements would be brewing even if lives (and the environment) weren’t on the line. You have the older conservatives looking for new money from a gas pipe, a millionaire gay couple who moved for the scenery and don’t want it destroyed, a hotel owner whose husband left her… They would be at each other’s throats (*ahem*) with or without the threat of a werewolf.
It’s an audacious concept, but the film exudes confidence, striking a balance between laughs and the occasional moment of shock and gore thanks to sharp editing and dialogue that keeps the movie flowing once the action begins. While it’s far from perfect (a lot of time is spent on setting up when it would have been better spent on the mystery), the writer manages to adapt game mechanics into a great premise on which a B-movie sendup can flourish. As
