Why are movies based on video games so damn amazing? Why on Earth do gems like "Alone in the Dark" and "Street Fighter" never receive any critical praise or Academy Awards? Why are we asleep at the wheel while driving by the masterpieces of modern day cinema?

We should face the facts that generally video game movies are worse than the results of bad Chinese food and that my first paragraph was also a load of crap. However, I don't want to just make generalizations. We all have our opinions on why 'abc' movie is bad, or why we think 'xyz' genre of movies suck. I needed some hard data to see if this is just a misconception or if these movies are inferior to your average flick. And if this is the case, what is the cause and solution?

I wanted to do some research into the phenomena and find out exactly why bad video game movies suck. I found this list on Wikipedia, (most comprehensive list I could find), and got to work using our good friend IMDB.

Now I realize IMDB is not the most perfect bastion for a mathematical ratings analysis. Ratings do fluctuate over time, but for the most part, eventually after a movie's release they tend to stay close to a certain average. Also not every single theatrical film has ratings. That being said it is the best solution we have at this point to make any kind of comparison.

I took the above movies from Wiki with a few exceptions. Movies not released into the USA were not counted. Nor were limited releases, or direct to video in the USA. I wanted full on theatrical releases here in the states for a better comparison.

Average rating theatrical wide: 6.7   (See footnotes at bottom)
Average rating per genre: 6.6 (Oddly all genre averages are 6.6)
Video Game movies: 4.4

That is over a 2 point rating decrease for video game movies vs. other genres and movies as a whole. Even if we take out the infamous "Uwe Boll Effect" (the four crappy video game films which he done, three of which are the bottom three in the genre) we only see a 4.7 average rating. Those of you curious, if I include the Japanese and limited US releases the average is only 4.8.

Can someone tell me why this guy has a Star Destroyer on his head?

The top rated movie was "Silent Hill" surprisingly. Silent Hill is a good watch, but didn't really blow me away.  The crappiest video game movie of all time belongs solely to "House of the Dead". If you haven't seen House, and you are a movie fan, I suggest you do just for the sake of great laughs. 

Granted video game movies fit in to other genres. There are horror game movies, action, etc, but looked at as a subset of films on their own we can clearly see a correlation between video game movies and ****. Such a vast difference between your average rated movie and our beloved video game titles makes this conclusion for us; as a whole these movies are subpar.

So where have video game movies gone wrong? Uwe Boll is a start. But in all seriousness, these game companies need to protect their franchises instead of licensing the movie rights out to the highest crappy bidder. I am sure not all of these movies would have been made were the companies holding out someone with artistic vision and the ability to make a quality film. I can promise Steven Spielberg wasn't sitting by his phone waiting for Sega to come down on licensing costs so he could direct his own epic "House of the Dead". Instead these gaming companies take the quick route to make money and get some paid-for-advertising for their games via the movies.

Water World + Super Mario = no Best Actor

There are dozens of video game related movies in the works. Some of these franchises are iconic, and a far cry, no pun intended, from average game series like BloodRayne, Resident Evil, and Double Dragon. Movies based on Metal Gear, Bioshock, Halo, and God of War are all in some form of pre-production. We can't have these legendary games having movie counterparts the equivalent of "Super Mario Bros." (Dennis Hopper wtf were you thinking, King Koopa? That was no "Apocalypse Now")

What about all the movies based on comic books? I haven't done the numbers, but I can promise you as a
genre they are much more popular and critically praised. Why? This is because
most of them are produced and developed to stand on their own as an art form. And because companies like Marvel and DC have pursued great directors like Bryan Singer, Christopher Nolan and Sam Raimi. A good director can make even average content stellar. A bad director is going to that much of a harder time compensating. Marvel wasn't going to give "Spider Man" over to just anyone, they wanted their franchise to shine as a movie. Apparently Ubisoft doesn't give a damn about "Far Cry" as they are letting Uwe Boll direct it (idiots).

At some point we have to hope that these directors, studios, and game companies will sit down and realize there is potential here for some fantastic cinema art. Instead of the current thought process of selfish promotion, and capitalizing on a games popularity for some quick cash. This is why other genres are more widely praised; they aren't a means to an end.

If Snake can't be the focus of a good movie, via a game that basically was a movie, we have lost all hope.

Look, I don't expect the Metal Gear movie to be the next epic like Raiders of the Lost Ark. But is it too much to ask that maybe we get something along the lines of The Bourne Identity; a solid flick with good reviews that people actually want to pay to see. I'm not asking for the world here, this is surely feasible. Start treating these properties with the reverence that gamers hold for these franchises. Respect the source material and don't just exploit it. Treat these flicks like an investment into the stories, characters and worlds people have grown up playing with and maybe video game movies will cease to be the laughing stock of the industry like they are now.

I'd like to hear your thoughts. Why do you think there is a lack of quality video game movies?