5 Blockbuster Hollywood Films Heavily Inspired By Video Game Franchises

In the past, we have seen games that were inspired by movies or comics, but rarely do we find them the other way round or we come across them but do not know the history of their emergence. Games which revolve around the top grossing movies from famous franchises like the Avengers with the separate storyline of the various Avengers like Spider-man and Hulk which were very dominant on PC. Now we will know and confirm which movies revolve around any famous game franchise or parts.

1. Max Payne (2008)

This is an action-crime movie which pre-dominantly seems to revolve around New York with sinister mobs and a secret organization and amidst all of the haze is a detective who ravages into the haze to find out the killers of his beloved wife and baby. Max Payne is on a rampage killing and all alone surrounded by the villain’s minions who are ordered to eliminate him. In the process, many get killed and it gets to the notice of the NYPD thus branding Payne as a criminal. The game has three parts with the first part which was released in 2001 and the last (third) released in 2012.

In the movie, the protagonist Payne had been starred by Hollywood actor Mark Wahlberg. It has most of the elements and similarities in a storyline with the game’s part 1. From the introduction of the Valkyr drug that was consumed by the killers of his family to the union with an assassin who seeks revenge for her deceased twin sister against the mafia member who married and thereafter tortured and killed her sister. In the game, part 1, you control Max in an investigation through the mobs and eventually he connects the dots and seeks revenge. In part 2, the story drifts away from his family for whom justice was served through revenge, to going back as a policeman-detective who comes across dead bodies in a warehouse stashed with ammunition and witnessing a woman’s death. Over time, Mona Sax, (the assassin who works alongside Max, who was shot in the head in part 1 and witnessed by Max who thereafter finds Mona alive in part 2 and he is confused) becomes heavily involved in part 2 and thereafter has the privilege to control her in Third Person Perspective which eventually leads to the enemy Vladimir Putin who was sitting right under their nose.

2. Sonic the Hedgehog

The superhero Sonic is a blue hedgehog who has to be controlled to reach a goal which is the end-point of the stages. The player has to cross a certain checkpoint, interact with objects by either passing them, collecting them (coins), touching or destroying them and along the path are some enemies who guard the way paved towards the endpoint. Sonic is a fast-moving hedgehog who sprints and curls and rolls like a cannonball in higher velocities generating some kinetic energy-like sounds, which gives him advantages and maybe certain disadvantages while tackling the obstacles. The games mostly were in 2d forms and you mostly collect coins that lead to the end point of the run. The game’s first appearance was in 1991.

Fast forward to 2020, the movie has a vigilante villain named Dr Robotnik starring Hollywood actor and comedian Jim Carry, who is a roboticist going on a hunting mission to capture Sonic since he poses as an alien to earth though he is harmless. In the movie, Sonic, the hunting drones and other objects are animated while the rest isn’t animated. Such CGI (computer-generated imagery)/live-action hybrid films are becoming a thing and slowly gaining popularity without having to animate the entire movie.

3. Angry Birds

Rovio Entertainment’s Angry Birds series were depicting a bunch of wingless birds who were differently abled with their super abilities and needed to be lobbed with the help of a slingshot at the green-looking bad piggies who constantly steal their eggs. The bad piggies (often considered the goblins of the game) are resting in structures which then would have to be destroyed by the birds themselves. Players are given different birds and the goal is to strategically lob these birds to destroy the structures accordingly the amount of destruction rewards you with a score that will further determine how many stars out of three you get rewarded for every level. The game had various themed series such as Angry Birds: Star Wars, Angry Birds: Space, Angry Birds Seasons and more all on mobile and some on PC.

The movie has a similar plot or goal of the birds trying to protect Bird Island from the piggies who disguise as peaceful piggies hiding their devious plan of invading the Island with more piggies,  and thereafter the birds counter attacking them.

4. The Resident Evil franchise:

The infamous Umbrella corporation which deals in pharmaceuticals and biological stuff continuously releases all parts, of their experiments of mutagen viruses and parasites that extremely endanger humans on earth. Scientists get killed in the process while some masterminds allow things to go the way. In some instances, people become living zombies, while mutated monsters are lurking in the shadows of Racoon City. You are to control the main protagonist group of agents on a rescue or investigatory mission passing by residents in the villages and cities by the virus and shut down the main cause of the whole problem piece by piece in the laboratories that are connected to Umbrella corporation.

The game was based on a Japanese horror game Biohazard developed by Capcom and further on is better known as Resident Evil. The agents have to survive and fight off the zombies and eerie creatures that pose as dangerous barriers to their mission.

5. Need For Speed franchise:

The Need for Speed games were car racing games with cars packed with sophisticated racer engines and cylinders of nitrous to boost the speed while racing. Often players control the underdog protagonist who soon becomes famous through skilled driving and is rewarded handsomely with cash or a pink slip to own the opponent’s car. The franchise has different series with the most famous ones being Need for Speed: Most Wanted, Need or Speed: Underground, NFS: Nitro and many more.

The movie also has the same concept of an underdog mechanic’s story who has to earn through racing, who at some point time got arrested. The Most Wanted part best suits the movie that contains similar elements of being chased by the police force and increasing the wanted level and getting a bounty on your head.

Written by: Kirsten Kenneth