Now hold up! I thought this is about the reasons why I should love the 90s video game films?
Patience, I’m getting there.
There were a total of six video game film adaptations released theatrically throughout May of 1993 to March of 1999: Super Mario Bros, Double Dragon, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, and Wing Commander. Not only were all six films panned by critics, but three of the six ended up being box office bombs. Fan reactions to the films were polarizing, to say the least. Mortal Kombat received praise for keeping close to its series storyline and action yet received flak for watering down the iconic gory fatalities. On the other hand, Super Mario Bros. was near-universally bashed for forgoing its series roots for an entirely different, bizarre experience that bears little resemblance to its source material.
Some shared faults between the films’s creations were uncertainty and half-assed efforts. Directors were unsure of what they were making and/or who their target audience was, and actors were even more confused about what they had gotten themselves into. Half the films were cheap cash-ins on the rising video game craze, while the other half were lazy attempts at fanservice. Even getting the series creator of Wing Commander to direct its film adaptation ended up being a horrible decision—resulting in a generic mess of space clichés, fresh to video games yet old and worn to the cinema.
Wing Commander, however, is the black sheep of the 90s video game adaptations. The film is everything the other 90s video game adaptations aren’t—a generic, bland trope-fest that’s competently made. Yeah, Wing Commander is actually a decently-structured story, and here, that’s a bad thing. For what the other five 90s adaptations share in common are how bizarrely their stories are put together, and how fascinating the results end up. Yet that’s not all these five features share in common. They’re comical—whether intentional or not—they each have an actor who gave way more than needed, their villains are memorable, and they are all endearingly cheesy. No, not all of them are well-made films (some I give a thumbs down to), but flaws withstanding, there are reasons to appreciate and yes, love these five misshapen, misguided attempts at adapting video games into films.
1. They Are Mesmerizingly Bizarre Works to View:
The initial five 90s video game films are a spectacle in how bizarrely they are structured. They are similar in a way to Frankenstein’s monster (the 1931 film version). Both are misguided attempts at taking one thing and turning it into another. Frankenstein attempted to make the dead alive again, and the film directors/writers attempted to turn video game premises into theatrical stories. Both parties's attempts were far from masterful—Frankenstein ends up using the brain of an abnormal criminal and the filmmakers just weren't that skilled—with the end result being deformed imitations that many wished to burn in flames. And yet, if one can look past the initial horror, they are fascinating specimens to examine—both the creature and the features—in how they partially resemble both their source material and attempted models, yet are still so notably off in both regards.
A notable issue with most 80s-90s video game plots is that they weren't well matched with standard cinematic storytelling. How does one go about adapting a story where a plumber—who uses mushrooms and flowers to grow bigger and shoot fireballs—goes on a journey to rescue a princess from a giant turtle-dragon who has used magic to turn the kingdom's inhabitants into inanimate objects (such as bricks that the plumber can destroy on his journey)? How about a tale where an evil sorcerer from another dimension takes over a martial arts tournament—with the help of a giant, four-armed monster—that will determine the fate of the Earth? Keep in mind, these video games weren’t as well-recognized in the 90s as they are today, particularly by the generations older than twenty. Does an adapting team stick faithfully to the original source material, thereby risking alienation of older audiences, or adapt the series to have a more straightforward, yet less faithful approach, risking the alienation of its targeted game fans?
Mortal Kombat and its sequel Annihilation went with the former—placing fanservice over simpler storytelling—and as a result, ends up a confusing, madcap series of events loosely strung together by some ridiculous premise. Street Fighter went for the latter approach—simpler storytelling over faithful adaptation—while adding a prominently campy tone, upsetting a lot of Street Fighter fans. The filmmakers and studio of Super Mario Bros. couldn’t make up their minds over what approach to take, and the end result is a glorious tone deaf, nonsensical absurdity. Each approach fails in some manner, yet such failures end up making the films more entertaining to view. It’s the exact opposite with Wing Commander—the most competently made of the 90s video game films with the most straightforward story and stable tone. Yet when combined with its generic story, Wing Commander ends up being the driest viewing out of the six films.
Let's pretend that six people—each one named after one of the six video game adaptations—were told to individually recreate a gingerbread house into a life-sized replica. The person named Wing Commander decides to use practical materials to build a life-sized house that looks just like a plain gingerbread house right down to its brown coloring, but that’s as far as they go. Mortal Kombat decides to literally build a life-sized gingerbread house made of gingerbread. Street Fighter goes for the same approach as Wing Commander but adds a whole bunch of zany bright colors and designs to the house. Super Mario Bros. can’t decide what to do and ends up making a house that’s half gingerbread, half real materials and half brown, half zany bright colors. Wing Commander’s house ends up being the most structurally sound of the six, yet the dull colored, plain-old house design—something that’s been seen and done many times before—ends up being the most unimaginative and forgettable of the group. Meanwhile, while the other houses are far less stable and impractical, they end up being much more mesmerizing, memorable spectacles to view.
2. That One Actor Who Gave Way More Than Needed:
Mortal Kombat’s lunacy would have been less enjoyable had Christopher Lambert not given his unique acting style to Raiden, as well as if Goro hadn’t been given the rich, booming voice of Kevin Michael Richardson. And what about Mortal Kombat: Annihilation? Well, perhaps the film is a bit lacking…ok, completely lacking in noteworthy performances—however, the sheer fact that Robin Shou and Talisa Soto, both decent actors, reprised their roles for the sequel when none of the previous main cast members did is worthy of the praise “actors who gave way more than needed.” There’s something so pleasant and endearing to see these actors overperform in, essentially, cheesy 90s films aimed for kids. The films had little hope of being taken seriously by adults and critics alike, and no one would have blamed the actors for phoning it in—yet several, nonetheless, give good to astonishingly impressive performances and it is a delightful sight to behold. Of course, I’ve purposely saved the best performance for last, one that ties into the next reason to love the 90s video game film adaptations.
3. Memorable Villains:
From the confused, yet charming hamminess of Dennis Hopper’s King Koopa, to Robert Patrick’s snarky comedic acting as Shuko, to the various minions with their occasional wit and/or laughable stupidity. Even the bad performances such as Shal Khan’s horrendous failure at being over-the-top in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation ends up memorable on a so-bad-its-good level. The antagonists are never written to be taken seriously and, whether intentional or not, their antics are entertaining to watch. This is quite possibly the biggest difference between the five films and Wing Commander, as the latter film has no personal antagonist—just a group of generic, one-dimensional space creatures with no personality aside from being aggressive and malicious.
4. The Comedy:
It is practically a given for me watching bizarrely made films with overly campy villains that, in one way or another, I’m going to laugh. Some more often than others and others more intentional than some, but it happens in all five features. Comedy is very subjective, but I find it hard to believe anyone could sit through any of these five films completely stone-faced. Super Mario Bros’ humor stems primarily from Bob Hoskins’ sharp comedic wit and Dennis Hopper’s over-the-top hamminess. The film’s absurd story also leads to some bafflingly funny jokes, running gags (such as King Koopa trying to order a pizza), and understandable confusion from Hoskins and Hopper themselves. Double Dragon gets some funny lines in thanks to Robert Patrick in a finale that seemingly received all the intentionally good comedic material. Unintentionally, Double Dragon is sprinkled with ridiculously silly scenes of large, unrealistic, impractical “future” technology and humorously dated 90s references.
From Street Fighter comes a plethora of wit and delightful humor from M. Bison and his minions. The film is additionally decent with timed jokes and cheesy charm. Even when a joke doesn’t exactly hit its mark, it still manages to get a smirk out of me. Mortal Kombat and its sequel are prime examples of how to make me laugh out of sheer bafflement—from their shockingly shoddy storytelling to incredibly bad performances. The former film, however, does get in a couple of genuinely effective jokes complements of Christopher Lambert’s Raiden and Linden Ashby’s Johnny Cage. Comparably, humor is one of Wing Commander’s most lacking elements. The film’s writing is too insipid to get any intentional laughs out, yet just made competently made to foil any unintentional amusement. Likewise, Wing Commander’s actors are either too annoying or barely tolerable enough to create any effective humor—resulting in the film being one big, boring mess.
5. They Are Endearingly Cheesy:
While I give thumbs up to some and thumbs down to others, I don’t hate watching any of the initial five video game film adaptations. There’s nothing here in the five that pisses me off or makes me want to shut the films down. Going back to the Frankenstein comparison, the adaptations’s makers were pioneers—the first to create something that had never been done before. And similar to Frankenstein’s monster, the end result for the adaptations were a strange, mismatched combination disliked by the general populous—to the point where, even today, a few are regarded as some of the worst films ever made.
The key difference between Frankenstein’s monster and these films (besides the obvious differences in subject and backstory) is while Frankenstein was completely resolute in reanimating a human, the films’s creators never took what they were making too seriously. At their cores, Super Mario Bros, Double Dragon, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, and Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, are really, really cheesy films, and they were purposely made as such with the intention of providing wacky popcorn entertainment. Double Dragon is the weakest of the five since it does get bland and tedious at times—yet between the laughably dated 90s references, ridiculous magical aspects, over-the-top antics, intentional humor, unintentional humor, and the occasional fun moment, the film still provides a fairly memorable experience. At the top is Street Fighter, rivaling the 1960s Batman TV Series in its delightfully campy fun and entertainment. In the middle are Super Mario Bros. with its madcap, acid trip adventure and the Mortal Kombat films with their enjoyable fast-food action and overall ludicrousness.
Wing Commander fails among the six because it takes itself too seriously in a plot that’s bland, generic, and recycled from past stories. Yet the film is crafted just competently enough that it ends up being an entirely forgettable experience that leaves nothing noteworthy as the end credits roll. The other five adaptations, however, leave the audience with a memorably bizarre experience containing unexpectedly impressive performances, entertaining villains, comedic material, and an endearing cheesy feel. The films have flaws, some quite damaging, but I can still enjoy and appreciate each one of them on some level. Since the 1990s, video game film adaptations have continued to change with various attempts to various results—some crashing in failure and others doing reasonably well. Their advancement and fates, whether positive or not, will always owe it to the initial batch of misfit video game adaptations—pioneers that traversed new territory to pave some very messy, harebrained, yet ultimately fascinating paths for the future of games on the big screen.
You know what? That's a fair list.
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