This article originally appeared on ABACUS Is the curse of the bad video game movie over? The Detective Pikachu film is... quite decent! Yeah, it's a kid's film, so don't expect a super-deep plot here. But it somehow manages to take Pokémon -- fantastical cartoon creatures -- and put them naturally into the real world. Whatever you think of the plot or the characters, that in itself is one hell of an achievement. But maybe the bigger achievement is making a video game film that isn't abjectly terrible. We ran down some of our "favorites" here, from Hitman to the original Tomb Raider, and looked at the ones that retain some element of fun to them -- like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. Of course, the Sonic movie could bring us back to the dark days, so maybe it's too soon to say. What are your favorite films based on video games? Let us know: You can reach out to me on Twitter here , or Victoria here . Check out Detective Pikachu 3DS game on Amazon And good news: Our podcasts are (almost) everywhere! Click the below links to listen to us on various platforms, or watch us on YouTube below! iTunes Spotify Soundcloud Stitcher For more insights into China tech, sign up for our tech newsletters , subscribe to our Inside China Tech podcast , and download the comprehensive 2019 China Internet Report . Also roam China Tech City , an award-winning interactive digital map at our sister site Abacus .
