3. Detective Pikachu (2019)
There are a number of Pokémon movies, but they’re based more on the anime than they are on the games themselves. Detective Pikachu is, strangely, only loosely based on the spin-off video game of the same name rather than on the central franchise. This approach really worked, because Detective Pikachu is ranked highly among the best video game movies.
Set in the Pokémon universe, Detective Pikachu follows former Pokémon trainer Tim and the titular yellow creature as they attempt to solve the disappearance of Tim’s father. With a fantasy-mystery premise behind its story, Detective Pikachu manages to move beyond its Pokémon source material to concentrate on its own narrative. Combined with the fact that Ryan Reynolds voices Pikachu, this really helped the film’s success.
Of course, a talented young cast and capable director certainly didn’t hurt. However, Detective Pikachu‘s success really does come down to sound understanding of what audiences really wanted. Instead of making the entire movie about Pokémon training (there’s lot of those already), it told a new and engaging story within the same world, thus delivering one of the best video game adaptations of all time.