Ever heard of the ‘video game movie curse’? If not, let me explain a little.

This ‘video game movie curse’ is an unofficial term that people use to describe what happens when producers try to make a great video game into a movie, ending in some very bad motion pictures.

The idea is that the hardcore gaming fanatics will automatically like the movie because it is based on their favourite game. Well, that is definitely not the case. Past video game adaptations such as Resident Evil, Doom, and even Super Mario Bros have shown that the terrible plots and cringe-worthy correlation between the movie and video game have helped add more casualties to the dreaded ‘curse’.

The latest instalment is Detective Pikachu based on Pokemon. Detective Pikachu ended up grossing $431.6 million worldwide, which sounds like a lot right? Well, not really. When you take into account the other films of the year like The Avengers End Game ($2.76 billion) and long awaited The Lion King ($1.63 billion), Detective Pikachu fell short.

Detective Pikachu actually broke some records within the film industry. How, you ask? Well, because of the illusive ‘curse’, all other video game adaptations have grossed so low, meaning Detective Pikachu ended up becoming one the biggest grossing video game movies ever in North America. Congratulations, I guess? It’s hard to appreciate a record-breaking movie when the only reason it has the title is because all the other attempts were so bad.

Having a renowned actor like Ryan Reynolds, who was sure to deliver quick fire wit and comical anecdotes, audiences were excited for what was to come. Unfortunately, this also missed the mark. Due to the fact that the movie was rated PG, Ryan wasn’t able to make the normal funny and crude remarks that he is renowned for in Deadpool.

So was there anything good about the movie? A little. There was a plot twist thrown in which helped get back some of the intrigue within the story line, and the other actors weren’t too cringeworthy in their line delivery.

The visual effects of the movie were also well delivered. Considering the budget for the movie was only $150 million, Warner Brothers still made sure that the Pokemon actually looked like Pokemon in the 21st century.