Come Friday March 27th, Legendary, the studio that brought you 300, Godzilla, Pacific Rim, and soon Jurassic World is bringing Dead Rising: Watchtower exclusively to Crackle. As you might guess from the name, the movie is loosely based on the popular Dead Rising franchise and even includes Frank West, played expertly by Rob Riggle. What’s different about this game-to-movie adaption is that not only does it not cost you a thing to watch (remember, Crackle is free on about as many devices as there are different weapon combinations that can be made in Dead Rising), but it’s also one that’s fun.

While not breaking down to slapstick humor, what makes Dead Rising: Watchtower refreshing is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously and it realizes the franchise it’s portraying. Sadly, most game adaptions either end up being high-production spectacles that miss the mark of the franchise to a humorous level or such low budget affairs that desperately want to be the next big Hollywood blockbuster that only turn out humorous and not in a good way. Dead Rising: Watchtower balances that in an artful manner by doing the most they can with a modest budget without getting ahead of itself or forgetting to have fun with enough winks and nods to the game to likely appease the most hardcore of fans.

Did we mention it’s free on Crackle this Friday? Details after the jump.

For the unaware, Crackle is the free video streaming service from Sony. It’s available on nearly every device you can imagine, which include:

• PS2, PS3, PS4
• Xbox 360, Xbox One
• Apple TV
• Roku
• Sony Televisions
• Samsung Televisions
• iPad/iPhone
• Android
• And more. No seriously, chances are if you own an internet connected device, that Crackle is available on it.

And when I say it’s free, I really do mean it. Going the opposite direction of the pack, Crackle includes no monthly fees, and you couldn’t pay for it if you wanted. Instead what you get are ads throughout its content with cannot be fast forwarded. Think television (!) but without the ability to skip commercials (though you can pause and rewind no problem). Even better, thanks to its parent company (Sony Pictures), Crackle has a ton of movies like Ghostbusters, Amazing Spider-Man, and a long list of television shows alongside a growing list of original content like Dead Rising: Watchtower.

Having already seen it, I hope that come this Friday, you grab a friend or two, a couple of drinks, some pizza, and settle in to watch Dead Rising: Watchtower on Crackle. Heck, lets live-tweet it together and have some fun! (More on this soon).

Discuss:

Are you planning on watching Dead Rising: Watchtower?