First Take: The Super Mario Bros Movie - press start to enter world 1-1

SYNOPSIS: A plumber named Mario travels through an underground labyrinth with his brother, Luigi, trying to save a captured princess.

It’s the film that Nintendo have been trying to make for nearly 30 years - after the critically mauled Bob Hoskins effort in 1993, many failed attempts, and a bidding war so intense it makes the long wait to get N64 GoldenEye on current consoles look pale in comparison, Shigeru Miyamoto turned to a studio who also know how to unleash small, funny voiced characters into the world: Illumination. This Japanese/French/American alliance has resulted in a new animated film, and it is a relief to say that they got it right this time.

Aaron Jorvath and Michael Jelenic - two directors who have form with adapting major IP to animation (following their work on Warner’s Teen Titans Go To the Movies) are in charge of this film, and even with the sheer amount of control Nintendo have on the look, feel and plot of this 1 hour 32 minute release, they do a brilliant job making it as close to the games as they can get it. Matt Fogel’s script is a key part of this, as it takes a lot of main pieces from across the various releases and does some, well, rather interesting things with backstories alongside some genius easter eggs too. As you would expect, Illumination’s studios in Paris did an almighty job animating the film, and Brian Tyler absolutely kills it on the score, taking Koji Kondo’s music from the games (as well as a few themes from the *uncredited* Grant Kirkhope - to say what those themes are would spoil a key moment) and translating them to a cinema environment pretty damn well.

The voice cast are able to do a great job too, and while the initial reveal of Chris Pratt as Mario didn’t go down well initially, for the story this film tells, it is a relief that he didn’t do the Italian accent for the full movie (setting up a lovely little Charles Martinet cameo in the process), and with the rest of this cast - which includes Charlie Day, Anya Taylor-Joy, Keegan-Michael Key, Fred Armisen, Seth Rogen and the one piece of casting which felt so right: Jack Black as Bowser. If anything, what Illumination have done is take nearly 40 years of games and Nintendo lore, distil them into a simple but fun plot, and make it work for a family market. There will inevitably be a sequel - but whether it’ll become a lost level or a new world when cinema audiences are involved… only time will tell. 

THE VERDICT

For fans of the games this is arguably the strongest depiction of the Mario IP away from the Nintendo consoles - in less than 10 days it has overtaken Sonic 2 to become the highest grossing video game film ever. Audiences are lapping this film up, even though a lot of the critics bestowed a 57% Rotten Tomatoes score- it is a fun film with plenty in it for audiences young and old.

RATING: 4/5