Bringing the world’s most recognizable video-game characters back to the big screen is an intimidating task, especially when the failure of their last cine-venture still looms large. But Illumination and Nintendo's big animated gamble The Super Mario Bros. Movie mostly sticks the landing. A fun, fast-paced take on the plumber siblings, it’s a far cry from 1993’s much-derided live-action Super Mario Bros.
Wisely sidestepping potential accent issues, Mario (Chris Pratt, aiming to prove sceptics wrong) and Luigi (Charlie Day) are ordinary Brooklyn plumbers down on their luck. When opportunity comes knocking in the form of a burst water main, they seize the chance to become heroes. Naturally, things don’t go quite to plan and they’re split up and spat out by a magical pipe into a mysterious kingdom.
