The Super Mario Bros. Movie 🍄

So the company that created this(ACTUAL!) Cinematic Masterpiece is Illumination Entertainment. Yeah! That Illumination! The same company behind the painfully average Minions (2015) and the disastrous Hop (2011). But since Minions Rise Of Gru from last year Illumination is on a bit of a roll, and the Mario movie just backs that evidence. 

After the opening logos the movie opens to find ourselves in the Mushroom Kingdom, more specifically the Cool Cool Mountain area where An army of Koopas are trying to get the super star from another army consisting of penguins. The Koopas army is led by Bowser, voiced by Jack Black. (also known as Po from the Kung Fu Panda franchise). And after a battle and the famous do you yield scene the Koopas are victorious and Bowser claims the superstar. 

We then cut to a TV advert and a nod to the Super Mario Bros Super Show from the late 80s and early 90s. Here we are introduced to Mario and Luigi voiced by Chris Pratt and Charlie Day now when this movie was announced. I wasn’t sure if Pratt would fit Marios character as was everyone else in the world. But surprise surprise!

He actually does a great job. And unlike other movies, the Mario movie pays close attention to its source material and everything related to characters like Jumpman and Spike (from Wrecking Crew) are in the movie. 

Even the Italian accents make a cameo in the TV ad. After an intimidating chat with Spike, Mario and Luigi get a call from a rich woman, saying there’s a drip in her faucet, so they head on over. Since the van won’t start, they instead go by foot, doing Mario video game inspired Parkour.

My only gripe is No Sleep Till Brooklyn playing in the background. It’s not bad - just kinda out of nowhere -  but I guess it works in the movie's favour as it fits really nicely with this scene. 

When they arrive they get to work on the toilet or at least they would if it wasn’t for a bad tempered dog named Francis who then proceeds to give them a bad time much to their relief they come out on top but make a bit of a mess of their job.(Geez, all that over a bone?)  

Later they join their family for a meal together at home, this is where we learn that they are Italian Americans. (and the fact Mario doesn’t like mushrooms) He asks his Dad if he's proud of him. His Dad replied saying that he can't pursue some crazy dream rather than have a well paid job. Disappointed he heads over to his room where he can be seen playing Kid Icarus (another Nintendo reference) he then turns on the news to find out there’s a huge flood in Brooklyn. 

And after a brief cameo from Mayor Pauline he grabs his brother and heads off to the site of the flood. They go in through the sewer system via a manhole and after a failed attempt at fixing the pressure pipe, they crash into a wall and find themselves in an eerie part of the sewer that hasn’t been used in years. 

They get side tracked by going inside a massive sewage pipe that separates and transports the two brothers to the one and only Mushroom Kingdom. Mario wakes up dazed and confused to find himself surrounded by giant mushrooms. He tries to touch one but is stopped by someone saying “do not touch that mushroom or you die!” 

That ‘someone’ just so happens to be Toad voiced by Keegan Michael key, Mario tells Toad that he’s cooking for his brother Luigi who had been sent to a foggy lava filled wasteland, Toad warns him of the danger Luigi is in, he’s been sent to the Dark Lands a world controlled by Bower.