Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) are Italian American plumbers living in Brooklyn who have just spent their life savings on setting up their business and creating an advert to market themselves. When they attempt to fix a major leak in the sewer system they find a magical pipe that transports them to The Mushroom Kingdom where they find themselves in the middle of King Bowser’s (Jack Black) attempts to take over control of the region from Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy). 

Their adventures will have them meet other famous faces in the Nintendo pantheon such as Toad (Keegan-Michael Key), Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen), Cranky Kong (Fred Armisen), Diddy Kong, Kamek (Kevin Michael Richardson) and a whole host of Koopa’s and Shy Guys. It will also take in references to a myriad of Nintendo games which obviously include many Mario games but also include things like Diddy Kong Racing, various Donkey Kong platform games and have smaller references to F-Zero, Punch Out and many others. 

What all of that really means is that this is very specifically aimed at a particular audience. If you are a kid in love with Nintendo games or a big kid who has been in love with Nintendo games their entire life (this is me by the way) then you are going to have a lot of fun. All of the references and imagery are going to have your brain bouncing around trying to process what you are seeing and giving you hits of nostalgic joy. If on the other hand none of this means anything to you then you have a very bright and very vibrant animated experience in front of you that may not offer you too much fun. 

The plot as it is is about as complicated as a Mario game. Bowser is secretly in love with Peach and thinks conquering the world together is the way to her heart. Luigi spends most of his time imprisoned by Bowser leaving Mario and Peach to traverse the various parts of the Mushroom Kingdom to rescue him. The fun aside from the many references mentioned above is in the characterisation of our heroes. Jack Black’s Bowser is the most fun as Black gets to basically play a version of himself crossed with Meatloaf, think rock ballads declaring his love in between conquering and you have the right idea. Whilst Seth Rogen’s Donkey Kong does the same thing, a variant of Rogen’s happy go lucky slacker. There is also an existential Luma (a non player character from the Mario Galaxy games) who poses a few funny moments as well. 

The voice acting is solid. All those complaints about Mario’s voice are explained away early doors in quite an amusing way. Whilst original Mario/Luigi voice star Charles Martinet gets a cameo as Mario’s dad. 

The visuals and the animation on the other hand are wonderful. Vibrant and completely in keeping with the games it’s representing. 

Is it a great film that has universal appeal? No. Did I enjoy myself? Absolutely! 

Oh and make sure you hang around for a mid credits and post credits scene.