Film

The Super Mario Bros. Movie

A bright, breathless cannonball through Nintendo's back catalogue, this is less a story than a theme park ride: pipes, Rainbow Road, Kong country, all rendered in the plushest, snappiest animation Illumination has ever produced. It's built for kids who own a Switch and adults who once did, and it moves too fast to ever really slow down and mean anything. Pure, cheerful, nostalgia-fuelled sugar.

TMDb rating7.6

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Sonic the Hedgehog2020

The other big video-game mascot gets the same live-action-adjacent treatment, and it's funnier and warmer than it had any right to be, thanks largely to Jim Carrey going fully unhinged.

But The human subplot is dead weight, and the CGI-in-the-real-world formula feels a little tired by now.

Sonic the Hedgehog poster

The Lego Movie2014

The gold standard for turning a toy aisle into a genuinely brilliant film — relentlessly inventive, properly funny for adults, and somehow sneaks in real feeling underneath the jokes.

But Its self-aware, meta humour is a very different register from Mario's straightforward earnestness.

The Lego Movie poster

Wreck-It Ralph2012

Video game worlds colliding, arcade nostalgia, and a genuinely sweet story about friendship — it's the closest thing to Mario's DNA that Disney ever made.

But Younger kids may not recognise the older arcade characters it leans on for its best jokes.

Wreck-It Ralph poster

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Tron1982

Both films exist because someone asked 'what if the world inside the game was real' — Tron just asked it first, seriously, and with none of the cushioning.

Decades before Mario turned an arcade cabinet into a whole universe, Tron actually went inside the machine — a neon, glowing, genuinely strange vision of a digital world built with grid-line effects that still look unlike anything else.

But The pacing is stiff and the human drama is thin by modern standards; it's a mood piece more than a story.

Tron poster
More like this (8)

Pokémon Detective Pikachu2019

Another beloved game universe brought to life with real craft and affection, plus Ryan Reynolds having an absolute blast as a wisecracking Pikachu.

But It's a noir-lite mystery at heart, slower and moodier than the pure sugar-rush pacing of Mario.

Pokémon Detective Pikachu poster

Trolls2016no page yet

Same lane — bright colours, pop soundtrack, non-stop momentum — if you want more of that specific dopamine hit for a younger audience.

But The plot is thinner than Mario's, and it leans harder on musical numbers than adventure.

Minions2015no page yet

Pure branded chaos energy, gleefully dumb and proud of it, if what you actually want from Mario is more noise and slapstick and less plot.

But There's even less story here than in Mario, and the humour skews younger and sillier.

Space Jam1996no page yet

The original brand-crossover spectacle — real stars, cartoon icons, a flimsy plot holding together pure vibes, decades before this became a whole genre.

But The effects and pacing show their age hard, and it's basically a feature-length commercial.

Ralph Breaks the Internet2018

More video-game-adjacent world-hopping, this time skewering internet culture instead of arcades, with the same warmth and visual imagination as its predecessor.

But The internet satire already feels slightly dated, and it's less tightly plotted than the original.

Ralph Breaks the Internet poster

The Angry Birds Movie2016no page yet

Another mobile-game property stretched into a full film with surprising charm, loud colours, and jokes clearly aimed at keeping parents awake too.

But It's the most disposable title on this list — fun in the room, forgotten by the car ride home.

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters2007

Donkey Kong is the monster Mario made his name jumping over — this is the true story of the people who gave that same pixelated game their entire lives.

A documentary about grown men obsessively chasing the world record on the actual Donkey Kong arcade cabinet — it's tense, hilarious, and somehow has a genuine villain worthy of Bowser.

But It's a real-world story about real, sometimes petty people, with none of the fantasy or spectacle you'd expect from the connection.

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters poster

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World2010

Where Mario borrows video game imagery for spectacle, this borrows video game structure for storytelling — same toolkit, aimed at a much older, hipper audience.

A live-action rom-com that runs entirely on video game logic — extra lives, coins, boss fights against an ex's exes — with a visual wit that's genuinely dazzling and a killer soundtrack.

But It's aimed squarely at adults, with breakup drama, swearing, and a wry, ironic tone nothing like Mario's sunny innocence.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World poster

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