The Super Mario Bros. Movie is set to debut in theaters on April 5. Starring Chris Pratt as the voice of Mario and Jack Black as the voice of Bowser, this film is a long overdue redemption shot.
The last time Nintendo tried this—to turn their iconic mustachioed mascot into a bona fide Hollywood star—was three decades ago. In 1993, Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo starred in a live-action Super Mario Bros. movie, an uneven patchwork about two Brooklyn plumbers who are transported to the alternate dimension of Dinohattan. It was a critical and commercial failure, and it established an unfortunate belief that video game movies are no good.
And to be fair, that’s often the case. But in the last decade, especially, that perception is starting to change. Part of the reason is that the games themselves, which are the source material and inspiration for these films, are more cinematic and story-driven than they have been in the past. But it also comes down to money. The video game industry is worth billions of dollars. And movie producers have correctly deduced that if they give these projects a massive budget, they stand to earn a massive amount.
Ahead of the new Super Mario release, we looked back on previous movie adaptations of video games to select 12 of the best ones we’ve seen so far. Take a look below to see where your favorites landed on the list.
'Scott Pilgrim vs. the World'
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Release date: Aug. 13, 2010
Directed by: Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz)
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is based on the graphic novel series by Bryan Lee O’Malley of the same name. It is laden with video game references and homages, starting with its premise: Scott has to defeat his girlfriend’s Seven Evil Exes, who are framed as a series of boss battles. The musical cues are from the Zelda franchise. And all of the band names (Crash ‘n’ The Boys, Sex Bob-omb, The Clash at Demonhead) are references to 8-bit NES games.
'Mortal Kombat'
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Release date: April 23, 2021
Directed by: Simon McQuoid (directorial debut)
It doesn’t have the goofy appeal of the 1995 film, but 2021’s Mortal Kombat is a solid effort. It tells an affecting story about Scorpion and the legacy of his family, and balancing that with geysers of blood and guts. Unlike the 1995 film, this movie is rated R, which means they can actually show the infamous Fatalities that caused a nationwide panic.
'Mortal Kombat'
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Release date: Aug. 18, 1995
Directed by: Paul W. S. Anderson (Resident Evil, Event Horizon)
Between its techno soundtrack and overblown fights, this movie falls into the “so bad, it’s good” category. It’s over-the-top, campy, and it leans into the offbeat, dark humor that a lot of outraged parents didn’t pick up on when the games were first released.
We were never meant to take any of this seriously. And best of all, the actors knew exactly what kind of movie they were in, and they gave the scenery-chewing performances of a lifetime. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa killed it as Shang Tsung, the evil sorcerer who tries to break the portal between the Outworld and Earth. “YOUR SOUL IS MINE!”
'Wreck-It Ralph'
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Release date: Nov. 2, 2012
Directed by: Rich Moore (Zootopia, Futurama)
This Disney-animated modern classic tells the story of Ralph, the “bad guy” of a fictional classic arcade machine called Fix-It Felix. His arcade is one of several at Litwak’s Arcade, and after the arcade closes, all of the video game characters hang out in the power strip that connects their games to the electric outlet. This leads to a parade of cameos and homages to classic gaming: for example, Zangief and M. Bison from Street Fighter II, Bowser from the Mario franchise, and Sonic the Hedgehog. The creators of Wreck-It Ralph clearly love video games and recall them as formative experiences, in which our digital avatars allowed us to escape and adventure in strange, new, digital worlds.
'Ready Player One'
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Release date: March 29, 2018
Directed by: Steven Spielberg (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Schindler’s List)
Based on the book of the same name, this movie depicts a future where people live in a digital, virtual reality world called OASIS. It is the inevitable end point of our current gaming culture, in which players become invested in upgrading their digital avatars, sometimes to the neglect of their “real” life.
Mark Zuckerberg’s Metaverse initiative drew many negative comparisons to Ready Player One, and rightly so; it is a cautionary tale about how interactive media can be used to placate a populace rather than spurring them toward innovation and action.
'The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters'
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Release date: Aug. 17, 2007
Directed by: Seth Gordon (Horrible Bosses, Baywatch)
There is a subculture of people who chase video game records. And that’s what this documentary is about: a man who tries to break the world record on Donkey Kong and the egotistical personalities who stand in his way. Never before have you seen such high drama over something so trivial, which includes accusations of tampering and favoritism. To paraphrase Wallace Sayre, the feuds are so bitter because the stakes are so small.
'Detective Pikachu'
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Release date: May 10, 2019
Directed by: Rob Letterman (Goosebumps, Monsters vs. Aliens)
Based on the Nintendo 3DS game and the larger Pokémon franchise, Detective Pikachu tells a propulsive, fun story involving underground, illegal Pokémon battles and Pokémon experimentation. The juxtaposition of Ryan Reynolds’ voiceover performance and Pikachu’s appearance sell the movie on its own. But the best aspect of the movie is its blend of photorealistic CGI and live-action, which makes it feel like these creatures are living and thriving alongside humans.
'Sonic the Hedgehog'
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Release date: Feb. 14, 2020
Directed by: Jeff Fowler (Gopher Broke; Love, Death & Robots)
The biggest question surrounding Sonic the Hedgehog was, “Why did it take this long to make a movie about him?” Perhaps it was the weight of expectations. Sonic is an icon, and because of that (and because of catastrophes like 1993’s Super Mario Bros.) there was great pressure on the filmmakers not to screw this up. Thankfully, they didn’t. Sonic is a great family film, and it’s anchored by Jim Carrey, who came out of semi-retirement to play Dr. Eggman with his signature, manic energy.
'Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie'
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Release date: Jan. 16, 1996
Directed by: Gisaburō Sugii (Kenji Miyazawa’s Night on the Galactic Railroad, Arashi no yoru ni)
The live-action Street Fighter movie was a mess, saved (barely) by Raul Julia, who played M. Bison in his final film performance. It was the lesser known animated movie that got the tone right, mixing highly stylized fights with high stakes. The best scene occurs in the middle of the film, when Chun Li is attacked by Vega in her apartment and engages him in a bloody, balletic duel to the death.
'Free Guy'
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Release date: Aug. 13, 2021
Directed by: Shawn Levy (Arrival, The Adam Project)
An NPC (non-player character) in a video game is a human character who typically occupies the background of a scene and creates crowd ambience. In Free Guy, Ryan Reynolds plays Guy, a bank teller who realizes he is an NPC in a video game and decides that he wants more from his digital life. Along the way, he discovers a conspiracy involving the game’s source code, which may have been stolen from an indie developer. This movie is awesome, self-aware fun.
'Rampage'
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Release date: April 13, 2018
Directed by: Brad Peyton (Daybreak, San Andreas)
The original Rampage game had a simple premise; you played as a massive kaiju that demolished buildings and ate people. You destroyed a part of the city, plus any armed forces sent to stop you and moved on to the next part of the city. The movie is appealing for the same simple reason: Watching monsters engaging in destruction on a massive scale. Dwayne Johnson stars as a primatologist who teams with a massive gorilla named George to take down a massive crocodile named Lizzie and a massive wolf named Ralph.
'Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City'
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Release date: Nov. 24, 2021
Directed by: Johannes Roberts (47 Meters Down, 47 Meters Down: Uncaged)
The original run of Resident Evil movies diverged significantly from the games, to the point that the first movie, released in 2002, did not include Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine. So it’s nice to see that in the reboot, the filmmakers hewed closer to the source material, casting actors to play Chris and Jill, but also to play Claire Redfield, Leon Kennedy, and Albert Wesker—characters who were introduced in the game’s sequels and will presumably play larger roles in the film’s sequel should they continue.
The end teaser even introduced mysterious double agent Ada Wong. The movie loosely adapts the events of Resident Evil, Resident Evil 2, and Resident Evil 3. And now that all the pieces are in play, it would be fun to see what this crew can do with the plots for Resident Evil 4 or Resident Evil 5.
