In a world where movies made for fans are said to have too much “fan service” in them, it’s no wonder a lot of critics can’t stand the new Super Mario Brothers movie.

Mario and Luigi make their return to the big screen – and this time – it actually feels like this is made for Super Mario Brothers fans. The movie doesn’t subvert expectations. Mario doesn’t get the Luke Skywalker treatment. There’s no heavy handed political subtext. Mario and Toad do not have a strange forced romantic relationship. (although I might pay to see that ha!)

John Leguizamo and a legion of Twitter folks will be unhappy that Chris Pratt is fine as Mario. I highly doubt most of these people even know Mario has been in multiple animated shows since the 1980s. (Here’s a bit of my collection!)

If Nintendo makes movies for long time fans of the company and their kids, they have just opened a treasure trove of possible movie releases. With the right creative team behind them, The Legend Of Zelda, Donkey Kong, F-Zero, Punch-Out, Star Fox, Yoshi’s Island, etc. could all be blockbuster films.

I’ll patiently wait for my dream of a new Captain N: The Game Master reboot…. – Producer Dan