Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and The Super Mario Bros. Movie

Here we go again with the seemingly endless attempt to make a good ‘videogame’ movie.

That was my imagined first line prior to stepping into the cinema to catch both Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and The Super Mario Bros. Movie but, I’m delighted to say, here we have two examples of just how to do this thing properly.

Studios perhaps have cottoned on to a formula that works: subtly skewer an existing IP so fans get the joke, cater to all audiences so kids and those unfamiliar can enjoy it too and definitely don’t ‘modernise’ or change what makes the game good.

Pokémon: Detective Pikachu set the benchmark here, followed by the brilliant Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers (not an official ‘videogame’ film but with enough references to feel like one) and these two are the latest examples to hit the mark. D&D in live action (again, not officially a ‘videogame’ film but certainly within the same parameters) and Mario in animation.

Much like the aforementioned both hit those parameters. Excellent jokes for both kids and adults alike, game references which hit the mark (as a D&D noob, some of the terminology is a little complicated but not to the detriment of the story) and solid stories and characterisation.

Most importantly, neither feel like cash grabs. Ok, so they’re not going to win awards or ‘end of year' list placement but, in such a poor field, the fact that both of these films are solid, enjoyable and funny is more than enough.

Top family night entertainment and fresh benchmarks for a maligned genre.

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