The Super Mario Bros. Movie

While working underground to fix a water main, Brooklyn plumbers—and brothers—Mario and Luigi are transported down a mysterious pipe and wander into a magical new world. But when the brothers are separated, Mario embarks on an epic quest to find Luigi.

Critics landed somewhere between charmed and deflated: the animation and fan-service energy drew genuine enthusiasm, but the thin plotting, short runtime, and — above all — the voice casting drew sustained fire. Audiences turned out in enormous numbers and loved it anyway, a gap between critical and popular reception that is essentially the story of the film's release.