First reviews for The Super Mario Bros. Movie are in and they are not pretty

The hype has been pretty strong for The Super Mario Bros. Movie, however it looks like that might have been overcooked.

When the trailer for the animated film dropped, people went understandably wild.

It was packed full of explosive colors, incredible characters and epic adventures. Everyone was gearing up to go on a wild ride.

However, now that critics have been given a sneak preview of the movie, it seems like the hype doesn't match reality.

With more than 80 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, The Super Mario Bros. Movie has scored a rotten reading of 55 per cent at the time of writing.

The critical consensus reads: "While it's nowhere near as thrilling as turtle tipping your way to 128 lives, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a colorful -- albeit thinly plotted -- animated adventure that has about as many Nintendos as Nintendont's. "

Global and Mail critic Radheyan Simonpillai was fairly scathing in his assessment.

He wrote: "The internet was right. Chris Pratt is all wrong as the title character in The Super Mario Bros. Movie."

Robert Kojder from Flickering Myth added: "It is disappointing that Super Mario has not only been reduced and molded to fit the unambitious and lackadaisical Illumination brand but is also this generic and soulless, speedrunning through as much fan service as possible."

Luke Y Thomson from SuperHeroHype said: "The Easter eggs were clearly made and placed with love. But the movie is just a collection of Easter eggs and references in search of a story."

It wasn't all bad in the reviews.

Universal Pictures/Nintendo/Illumination

Many critics mentioned how the movie is well worth your time if you want to just relax and enjoy some nostalgic characters in a nostalgic environment.

It's not going to make you think too hard, however it will provide some entertainment.

One reviewer called it a 'fun and gorgeously animated delight', while another boasted it was 'so vibrant and so much fun and worth checking out in theaters'.

The plot has been kept largely under wraps, however, what we do know is that it's about Mario (voiced by Chris Pratt) going on a mission to save his brother Luigi (Charlie Day).

He brings Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) with him on his adventure and has to go up against the formidable Bowser (Jack Black).

Pratt has urged people to head to the cinema to see for themselves whether he was the right choice to play the iconic Italian plumber and insists the movie is worth the hype.