‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ Review

The highly anticipated Super Mario Bros. Movie finally arrived in theaters across the U.S. on April 1st and was an instant hit, making upwards of $377.2 million on opening day! It’s an understatement to say that this film was an absolute sensation with Nintendo fans.

This movie stars Mario, voiced by Chris Pratt. This casting choice raised some controversy on social media with speculation as to whether he was the best fit to voice the heroic Mario due to his exaggerated Jersey accent. However, Pratt seemed to surpass all expectations! Mario’s brother, Luigi, is voiced by Charlie Day. Personally, Charlie Day did a splendid job at portraying Luigi’s personality from past Super Mario Bros. games.

The film begins with the two renowned brothers Mario and Luigi in Brooklyn tending to their usual plumbing duties when suddenly the two come across a warp pipe under the city and end up diving into the whimsical Mushroom Kingdom.

Immediately upon arrival, they encounter Bowser, the obvious main villain, who was phenomenally voiced by the one and only Jack Black. Bowser’s mischievous goal to obtain the Super Star finally came to fruition. With this magical star, he has the power that he needs to seize the Mushroom Kingdom once and for all.

This quaint kingdom is ruled by the remarkable Princess Peach, voiced by Anya Taylor-Joy, and home to its many loyal mushroom-headed citizens. Among these citizens is the comical and charismatic mushroom creature named Toad voiced by Keegan-Michael Key, who guides Mario throughout his journey into the Mushroom Kingdom.

Not only does Bowser want control over the Kingdom, but he is also in love with Princess Peach. The lovesick villain even goes as far as to sing his own original song hilariously declaring his love for the princess.

Meanwhile, Luigi separated from Mario after plunging into the pipe and somehow finds himself in the dark lands. Bowser finds Luigi here and takes him hostage where Luigi stays for the majority of the movie.

Simultaneously, Mario is determined to reunite with his brother and eventually meets Princess Peach. She teaches him about every power-up that inhabits the vast enchanted land and trains him to the best of her ability in order to take down Bowser.

Even the well-distinguished Donkey Kong joins the party to defeat Bowser!

The four heroes end up rescuing Luigi, ending Bowser’s madness, and returning the Mushroom Kingdom back to normalcy.

All in all, this film was quite predictable as expected, and full of references and inside jokes that any fan of the Nintendo community will catch. The animation however was marvelous with the characters moving so smoothly and effortlessly throughout the film. The colors were extremely saturated and really brought life to the mushroom kingdom. Even the textures and backgrounds were carefully detailed and made me feel immersed in the world the animators built.

I must say, my favorite scene of this entire film must be the rainbow road scene. The colors were absolutely gorgeous, and the action was well directed and fast-paced, just like every Mario-Kart game.

Although, I’m not quite sure that I can say the same about the story. I loved and appreciated all the references in the movie, but I feel like the story was a little generic and lacked something new. Despite this, I still ended up enjoying this movie and I believe it truly did justice to the countless Super Mario video games. New and old fans alike can expect to enjoy this film.