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I can vividly remember playing the first Nintendo version of “Super Mario Bros.” when I was just a boy in the ‘80s. It was at a friend’s house, my first buddy to get an NES, and I went home and had a dream about the game. The goofy, jumping plumber has been a part of my entertainment life ever since. I’ve passed my love for the franchise down to my boys, who have all played the stunning “Super Mario Odyssey” to completion more than once. Mario has come a long way since the notoriously awful 1993 version of his adventure starring Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo , but the new “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” doesn’t reflect the franchise's creativity in the slightest. The latest animated blockbuster from Illumination is their most soulless to date, a film that feels like ChatGPT produced it after data and imagery from the games were fed into a computer. It is “The Chris Farley Show” of family entertainment, mistaking making references to something that was “awesome” for actually making a movie. And it is one of the most drenched-in-desperation animated films I’ve ever seen. “Remember this?!? Remember how much you liked it?!? Please like it again!” I so desperately wanted to see something that sparked the imagination of the kid in me, like that first game, or spoke to the fun I’ve had playing installments across multiple Nintendo platforms. Instead, I got a movie that's as hollow as a trailer, something that willfully avoids anything creative or ambitious. Mario and Luigi deserve so much better.

“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” opens in Brooklyn with the plumbers Mario ( Chris Pratt ) and his brother Luigi ( Charlie Day ) trying to get their new business off the ground. Some Nintendo easter eggs in the background of these initial scenes should produce a small smile from people of my generation, and there's a bit of inspiration structurally, like a clever early shot in which Mario and Luigi race through the city in a side-scrolling manner that mimics the earlier games. There’s also a nod to The Odyssey on a bookshelf in Mario’s room, implying that we’re about to watch a hero’s journey and a reference to the incredible Switch game. What follows doesn’t live up to either inspiration.

In a way that makes little sense, Mario and Luigi find a massive chamber of pipes under Brooklyn, get sucked into one, and end up in the Mushroom Kingdom, which is being threatened by the villainous Bowser ( Jack Black ). The notorious bad guy has found the Super Star he needs to make his final assault on Princess Peach ( Anya Taylor-Joy ) and the residents of her kingdom, including Toad (Keegan-Michael Key). Bowser doesn’t just want power; he wants to make the Princess his bride, singing some truly uninspired songs about his love for her. How on Earth a film like this gets a rock talent like half of Tenacious D and doesn’t let him unleash a few clever Bowser tunes is one of this film’s many mysteries.

Although Luigi lands in the pipeline that drops him immediately in the dark lands and makes him Bowser's prisoner—a dumb decision that sidelines him for an hour—Mario meets Princess Peach, who introduces him to power-ups. And so all the question-mark cubes get a chance to shine as Mario grows, shrinks, and even turns into a raccoon. They eventually recruit Donkey Kong ( Seth Rogen ), race down Rainbow Road, and save the day. That’s not a spoiler if you’ve ever seen a movie.

Fans of this movie will shout from the rooftops that the scripting for something called “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” doesn’t need to be a strength. And, to be fair, there are a few strong settings in terms of design. I enjoyed the choices made by the team in the structure of Donkey Kong Country, and the Rainbow Road “Super Mario Kart” sequence is well-directed. But I would ask why fans of a franchise that has inspired so much love for generations must be satisfied with the absolute minimum regarding storytelling. 

There are so few actual decisions made in the construction of this film. It’s just a collection of visual and character references cobbled together to form a 92-minute movie. Take a risk. Just do something . Anything. It got me thinking about the fun spin-offs that could exist, like a “ Mad Max: Fury Road ” version of the “Mario Kart” sequence that gets energy out of non-stop motion. Or a version that unpacks like “The LEGO Movie” that's more sharply aware of its references and world-building—something that even incorporates the player like that movie does in the end. I swear that almost everyone who has played a game like “Odyssey” could come up with something more inventive. Heck, almost any ten minutes of that game is more creative.

It doesn’t help that the voice work is uniformly mediocre too. Chris Pratt can be charismatic with the right material, but it sounds like he pounded this out in three hours in a voice studio. Charlie Day has such an expressive voice, but the movie barely uses him. Seth Rogen is always a welcome presence, and he at least seems to be having some fun. I wish I was too.

With the nostalgia craze merging with the power of Nintendo and Illumination, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” feels too big to fail. That means we’ll get a sequel, and I expect another cycle of the debate of “critics vs. fans.” I am both. And I want a world where the people who made films for a fan base as devoted as this one don’t take that fandom for granted. This is far from over. I suspect we will get a ton of films from the NES universe, including “Donkey Kong Country” and “The Legend of Zelda” (and let’s not forget “Kid Icarus”). But we need creators who don’t just see these games as products to be referenced but as foundations on which new ideas can be built. That ‘80s kid who dreamed of Mario deserves it.

In theaters today .

Brian Tallerico

Brian Tallerico is the Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and GQ, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

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Film Credits

The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)

Rated PG for action and mild violence.

Chris Pratt as Mario (voice)

Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach (voice)

Charlie Day as Luigi (voice)

Jack Black as Bowser (voice)

Keegan Michael Key as Toad (voice)

Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong (voice)

Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong (voice)

Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek (voice)

Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike (voice)

Charles Martinet as Giuseppe (voice)

Khary Payton as Penguin King (voice)

Eric Bauza as General Toad (voice)

• Michael Jelenic
• Aaron Horvath
• Matthew Fogel
• Eric Osmond

Composer (original Nintendo themes by)

• Brian Tyler

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The Super Mario Bros. Movie Review

Mario’s cinematic pipe dream comes true..

It took nearly four decades, one spectacular live-action misfire, and dozens of other failed video game adaptations to learn from, but none of it went to waste: Illumination and Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. Movie finally gives the most iconic character in gaming the onscreen adventure he’s always deserved. Benefitting immensely from the endless creativity of the innumerable game developers, artists, and musicians who’ve made the Mario franchise a pop culture juggernaut, The Super Mario Bros. Movie rockets along with the momentum of a Bullet Bill exploding out of a cannon. The Mushroom Kingdom is realized with incredible detail and reverence, and not even a Paper Mario-thin plot can keep the magic of the games from being lost along the way.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s setup is dead simple: while on a plumbing job underneath Brooklyn, brothers Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) are sucked into the Mushroom Kingdom through a warp pipe and become embroiled in King Bowser’s (Jack Black) plans to steal the Super Star, which would give him the power to take over the Toad-filled domain of Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy). Mario’s Cheep-Cheep-out-of-water journey hits all the predictable beats of the “warrior from another world” narrative, but decades of Mario games ensure co-directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic (Teen Titans Go!) have an infinite well of wild scenarios and iconography to pull from to stage inventive action moments, especially once Mario’s gotten a handle of how to properly fly with a Tanooki suit.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie: Nintendo Direct Trailer Stills

The Super Mario Bros. Movie almost always has an inventive in-world solution to whatever problem pops up that relies on something easily recognizable from the games, but never withholds explanation of how that thing works (even if the why goes rightfully ignored.) Whether it’s recreating the path of World 1-1 as Mario and Luigi parkour their way through Brooklyn or the pre-emptive giggle fans will get seeing Mario ingest a blue mushroom instead of a red one during a fight, The Super Mario Bros. Movie manages a great balance of accessibility for general audiences and inside jokes for those of us who’ve dipped in and out of the series over the years.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s heavy use of references isn’t a good thing in and of itself, but their inclusion feels justified because they are used in ways that feel relevant and organic to the world. At worst, sequences like the Rainbow Road race can feel a bit tacked on when they don’t fully make the case for being there with any kind of logical reason (being able to sell movie-branded Mario Kart toys doesn’t count), but then logic is not a currency anyone’s expecting The Super Mario Bros. Movie to trade in anyway. The movie trusts its audience isn’t going to care much about why platforms float, or why there are blocks with question marks all over the place full of power-ups that turn people into cats and flamethrowers. Once you’ve already bought in to things like that, giving 10 minutes of the movie up to staging a big-budget Mario Kart race so that a trek from A to B feels a little more lively is an easier pill to swallow.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s visual vibrance sets a very high bar for the other animated video game adaptations which will surely follow, be that from Nintendo or another studio. Bowser’s fire-versus-ice siege of the Penguin Kingdom, the expansive fungi vistas of the Mushroom Kingdom, and the lush greenery of the Kongs’ Jungle Kingdom are all super-saturated dreamscapes that coalesce into a bustling world begging to be explored further. Brian Tyler’s bombastic score takes care of the musical side of this equation, perfectly expressing the grandeur and whimsy of the games’ tracks at every turn and mining Koji Kondo’s original orchestrations to great effect. The Mario series has some of the most recognizable music cues in gaming history, and Tyler deploys many of them throughout the action just where you hope they’d drop.

The movie’s mostly excellent use of its source material does contrast with some ill-advised blockbuster animation tropes which can occasionally be grating. Kind of like someone stealing a star from you in Mario Party, the fantastic score makes the pop tracks that are shoehorned in feel lazy by comparison. A little “No Sleep ‘Til Brooklyn” as Mario and Luigi parkour their way through the borough never hurt anyone, but by the time Mario and Peach are being karted around the Jungle Kingdom to A-Ha’s “Take On Me,” you may find the needle drops being a little too much of a snap back to reality. That goes double for the writers being unable to resist the urge to have Donkey Kong himself saying “it’s on like Donkey Kong.” Moments like this - as well as the frequent use of slo-mo to highlight jokes - are a bit too cute, and hint at how easily The Super Mario Bros. Movie could’ve slipped into “generic animated movie” territory had it given way to more of these low-hanging stabs at making sure Uncle Jack has his “I understood that reference!” moment, too.

Which Power-Up Do You Want to See Most in The Super Mario Bros. Movie?

The interminable Discourse surrounding the voice acting in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, as expected, feels totally out of touch with what the cast actually ended up delivering: enthusiastic performances that bring life to the characters, with no real weak link among them. Chris Pratt and Charlie Day’s Mario Bros. are certainly not going to be taking home any commendations from the good people of Brooklyn on their New York accents, but each handily embody their character’s heroism and bravery (hard won though that may be for Luigi). There’s definitely been a flattening of the more cartoonish qualities to the lead characters’ in-game voices - something the movie addresses immediately - but the choice to ground conversations in more a more natural delivery balances well with the fantastical trappings of the Mushroom Kingdom. More than that, it still leaves room for supporting characters like Toad (Keegan-Michael Key), Kamek (Kevin Michael Richardson), and Cranky Kong (Fred Armisen) to be a little kookier and give the ensemble more range. And even though it’s a one-joke character with no impact on the plot, Lumalee’s (Juliet Jelenic, co-director Michael’s daughter) gleeful nihilism lands big laughs every time thanks mostly to the young voice actor’s unerring excitement, which bubbles behind every pitch black observation she makes while locked up with Luigi.

Jack Black’s Bowser feels like the standout vocal performance as the actor’s trademark bombast fits well with the Koopa King’s outsized sense of self. Bowser’s thirst for power isn’t explored in any serious way: he wants to take over the Mushroom Kingdom because he’s a bad guy and that’s what bad guys do - apparently he missed the point of that group session in Wreck-it Ralph. But Black’s Bowser is frightening, impetuous, and desperate for attention at times, and those frequent mood shifts lend his scenes unpredictability. Jables’ Bowser even performs a ballad in Peach’s honor which feels like a safe-for-work Tenacious D b-side, a descriptor I can’t imagine will upset any fans of Black’s musical chops.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is constantly and joyfully entertaining, and that’s crucial because it lacks any meaningful thematic throughline outside of “we can do anything when we work together!” That lesson feels like an obligated afterthought considering Mario and Luigi spend the majority of this movie separated - not because of any emotional fracture between them early on, but by pure happenstance (warp pipes are crazy!) The brothers mostly agree on everything, and both are quick to enlist the help of allies when the time comes, so the little effort that went into that aspect of the story goes very much amiss. This feels especially frustrating considering the pair of brief flashbacks which give us insights into the characters’ childhoods. Both of these short scenes manage a comparatively touching tone, and hint at better avenues the story could’ve explored to make Mario, Luigi, and Peach feel more fully formed.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a fireball of animated fantasy. Mario, Luigi, and Peach’s adventure delights with its infectious energy and smart implementations of video game callbacks, and the top-shelf animation renders the Mushroom Kingdom as an Oz-like wonderland that begs to be explored in the inevitable sequels that will follow. The assembled voice cast puts a unique spin on each of their characters, but undercooked emotional arcs don’t get the same attention as the aesthetics, something not helped by a paint-by-numbers plot that bafflingly keeps Mario and Luigi away from each other for half the movie. Illumination and Nintendo set out to deliver a Mario movie that anyone could enjoy, and that anyone with even a passing knowledge of the games could get lost in - they’ve undeniably succeeded on both fronts.

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• Movie Review
• The Super Mario Bros. Movie is the new gold standard for video game films

From its cheesy nostalgia plays to its breathtaking and imaginative visuals, Universal’s new Mario movie is everything a video game adaptation should be.

By Charles Pulliam-Moore , a reporter focusing on film, TV, and pop culture. Before The Verge, he wrote about comic books, labor, race, and more at io9 and Gizmodo for almost five years.

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The most delightful part of Nintendo’s entire Mario franchise is how — despite all their decades of conflicts in various video games — Mario, Bowser, Peach, and the rest of their crew have really always been a troupe of actors putting on whimsical stage plays for a captive audience. That idea alone isn’t exactly what defines Universal and Illumination’s new The Super Mario Bros. Movie from co-directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic. But much in the same way Super Mario Bros. 3 ’s ending invited players to think about and appreciate it as being more than just a video game, The Super Mario Bros. Movie plays like a magical celebration of how this franchise has evolved.

For years after Nintendo’s first live-action Super Mario Bros. movie debuted in theaters and immediately bombed at the box office, it seemed as if the studio wanted nothing more than to leave the entire endeavor in the past and steer clear of trying to make movies. But one of the more intriguing things about Universal’s new feature — a co-production between Nintendo and Illumination — is how effectively it manages to weave together so many iconic elements from the franchise’s bigger outings, like the ’90s movie, Mario Kart , and the Donkey Kong games, into a story that’s equal parts nostalgic and reflective of the franchise’s future.

In addition to being generally good guys who know a thing or two about pipes, The Super Mario Bros. Movie ’s Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) are also introduced as Brooklynites and small business owners trying to make a name for themselves in the film’s opening scenes. As adults and the two youngest members of their surprisingly large family, both of the Mario bros. know how crushing it can be to come home every day to nothing but incessant criticism. But at the heart of Mario and Luigi’s bond is also the mutual understanding that, so long as the two of them stick together, there’s little they can’t accomplish.

That attitude’s what gets the brothers up every morning and inspires them to go out into the world in search of bill-paying gigs. But it’s also why they’re both so game when they unexpectedly get sucked into the adventure of a lifetime by way of a mysterious green pipe hidden somewhere deep in New York City’s sewer system.

Because it’s so dense with painstakingly crafted details meant to spark joy from the jump, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly when The Super Mario Bros. Movie ’s intangible magic — the general feeling, rather than the movie’s actual magic — first kicks in. But as the Mario bros. jump, flip, and twirl their way across town on foot in an early action sequence styled after the classic Mario side scrollers, you can immediately get a sense of just how serious the movie is about translating the essence of its source material into something that feels familiar but also like its own distinct quantity.

This ends up being the case with most of The Super Mario Bros. Movie ’s complex set pieces, which doesn’t come as a surprise given Illumination’s track record and Nintendo’s reputation for being extremely protective of its brands. What does come as something of a shock, though, is how genuinely inoffensive (which is to say “not off-putting”) Pratt and Day’s takes on Mario and Luigi are — a concern the movie addresses head-on with some solid gags and a textual explanation as to why Mario occasionally sounds like he might have spent some time in Pawnee, Indiana.

As much information about the Mario bros. as the film lays out before they’re isekai-ed across the galaxy, it’s far, far more reserved about others like Bowser (Jack Black) and his sorcerer Kamek (Kevin Michael Richardson), who serve as hammy villain foils to the Mushroom Kingdom’s Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) and her loyal subject Toad (Keegan-Michael Key.)

If you’ve played through games like Super Mario World or Super Mario Odyssey , then the general shape of The Super Mario Bros. Movie ’s plot will be obvious from the moment you first hear why Bowser’s so hell-bent on getting his hands on a certain star-shaped MacGuffin. The movie works, though, because as it’s building toward its logical and very traditional Mario kind of ending, it uses every possible opportunity it has to make its various fantastical worlds feel like living, breathing, organic places that you’d want to spend hours exploring if they were parts of an open-world video game. It’s cool as hell every single time someone’s outfit transforms after they ingest mushroom power-ups, but it’s things like being able to see each of the individual seeds on a fire flower’s face flicking like a candle that really make you appreciate how hard the movie’s working to get things “right.”

At times, it almost feels like Illumination might have gone overboard in terms of dotting its i’s and crossing its t’s for a movie that moves incredibly fast and consistently has the air of something that’s been crafted with children prone to rewatching the same thing in mind. But it’s just as easy to interpret those things about the film as signs of how much more immersive and engaging Nintendo plans for its Mario theme park and future games to be.

Watching The Super Mario Bros. Movie , it’s impossible not to imagine what it might be like to one day play a game as visually rich running on hardware that puts current-gen Nintendo Switch to shame. That’s probably (part of) the reason the movie exists. But as big-budget commercials for video games and consoles go, The Super Mario Bros. Movie ’s going to be undefeated for quite some time.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie also stars Seth Rogen, Fred Armisen, Sebastian Maniscalco, and Charles Martinet. The movie’s slated to hit theaters on April 5th.

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‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ Review: This Ain’t No Game

A famed video game character side-scrolls once again to the big screen in this bland, witless and flagrantly pandering animated comedy.

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By Calum Marsh

One thing every great Mario game has in common, from 2D classics like Super Mario World to seminal 3D installments like Super Mario 64 or the recent Nintendo Switch masterpiece Super Mario Odyssey, is a certain effortless charisma. No convoluted backstory, no sardonic attitude, no pretension whatsoever: just easy, straightforward video game fun, elevated by splashy visuals, tight controls and an attention to detail that borders on perfectionism.

Illumination and Universal’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” the second attempt at a big-screen adaptation of the game franchise after the woefully unsuccessful “ Super Mario Bros. ” (1993), gets many things about Mario right, often painstakingly so. The Mushroom Kingdom, the magical land in which the film is largely set, looks pretty much exactly like the Mushroom Kingdom of the games. Fireflowers, super stars and question mark boxes all look, sound and function like they’re supposed to, and when the notoriously vexing blue shell makes a fan-baiting appearance, it spins, crashes and explodes in a way precisely faithful to the source material. Even Mario (a grating, unctuous Chris Pratt), who doesn’t sound like the Mario of the games, still manages to invoke trademark catchphrases like “it’s a-me” and “let’s a-go.”

But while the details are meticulous, the attitude is all wrong, trading the simple, unaffected charm that has served the character so well since his introduction in 1981 for a snarky and fatuous air that leans hard on winking humor and bland, hackneyed irony. This is Mario in the Marvel mold: every line a punchline, every gag an arcane meta reference for the nerds who can’t get enough of that sort of thing. Served some spaghetti with mushrooms, Mario winces and says he hates mushrooms. Because in the game he’s always eating mushrooms, you see. Sound like fun yet?

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The Super Mario Bros. Movie Reviews

All movies exist to sell, but this exists to sell everything but the movie. It’s not a love letter – it’s soulless capitalism. The Super Mario Bros Movie is an imagination-free wasteland where cinematic storytelling goes to die.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Jul 17, 2024

A specific sequence set across the streets of Brooklyn is a gorgeous nod to the 2D platformer aesthetic. It might be my favorite adaptation of the gamified visual look to the big screen since “Tron: Legacy.”

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 9, 2024

The Super Mario Bros. Movie, on the other hand, is so cynical and dated right out of the gate that it makes something as inherently positive as Mario feel just a tad distasteful.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Jul 3, 2024

The Marvel Cinematic Universe playbook of wry comments instead of real humor has become the dominant form of “comedy” in present day Hollywood.

Full Review | Jun 6, 2024

Boasts terrific animation and eventually feels as exciting as watching someone else play a video game.

Full Review | Original Score: C+ | May 27, 2024

Is The Super Mario Bros. Movie a great film? No. Is it worth going to see? Yes. Younger gamers will embrace it but older gamers maybe looking for a little more of a plot.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Dec 22, 2023

Scientifically designed in a lab for the broadest possible appeal and the least offense that could possibly be made.

Full Review | Dec 19, 2023

I would have liked a story, but loosely connected action set-pieces within Nintendo's sprawling Mario-adjacent universe is still fun. This is an advertisement for new generations to board the bandwagon.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Dec 8, 2023

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a homage to the most relevant Nintendo saga... [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Sep 29, 2023

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a DREAM COME TRUE for lifelong Nintendo fans and PERFECT DOWN TO THE LAST PIXEL. With gorgeous animation and unforgettable music, Nintendo and Illumination have made a delightful family film filled with heart.

Full Review | Sep 20, 2023

Its action, color, and silliness will appeal to kids while adult fans of the franchise will enjoy all the nostalgic connotations. It manages to tell a coherent, albeit forgettable, story with ample charm, thrills, and humor.

Full Review | Aug 23, 2023

Simple but effective for anyone who grew up with Mario in their lives.

Full Review | Aug 16, 2023

It is obvious that in an effort to appeal to a wide demographic, the movie fails on all counts because of a weak script, an over dependence on elements lifted directly from the video game and several voice casting mistakes.

Full Review | Original Score: C- | Aug 8, 2023

Packed with fantastic references that will warm the hearts of those who lived and still live with Nintendo and Mario up close. Along with energetic action, dazzling animation and world-building, and iconic music.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Jul 25, 2023

If folks grew up playing the games (or still do), and already treasure everything Mario, this is a must-see movie. For everyone else, the mileage in their kart will vary.

Full Review | Jul 25, 2023

PHENOMENAL ANIMATION! Short & Simple (too short if I’m honest) Chris Pratt is honestly PERFECT as MARIO (yes I’m as shocked as you) Jack Black might steal the show as BOWSER. But Brian Tyler’s SCORE is so GOOD

Full Review | Original Score: B | Jul 22, 2023

A rather forgettable affair.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Jul 11, 2023

This fun, visually gorgeous adaptation does the world's most famous plumber justice.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 8, 2023

The voice cast did a good job and the movie has some colorful, eye-popping visuals but overall it's pretty forgettable.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 3, 2023

This second big-screen adaptation of the popular video game series (after the ill-fated 1993 film) is vibrantly colored, speedily-paced (and not too long), and pleasantly diverting, if rather unremarkable in the long run.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 1, 2023

The Super Mario Bros. Movie - Review

Mario’s cinematic pipe dream comes true..

It took nearly four decades, one spectacular live-action misfire, and dozens of other failed video game adaptations to learn from, but none of it went to waste: Illumination and Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. Movie finally gives the most iconic character in gaming the onscreen adventure he’s always deserved. Benefitting immensely from the endless creativity of the innumerable game developers, artists, and musicians who’ve made the Mario franchise a pop culture juggernaut, The Super Mario Bros. Movie rockets along with the momentum of a Bullet Bill exploding out of a cannon. The Mushroom Kingdom is realized with incredible detail and reverence, and not even a Paper Mario-thin plot can keep the magic of the games from being lost along the way.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s setup is dead simple: while on a plumbing job underneath Brooklyn, brothers Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) are sucked into the Mushroom Kingdom through a warp pipe and become embroiled in King Bowser’s (Jack Black) plans to steal the Super Star, which would give him the power to take over the Toad-filled domain of Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy). Mario’s Cheep-Cheep-out-of-water journey hits all the predictable beats of the “warrior from another world” narrative, but decades of Mario games ensure co-directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic (Teen Titans Go!) have an infinite well of wild scenarios and iconography to pull from to stage inventive action moments, especially once Mario’s gotten a handle of how to properly fly with a Tanooki suit.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie almost always has an inventive in-world solution to whatever problem pops up that relies on something easily recognizable from the games, but never withholds explanation of how that thing works (even if the why goes rightfully ignored.) Whether it’s recreating the path of World 1-1 as Mario and Luigi parkour their way through Brooklyn or the pre-emptive giggle fans will get seeing Mario ingest a blue mushroom instead of a red one during a fight, The Super Mario Bros. Movie manages a great balance of accessibility for general audiences and inside jokes for those of us who’ve dipped in and out of the series over the years.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s heavy use of references isn’t a good thing in and of itself, but their inclusion feels justified because they are used in ways that feel relevant and organic to the world. At worst, sequences like the Rainbow Road race can feel a bit tacked on when they don’t fully make the case for being there with any kind of logical reason (being able to sell movie-branded Mario Kart toys doesn’t count), but then logic is not a currency anyone’s expecting The Super Mario Bros. Movie to trade in anyway. The movie trusts its audience isn’t going to care much about why platforms float, or why there are blocks with question marks all over the place full of power-ups that turn people into cats and flamethrowers. Once you’ve already bought in to things like that, giving 10 minutes of the movie up to staging a big-budget Mario Kart race so that a trek from A to B feels a little more lively is an easier pill to swallow. 

The bombastic score perfectly expresses the grandeur and whimsy of the games' tracks.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s visual vibrance sets a very high bar for the other animated video game adaptations which will surely follow, be that from Nintendo or another studio. Bowser’s fire-versus-ice siege of the Penguin Kingdom, the expansive fungi vistas of the Mushroom Kingdom, and the lush greenery of the Kongs’ Jungle Kingdom are all super-saturated dreamscapes that coalesce into a bustling world begging to be explored further. Brian Tyler’s bombastic score takes care of the musical side of this equation, perfectly expressing the grandeur and whimsy of the games’ tracks at every turn and mining Koji Kondo’s original orchestrations to great effect. The Mario series has some of the most recognizable music cues in gaming history, and Tyler deploys many of them throughout the action just where you hope they’d drop. 

The movie’s mostly excellent use of its source material does contrast with some ill-advised blockbuster animation tropes which can occasionally be grating. Kind of like someone stealing a star from you in Mario Party, the fantastic score makes the pop tracks that are shoehorned in feel lazy by comparison. A little “No Sleep ‘Til Brooklyn” as Mario and Luigi parkour their way through the borough never hurt anyone, but by the time Mario and Peach are being karted around the Jungle Kingdom to A-Ha’s “Take On Me,” you may find the needle drops being a little too much of a snap back to reality. That goes double for the writers being unable to resist the urge to have Donkey Kong himself saying “it’s on like Donkey Kong.” Moments like this - as well as the frequent use of slo-mo to highlight jokes - are a bit too cute, and hint at how easily The Super Mario Bros. Movie could’ve slipped into “generic animated movie” territory had it given way to more of these low-hanging stabs at making sure Uncle Jack has his “I understood that reference!” moment, too.

The interminable Discourse surrounding the voice acting in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, as expected, feels totally out of touch with what the cast actually ended up delivering: enthusiastic performances that bring life to the characters, with no real weak link among them. Chris Pratt and Charlie Day’s Mario Bros. are certainly not going to be taking home any commendations from the good people of Brooklyn on their New York accents, but each handily embody their character’s heroism and bravery (hard won though that may be for Luigi). There’s definitely been a flattening of the more cartoonish qualities to the lead characters’ in-game voices - something the movie addresses immediately - but the choice to ground conversations in more a more natural delivery balances well with the fantastical trappings of the Mushroom Kingdom. More than that, it still leaves room for supporting characters like Toad (Keegan-Michael Key), Kamek (Kevin Michael Richardson), and Cranky Kong (Fred Armisen) to be a little kookier and give the ensemble more range. And even though it’s a one-joke character with no impact on the plot, Lumalee’s (Juliet Jelenic, co-director Michael’s daughter) gleeful nihilism lands big laughs every time thanks mostly to the young voice actor’s unerring excitement, which bubbles behind every pitch black observation she makes while locked up with Luigi. 

Jack Black’s Bowser feels like the standout vocal performance as the actor’s trademark bombast fits well with the Koopa King’s outsized sense of self. Bowser’s thirst for power isn’t explored in any serious way: he wants to take over the Mushroom Kingdom because he’s a bad guy and that’s what bad guys do - apparently he missed the point of that group session in Wreck-it Ralph. But Black’s Bowser is frightening, impetuous, and desperate for attention at times, and those frequent mood shifts lend his scenes unpredictability. Jables’ Bowser even performs a ballad in Peach’s honor which feels like a safe-for-work Tenacious D b-side, a descriptor I can’t imagine will upset any fans of Black’s musical chops.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is constantly and joyfully entertaining, and that’s crucial because it lacks any meaningful thematic throughline outside of “we can do anything when we work together!” That lesson feels like an obligated afterthought considering Mario and Luigi spend the majority of this movie separated - not because of any emotional fracture between them early on, but by pure happenstance (warp pipes are crazy!) The brothers mostly agree on everything, and both are quick to enlist the help of allies when the time comes, so the little effort that went into that aspect of the story goes very much amiss. This feels especially frustrating considering the pair of brief flashbacks which give us insights into the characters’ childhoods. Both of these short scenes manage a comparatively touching tone, and hint at better avenues the story could’ve explored to make Mario, Luigi, and Peach feel more fully formed. 

The Verdict

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a fireball of animated fantasy. Mario, Luigi, and Peach’s adventure delights with its infectious energy and smart implementations of video game callbacks, and the top-shelf animation renders the Mushroom Kingdom as an Oz-like wonderland that begs to be explored in the inevitable sequels that will follow. The assembled voice cast puts a unique spin on each of their characters, but undercooked emotional arcs don’t get the same attention as the aesthetics, something not helped by a paint-by-numbers plot that bafflingly keeps Mario and Luigi away from each other for half the movie. Illumination and Nintendo set out to deliver a Mario movie that anyone could enjoy, and that anyone with even a passing knowledge of the games could get lost in - they’ve undeniably succeeded on both fronts.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie

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‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ Review: Sheer Animated Fun, and the Rare Video-Game Movie That Gives You a Prankish Video-Game Buzz

The second time's the charm for Mario on film, as Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy and a delectably villainous Jack Black voice a digital fairy tale that connects.

By Owen Gleiberman

Owen Gleiberman

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Mario just wants to rescue his brother, but then he meets Princess Peach ( Anya Taylor-Joy ), who rules over the Mushroom Kingdom’s denizens, who have spherical mushroom heads and the faces of airbrushed babies; they’re led by Toad (Keegan-Michael Key), a cuddlebug with attitude. Mario then teams up with Princess Peach to save her kingdom from Bowser, a fire-breathing beastie who commands a vast army of Koopas, who are turtles. Bowser is a turtle too, if a rather monstrous one — he’s like a fusion of Lionel Barrymore, the Wayland Flowers puppet Madame, and, a T. Rex plushie made for toddlers.

Jack Black , who voices this horny demon, gives a stupendous performance. Bowser is in love with Princess Peach, even as he’s planning to attack her empire, and Black, conjuring something very different from his usual hipster-stoner vibe, makes Bowser a domineering but deeply insecure romantic, like the Phantom of Opera as a neurotic troglodyte. Having a villain who’s a vulnerable ogre you’re at once appalled, amused, and fascinated by makes this a very different sort of kinetic kiddie fantasia. When Bowser is onscreen with his flaming red eyebrows and S&M arm bands, his gap-toothed reptile leer, his Meat Loaf-meets-Axl Rose soft-rock odes to Peach, and his nerd’s megalomania, the audience is in heaven.

There’s a way that mainstream animation, not to mention my own taste in it, has been evolving. So much of it has become rote, with an empty fractious dazzle that doesn’t ultimately sustain interest. And the Pixar brand, much as it saddens me to say it, has in recent years lost some of its humanistic luster. The animated movies I’ve been most drawn to have been off the Pixar grid — movies like “Trolls” and “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” which merge a kind of kinetic virtuosity with an emotional flair that sneaks up on you. I’d put “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” in that camp. It’s going to be a huge, huge hit, but not just because of its beloved gamer pedigree. (That didn’t help “Super Mario Bros.” in 1993.) It’s because the movie, as directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic (from a script by Matthew Fogel), is a serious blast, with a spark of enchantment — that je ne sais quoi fusion of speed and trickery, magic and sophistication, and sheer play that…well, you feel it when you see it.

There have been approximately 50 movies based on video games, and most of them are terrible. I’ve had limited patience even for the ones that “work,” like the coolly depersonalized “Resident Evil” series or that first “Lara Croft” film. It’s not that I’m hostile to video games; it’s that the game and film mediums are so different. Then again, not all video games are the same — the funky nihilist hellscapes of Grand Theft Auto couldn’t be further removed from the interactive innocence of the Mario franchise. Mario presides over a digital playground that lifts the spirit to a place of split-second wonder, and “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” stays true to that. Its ingenuity is infectious. You don’t have to be a Mario fan to respond to it, but the film is going to remind the millions who are why they call it a joystick.

Reviewed at AMC Lincoln Square, April 3, 2023. MPA Rating: PG. Running time: 92 MIN.

• Production: A Universal Pictures release of an Illumination, Nintendo, Universal production. Producers: Chris Meledandri, Shigeru Miyamoto.
• Crew: Directors: Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic. Screenplay: Matthew Fogel. Editor: Eric E. Osmond. Music: Koji Kondo, Brian Tyler.
• With: Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key, Seth Rogen, Fred Armisen, Sebastian Maniscalco, Charles Martinet, Kevin Michael Richardson.

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The Super Mario Bros. Movie review: This faithful adaptation often feels like a cutscene

The new animated film — featuring the voices of Chris Pratt, Charlie Day, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jack Black, and more — faithfully recreates the look and feel of Nintendo's games.

Christian Holub is a writer covering comics and other geeky pop culture. He's still mad about 'Firefly' getting canceled.

Movies and video games have changed a lot since the last time Mario and Luigi were on the big screen. When Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo played the titular roles in 1993's Super Mario Bros ., the concept of adaptation was very loose: The idea wasn't to replicate the experience of playing a Mario video game but rather to build an original story for a different medium with some of the same names and characters. Decades later, viewers have come to expect much more faithful translations. And so we have a new Super Mario Bros. Movie , which looks and feels much closer to Nintendo's iconic games — but, as a result, often feels like an extended cutscene.

The new animated movie from directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic ( Teen Titans Go! To The Movies ) opens with twin brothers Mario ( Chris Pratt ) and Luigi ( Charlie Day ) working together as plumbers in a Brooklyn somewhat like our own. They suddenly get transported to another realm, where the warlord Bowser ( Jack Black ) is on the warpath against the Mushroom Kingdom ruled by Princess Peach ( Anya Taylor-Joy ). While Luigi ends up captured by Bowser's soldiers, Mario finds himself embedded with Peach and her Toads as they try to build a resistance movement.

Despite the storied iconography of these characters, The Super Mario Bros. Movie infuses them all with distinctly modern characterizations. Instead of being a helpless damsel, Peach is an incredibly skilled and capable warrior-ruler who runs circles around the male characters. A female protagonist for the Rey generation, this princess hardly needs rescuing; her goal is to protect her mushroom-headed subjects from Bowser's wrath, while Mario just wants to save his brother. Donkey Kong ( Seth Rogen ) has the muscles to impress a colosseum crowd but remains desperate for the approval of his kingly father — he comes off like Succession 's Kendall Roy in a red tie.

Bowser, meanwhile, is portrayed as a lovesick playground bully who only knows how to express his unrequited affection for the princess by invading her kingdom. Black's performance is the standout of this voice cast (which makes sense given his years of experience in the Kung Fu Panda franchise), and Bowser's many parody songs expressing his love for Peach make great use of the Tenacious D vocalist's unique skills.

When Peach and Mario are preparing to face off against Bowser, they basically play a classic Super Mario game: running across pipes and girders, grabbing power-up mushrooms, the works. But this movie takes just as much from other Mario-involved games like Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart . Peach's characterization is clearly influenced by modern archetypes of strong female protagonists, but it also fits perfectly for people who grow up playing her in Smash , where she is more than capable of beating up Bowser or Donkey Kong. The Mario Kart homage is more explicit, and the heroes' race against Bowser's Koopas down Rainbow Road joins the coconut pirates sequence from Moana in the amusing lineage of "kids' movie homages to Mad Max: Fury Road ."

It's all quite fun, with a good sense of humor and a consistent computer-animated aesthetic — plus, at 90 minutes including credits, it's short, sweet, and over before anything can get annoying. But it's hard to escape the feeling, especially during the aforementioned Rainbow Road sequence, that you would probably be having more fun just playing a game together instead. Grade: B-

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The Super Mario Bros. Movie Review

07 Apr 2023

The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)

The last time Mario — the lovably high-voiced moustachioed Italian plumber, and the most iconic name in video games — starred in a film, it bombed so badly that Nintendo waited 30 years before giving their mascot another crack at the big screen. Now something of an oddball cult classic, the 1993 Bob Hoskins -starring live-action version was both a strangely realistic take on the game (Mario is fixing broken dishwashers and worrying about paying rent)  and bafflingly outlandish (it is partly set in a dino-steampunk parallel dimension), bearing only tangential resemblance to the source material. This lively new animated version, on the other hand, is deeply faithful — to a fault.

This is exactly what you might expect from a Super Mario Bros. movie. It’s like a greatest hits parade of the franchise: there’s the rainbow road from  Mario Kart , the spooky house from  Luigi’s Mansion , the New Donk City level from  Super Mario Odyssey , the moons from  Super Mario Galaxy , and more obscure Easter Eggs besides (listen out for the GameCube start-up sound). The story borrows mechanics and terminology from the game, too: there are power-ups, blue shells and a side-scrolling mission. Brian Tyler’s score never misses an opportunity to borrow some of Koji Kondo’s gloriously recognisable musical motifs, either.

It’s-a-gonna win many box-office gold coins, no doubt. But the Bob Hoskins version is far more imaginative.

It’s all laser-designed to tickle the nostalgia adenoids of Nintendo nerds. But it ultimately never feels more than just a very high-definition, feature-length video game cutscene – the bit you sit through while waiting to play the actual game. While a training montage sequence hints at the repetitive trial-and-error of the original NES title, what follows only confirms that the real joy of these games was, first and foremost, the gorgeously designed, addictively satisfying gameplay.

Without that here, we’re left only with the characters, which are as thin as an 8-bit image file, and, with the possible exception of Jack Black (who brings a Tenacious D energy to his Bowser), entirely miscast. There’s an admirable attempt to explain this away, but in a world where everyone already knows exactly what Mario sounds like — the movie itself even reminds us, in a cameo from long-standing voice actor Charles Martinet — Chris Pratt ’s take simply doesn’t sound like Mario. (The Mario family as a whole, incidentally, are the most egregious Italian stereotypes to be seen this side of a Dolmio advert; how many “Mamma Mia!”s does it take to constitute a hate crime?)

This comes from Illumination, a studio that never quite earned the critical cred of rivals like Pixar or Cartoon Saloon, but through their  Minions  and  Sing  franchises have certainly figured out how to make millions of family-friendly dollars. You feel that half-term hymn sheet being sung from in the endless peril, the bright colours, the largely unfunny gags, the empty sentiment (“Nothing can hurt us as long as we’re together!”). The studio brings experience and talent; the standard of animation, crisply rendered and richly art-directed, is undeniably high. It’s-a-gonna win many box-office gold coins, no doubt. But the Bob Hoskins version is, if nothing else, far more imaginative.

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‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ Review: Chris Pratt Gives Iconic Gamer A Charming Toon-Up For The Big Screen

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Widely considered to be one of the greatest video game franchises ever, Super Mario Bros . is an iconic, generation-spanning success that has taken on many iterations to always keep up with the times. One area in which it failed miserably was the 1993 live-action film version that starred Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo as Mario and Luigi, Brooklyn-based plumbers who go on a fantastical adventure. It was a critical and commercial flop, though it managed to find some bit of a cult following in the ensuing decades.

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A Japanese anime version of Super Mario in 1987 was perhaps the first, or at least one of the first, movie adaptations of a video game, however modest that hourlong effort was. This time all the bells and whistles are there with a star voice cast that includes Chris Pratt as Mario and the irrepressible Charlie Day as younger brother Luigi, two New York Lower Borough-based plumbers from an Italian family that perhaps doesn’t appreciate their talents as much as they should. Stumbling into a crisis situation that requires a quick fix on bursting water pipes in the street, they instead are swept throughout the labyrinth of those pipes and spilled out into another world, much like when Alice went down the rabbit hole.

While Mario finds himself landing in the colorful and friendly Mushroom Kingdom, brother Luigi is in for something completely terrifying as he has been swept into the Dark Lands, where ruling King of Koopas, fearsome giant turtle Bowser ( Jack Black ), enlists him, by threat of death, in his quest to marry Princess Peach ( Anya Taylor-Joy ) in order to capture her Mushroom Kingdom and rule the world. Fortunately, Mario is on the case and helped by the cheerful resident Toad (Keegan-Michael Key), who befriends him and introduces him to the princess. They team up to stop Bowser in his tracks and rescue Luigi. Joining them eventually is Donkey Kong (of course), voiced amusingly by Seth Rogen , an enthusiastic and skilled citizen of the Jungle Kingdom and Kong Army run by his weary father Cranky Kong (Fred Armisen). In a battle to the death, Mario has to prove his worth to all before they will team for the ultimate battle that is a staple of this sort of entertainment these days.

All of this is immensely likable and loaded with laughs, if not raging wit. Having the likes of Black and Rogen in the voice cast definitely ups the ante of some stabs at subversive humor, and all seem to be enjoying this stint, which definitely is set up for sequels as Mario and Luigi are about to start a new act in their long careers. The CGI animation goes big for bright colors juxtaposed with the ominous Dark Lands, and the film is helped immensely by a zippy and lilting musical score from Brian Tyler. As proof of the filmmakers’ attempts to be true to their source, there is even room for Charles Martinet, original voice of Mario and Luigi video games for the past three decades.

Producers are Illumination’s Chris Meledandri and Mario creator and Nintendo’s Representative Director and Fellow Shigeru Miyamoto. Universal releases it Wednesday in theaters.

Title: The Super Mario Bros. Movie Studio: Universal/Illumination Release date: April 5, 2023 Directors: Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic Screenwriter: Matthew Fogel Cast: Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key, Seth Rogen, Fred Armisen Rating: PG Running time: 1hr 32 min

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‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ Review: It’s-a Everything You Could Hope for From a Mario Movie

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Nearly thirty years ago, Nintendo made their first attempt at bringing their most iconic character to the movies with Super Mario Bros. , an unusual, gritty, and vaguely surrealistic take on the plumbing brothers Mario and Luigi as they made the journey from New York City to the Mushroom Kingdom. While the film is nowhere near as terrible as its reputation has led us to believe, the failure of that film caused Nintendo to be far more guarded about their properties, holding an iron grip on the rights to these video game characters for decades. Until now. If 1993’s Super Mario Bros. was a strange envisioning of what this video game world would look like, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is the exact opposite: a colorful adventure brimming with references, a joyous celebration of this franchise’s history and the history of early Nintendo, and one of the best kids films in recent years.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie introduces us to Mario (voiced by Chris Pratt ) and Luigi ( Charlie Day ), two brothers in Brooklyn who are attempting to start their own plumbing business. Despite their family and others not having faith in the brothers, they’re optimistic in their venture, knowing that if they have each other, everything will be okay. After a plumbing incident threatens to leave Brooklyn covered in water, the brothers hit the sewers to try and fix the leak and make a name for themselves. But instead, Mario and Luigi end up in the Mushroom Kingdom, separated from each other during a dangerous time for the strange land.

Bowser ( Jack Black ) has gained a Super Star, which makes him invincible, and with this new power, he plans on heading to the Mushroom Kingdom with the plan of proposing to Princess Peach ( Anya Taylor-Joy ), so the two can rule the kingdoms together. With the help of a bold Toad ( Keegan-Michael Key ), Mario meets Peach, who is readying to fight back against Bowser, as Mario attempts to find his brother, who has become caught in Bowser’s grasp.

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From the very beginning, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is bursting with love for this series that many of us have grown up with. The Super Mario Bros. Movie is made by filmmakers who have excelled at this type of animated films that become almost like open playgrounds, as co-director Aaron Horvath (alongside Michael Jelenic ) also co-directed 2018’s Teen Titans Go! To the Movies , while writer Matt Vogel also wrote The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part . Obviously, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is in many ways a feature-length advertisement for Nintendo as a brand. However, Jelenic, Horvath, and Vogel make this feel more like a labor of love, as they’ve been given the keys to the (Mushroom) kingdom, and are allowed to go all-in with what any fan would want to see in a film like this. In many ways, The Super Mario Bros. Movie reminds of Wreck-It Ralph and the glee that came from seeing these characters on screen.

It’s also impressive how much The Super Mario Bros. Movie is able to fit into this narrative, from making the 1984 video game Wrecking Crew part of Mario’s story, referencing nearly every Mario game since the character’s creation, and even bringing the entire Donkey Kong crew into the mix (including the brilliant choice of having Seth Rogen as the voice of Donkey Kong) without feeling shoehorned in. It’s hard to imagine a film attempting to put as much into The Super Mario Bros. Movie as this film does, without making it feel overwhelmingly stuffed, while also doing the narrative justice in a way that doesn’t just feel like a reference-fest. Vogel is asked to juggle an insane amount of elements here, and yet, he’s able to make all these parts come together in a satisfying way.

Also bringing this world to life is a strong voice cast that are perfect fits for these classic characters. Sorry to disappoint, but Pratt is a good choice for Mario, finding just the right amount of inflection for the character and without sounding like little more than a collection of the character’s famous lines. Charlie Day is also an excellent choice for Mario’s nervous brother, Luigi, yet the character, unfortunately, doesn’t have enough to do—especially once he’s captured by Bowser early on. The same goes for Keegan-Michael Key’s Toad, who is along for the adventure, but rarely adds much to the proceedings. Seth Rogen is also brilliant as Donkey Kong, as he’s basically just presented as “what if Donkey Kong sounded exactly like Seth Rogen, including his laugh?” But the real standout here is Jack Black as Bowser. His penchant for the grandiose makes him the perfect choice for the character. He can be big and intimidating, but he can also sing love songs dedicated to Peach without it seeming out of character. To be fair, there’s not a lot of nuance to these characters, but Black’s performance makes Bowser more than just a villain to be toppled.

As you might be able to tell, I’m a huge fan of Mario and these characters, and some of my earliest memories are of playing these games. Like many people over the last few decades, I have grown up with Mario and Nintendo, and for fans, this feels like the film that they wished the 1993 film would’ve been. It’s great to see Illumination knock this out of the park, because it truly seems like without this film working, it might be another 30 years before Nintendo even attempted another movie. The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a jubilant celebration of Mario’s legacy and shows just how much there is to explore in these video game worlds. For 100-minutes straight, I had a smile on my face throughout The Super Mario Bros. Movie .

But what about the viewers who didn’t grow up with Mario, who aren’t going into this animated adventure already primed to love this world? The Super Mario Bros. Movie might be a little light on plot and character development for the uninitiated, but it makes up for it with bright, fun worlds, surprisingly solid jokes, and a charm that rivals Illumination’s previous films. But considering the source material, it is sort of wonderful how much plot and character The Super Mario Bros. Movie is able to deliver on, and while this experience might not be ideal for those who aren’t already familiar with this character, the humor and the vibrant worlds should be enough to make this an enjoyable experience.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie isn’t perfect, but as a kid who grew up watching The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! and Super Mario Bros ., hoping that they’d one day get this character right in a different medium, this is sort of a dream come true of a film. The Super Mario Bros. Movie captures the spirit of the games, the deep history, and the incredible possibilities that these games have presented for decades, all in one of the most fun animated films in years, with a team behind it that you can feel loves these characters and this world.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie comes to theaters on April 5.

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• The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)

Super Mario Bros. MOVIE Reviews: What Are Critics' First Reactions?

The embargo for critics' social media reactions to The Super Mario Bros. Movie lifted, leading to the first reviews surfacing. 

Video game movies have long been held in a rather negative light, but that perception has finally begun to shift after heavily praised adaptations of The Last of Us , Sonic the Hedgehog , and more.

Coming up to bat next is The Super Mario Bros. Movie , bringing with it one of the most surprising, all-star voice cast ever for what has recently been revealed to be a relatively short first movie in, what could be, a new big-screen franchise.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie Early Reviews Released

The first critics' reactions to The Super Mario Bros Movie emerged online, with these early reviews painting a pretty great picture overall for fans of Nintendo's iconic Italian plumber.

Fandango's Erik Davis called the adaptation "the ultimate love letter to every era of Mario," putting particular praise on the humor and Jack Black's Bowser:

"Wahoo! 'The Super Mario Bros. Movie' is the ultimate love letter to every era of Mario. Loved the humor & especially Jack Black’s Bowser. I felt the same way watching the movie as I do playing the games. It’s just joyful. Also, stay for the credits!"

Gizmodo's Germain Lussier "really wanted to like it but did not." He criticized the flick as "overly goofy, bare-bones plot, filled [with] bad jokes:"

"I really wanted to like it but I did not. A few solid scenes capture the spirit of the game but mostly it's an overly goofy, bare-bones plot, filled w/ bad jokes & worse song choices. It looks great but I was more bored & annoyed than entertained."

Kinda Funny's Tim Gettys completely disagreed with any criticism of the music, going as far as to call it the "star of the show:"

"'The Super Mario Bros. Movie' was awesome. Teared up from hype more than once. The music is the star of the show. Nintendo fans are gonna be obsessed. I'm not sure ANY movie in history has ever had THIS MANY easter eggs. AND GOOD ONES!"

Isla Hinck praised the visuals and particularly how Anya Taylor-Joy's Princess Peach "is so cool in it:"

"Yo. 'The Super Mario Bros Movie' is awesome! So fun and so many nods! I loved it! And it's gorgeous! And Peach is so cool in it!"

GameXplain's Andre Segers called The Super Mario Bros. Movie "an utterly delightful thrill ride" that "nearly moved [him] to tears" even with its "somewhat shallow plot:"

"'The Super Mario Bros 'movie is an utterly delightful thrill ride that is as joyful as it is magical. It's a movie that is for Mario fans first, and despite a somewhat shallow narrative, is a blast. Nearly moved me to tears seeing Mario realized so beautifully."

Rendy Jones noted the "top-notch animation" and teased the "loving Easter eggs and cameos." He boiled the overall final product down to being "a Mario movie made by Illumination:"

"The Mario worlds are brought to life with top-notch animation and energetic action that will delight kids and fans. Full of loving Easter eggs and cameos. That said, it’s a Mario movie made by illumination and I’ll leave it at that."

Is the Mario Movie a Slam Dunk Win?

One thing every review seems to agree on is The Super Mario Bros. Movie managed to capture the essence of the franchise, which is certainly a good thing. Clearly, this is a true love letter to Mario that will reward fans with a plethora of Easter eggs - there are, at least, 33 classic characters appearing after all .

Generally, the reviews are in agreement the narrative is somewhat simple and perhaps not the deepest, but that should be of no surprise given its short runtime and young target audience. Clearly, what's there, combined with the humor and many Mario references, has been enough to enthrall most of these select critics. 

Although only Jack Black's Bowser and Anya Taylor-Joy's Peach were mentioned in these reviews as standouts, there was, fortunately, no particular criticism given to the rest of the cast. That will come as a relief to many given the widespread fear that an actor like Chris Pratt may not manage to pull off Mario .

Knowing all of this, it certainly seems the Mario movie will thrive with its biggest target audiences of younger children and die-hard fans of the Nintendo franchise. 

The Super Mario Bros. Movie hits theaters on April 5.

LATEST NEWS

Critics’ consensus on ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’? It’s a-mixed

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Opening weekend, here we come.

Reviews are officially in for Nintendo and Universal Pictures’ “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which hits theaters Wednesday and has generated quite a bit of buzz leading up to its Easter-weekend release.

The animated film based on the cherished video-game series of the same name boasts a star-studded voice cast, including Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong and Chris Pratt as Mario.

When the family flick was announced back in 2021, fans and social media users immediately questioned the decision to cast Pratt — who has been racking up credits in blockbuster movie franchises like item boxes in Mario Kart — as everyone’s favorite Italian plumber.

Review: ‘Wahoo!’ isn’t quite right for mildly amusing, hectic ‘Super Mario Bros. Movie’

‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie,’ starring Chris Pratt, is mildly amusing, swift, noisy and unrelentingly paced.

April 4, 2023

In her review for Tribune News Service, film critic Katie Walsh deemed Pratt and Day’s vocal performances as sibling duo Mario and Luigi “so unremarkable that it could have been anyone at all.”

“Fortunately, this loud, hectic movie doesn’t overstay its welcome, but it wouldn’t have the material to last a second longer,” Walsh writes .

“It’s bright, busy, inoffensive and exactly the opposite of the weird, dark, edgy 1993 movie adaptation. That may be better for the business of Mario, but it’s not exactly terribly interesting either.”

Here’s a sampling of reviews of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” ranging from “Oh, no!” to “Wahoo!”

Entertainment & Arts

Mario’s ‘dad’ Shigeru Miyamoto on ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ and watching his creation grow beyond him

We sit down with ‘Super Mario Bros.’ creator Shigero Miyamoto ahead of the opening of the new animated film.

April 5, 2023

Arizona Republic

“There are also plenty of Easter eggs to be enjoyed by gameplayers as well as humor that can be appreciated by adults ... and kids alike,” KiMi Robinson writes .

“Much credit goes to the cast for having so much fun with their characters; Charlie Day, for one, manages to infuse as much Charlie Day into Luigi as he does in any live action role. ... ‘The Super Mario Bros.’ is family-friendly movie theater catnip over the Easter weekend, and it’s sure to be an enjoyable watch for the average viewer.”

Associated Press

“It makes you ... want to play Mario,” Jake Coyle writes .

“As nice as it is to look at ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie,’ it’s not anywhere near as fun as it would be to play it. It’s a-him, Mario, but it’s no a-masterpiece. The storyline is only a touch above the interstitial bits of plot you usually get between gameplay. With the exception of Jack Black’s grandly lovesick Bowser ... there’s nothing here that deepens these characters beyond their usual 2-D adventures. Mario may be a modern-day Mickey Mouse but his kingdom is on the console.”

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“It’s all quite fun, with a good sense of humor and a consistent computer-animated aesthetic — plus, at 90 minutes including credits, it’s short, sweet, and over before anything can get annoying,” Christian Holub writes .

“But it’s hard to escape the feeling, especially during the ... Rainbow Road sequence, that you would probably be having more fun just playing a game together instead.”

Hollywood Reporter

“After the debacle that was the 1993 live-action Super Mario Brothers movie adaptation, the creators of the new animated version clearly felt the need to restore the faith of the wildly popular video game’s legions of fans,” Frank Scheck writes .

“While devoted players will weigh in on whether the film fulfills that goal sufficiently, The Super Mario Bros. Movie feels like a labor of love that should easily weather any nitpicking from purists. It should also prove a major cash cow for co-producers Nintendo, Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures, with sequels and spin-offs virtually guaranteed. While Matthew Fogel’s screenplay won’t win any awards, it builds a reasonable framework for the 90 minutes of nearly nonstop mayhem that ensues.”

‘Broken’ Chris Pratt jokes about checking out Katherine Schwarzenegger in church

‘Super Mario Bros.’ star Chris Pratt opens up about meeting wife Katherine Schwarzenegger at a time when he felt ‘broken.’ The two connected quickly.

“The movie’s mostly excellent use of its source material does contrast with some ill-advised blockbuster animation tropes which can occasionally be grating,” Tom Jorgensen writes .

“Moments like this — as well as the frequent use of slo-mo to highlight jokes — are a bit too cute, and hint at how easily The Super Mario Bros. Movie could’ve slipped into ‘generic animated movie’ territory had it given way to more of these low-hanging stabs at making sure Uncle Jack has his ‘I understood that reference!’ moment, too.”

Independent

“The Super Mario Bros. Movie ... is nothing more and nothing less than what you’d expect from a Mario film,” Clarisse Loughrey writes .

“Its comfortable mediocrity is no better captured than in its choice to cast Chris Pratt — the current face of generic, easy-to-market heroism — in the starring role. Pratt, it should be said, is perfectly capable of the sort of outsized performance Mario needed, having previously turned in himbos of equal, puppyish élan in The Lego Movie and Guardians of the Galaxy. But the Pratt called upon here is of the blandly sincere, hire-a-hero variety, delivering lines like ‘let’s-a-go!’ and ‘mamma mia!’ with all the vigour of a contractual obligation and not a trace of Italian.”

“From the decision to cast the onetime Least Offensive Actor on the Planet Chris Pratt in the titular role to the production design that seems to be an exact replica the Wii-era Mario games, ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ largely plays things by the book, which is exactly what the assignment called for,” Christian Zilko writes .

“Co-directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic have delivered a perfectly serviceable movie that is going to make a lot of kids very happy and a lot of adults very rich.”

New York Times

“While the details are meticulous, the attitude is all wrong, trading the simple, unaffected charm that has served the character so well since his introduction in 1981 for a snarky and fatuous air that leans hard on winking humor and bland, hackneyed irony,” Calum Marsh writes .

“This is Mario in the Marvel mold: every line a punchline, every gag an arcane meta reference for the nerds who can’t get enough of that sort of thing. Served some spaghetti with mushrooms, Mario winces and says he hates mushrooms. Because in the game he’s always eating mushrooms, you see. Sound like fun yet?”

“There’s a perfect Mario game for nearly every kind of person — which gives the little plumber and his endless incarnations the sort of magical appeal that every modern movie franchise is desperate for,” Joshua Rivera writes . “Illumination’s animated adventure The Super Mario Bros. Movie attempts to bottle that appeal, but mostly just ends up referencing it. ... The Super Mario Bros. Movie feels like it’s made to be screenshotted more than watched. Nearly every frame is packed with a dizzying number of Easter eggs and references to Mario games and other Nintendo franchises.

“Cataloging them all might be the most enjoyable way to watch the movie, because when it comes to regular movie things like plot and character, well, all that gets blue-shelled to hell. (If you got that reference, you’ll probably like this movie more than the average viewer.)”

Screen Rant

“Black’s performance is truly what makes Bowser sing, ensuring every scene featuring the villain is one of the movie’s highlights. Beyond Black, Day is also pitch perfect as Luigi and Rogen is extremely fun as Donkey Kong. Taylor-Joy and Key are good, if unmemorable as Peach and Toad,” Molly Freeman writes .

“Pratt, whose casting as Mario was met with skepticism, doesn’t make a strong case for why he was a good choice to voice such an iconic character. He’s simply fine — not so bad as to be distracting, but not strong enough to be at all interesting either, which is about the same as The Super Mario Bros. Movie as a whole.”

“It’s going to be a huge, huge hit, but not just because of its beloved gamer pedigree. (That didn’t help “Super Mario Bros.” in 1993)” Owen Gleiberman writes .

“It’s because the movie, as directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic (from a script by Matthew Fogel), is a serious blast, with a spark of enchantment — that je ne sais quoi fusion of speed and trickery, magic and sophistication, and sheer play that … well, you feel it when you see it.”

Washington Post

“The artistry is enough to keep children and adults watching. It may help that Mario gains power by eating mushrooms — a good message about healthy eating, on the one hand, yet one with an obvious psychedelic resonance at the same time,” Pat Padua writes .

“At its 8-bit heart, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” is ultimately about family. (You know, the people you spend time with when you’re not playing video games.)”

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The super mario bros. movie.

• Common Sense Says
• Parents Say 70 Reviews
• Kids Say 105 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

Colorful adventure is a bit more violent than the games.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Super Mario Bros. Movie is based on the hugely popular Nintendo video game/entertainment franchise. Mario (voiced by Chris Pratt) and Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) team up for a quest that involves elements from several of the games, including Donkey Kong , …

Why Age 7+?

Based on the hugely popular Nintendo video game/entertainment franchise. The sto

Fantasy animated action violence: missiles being shot, fingers being crushed in

Insulting, bullying language used to humiliate and put down main characters incl

Mario and Bowser both express romantic interest in Princess Peach. Some characte

True to the game, Mario eats magical mushrooms that give him temporary power.

Any Positive Content?

Perseverance, teamwork, and courage are important.

Mario stands up for himself and his brother when it comes to villains and those

Mario and Luigi are White, of Italian descent. The movie's take on their over-th

Products & Purchases

Based on the hugely popular Nintendo video game/entertainment franchise. The story weaves together various iterations of the video game and is essentially a commercial for the property. Extensive merchandising in conjunction with the film.

Violence & Scariness

Fantasy animated action violence: missiles being shot, fingers being crushed in a piano, talk of ritual sacrifices, chases in which characters are in peril. Extreme falls. Character put into intense pain through magic (they're never physically touched). One scary sequence plays like a horror movie, with skeleton zombies that have glowing red eyes chasing a terrified character, crawling out from the ground and eventually capturing him. Dog attack. Spaceship has horns and glowing red eyes. A menacing villain burns down a kingdom and threatens or attempts to kill positive and/or adorable characters. Mean, bullying behavior. Explosions. Adorable character is the voice of doom, making dark comments with the voice of a young child. Bowser's one-sided interest in marrying Peach is at the heart of the plot, and he uses violence against another to coerce her to agree to marry him.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Insulting, bullying language used to humiliate and put down main characters includes "idiot," "shut up," "stupid," "worthless," and "you're a joke." The ableist term "crazy" is used to describe a character.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Mario and Bowser both express romantic interest in Princess Peach. Some characters joke with Mario that she would never go out with him.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Positive Messages

Positive role models.

Mario stands up for himself and his brother when it comes to villains and those who bully others, and he doesn't let teasing or mean comments get the best of him. When it comes to achieving his goals, he puts in hard work and never stops trying. He also shows great courage when it comes to taking on a new world and obstacles. Princess Peach is brave, proactive, and relentless when it comes to defending her land and the creatures in it, putting their needs before her own. Mario and Peach have different goals but work together to achieve them.

Diverse Representations

Mario and Luigi are White, of Italian descent. The movie's take on their over-the-top Italian accents is that they're just for show, but Mario's time with his family reinforces some Italian American stereotypes. Though most of the actors who voice Mario's family are of Italian descent, Mario himself -- Chris Pratt -- is not. The movie's magical worlds feature almost all non-human creatures, but three Black actors voice key characters. Princess Peach is a skilled, brave female leader who leads an army to defend her kingdom. But as fierce and courageous as she is, she's the only female character in any of the lands and is portrayed as a love interest for both Bowser and Mario. In Brooklyn, a wealthy Black couple hire the Mario Bros. for a plumbing job. The creator and some film executives are Japanese.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Parents need to know that The Super Mario Bros. Movie is based on the hugely popular Nintendo video game/entertainment franchise . Mario (voiced by Chris Pratt ) and Princess Peach ( Anya Taylor-Joy ) team up for a quest that involves elements from several of the games, including Donkey Kong , Mario Kart , Super Mario 3D World , and more. The movie is a bit edgier than the games when it comes to cartoon violence, scares, and bullying. Expect missiles, explosions, a well-landed punch, and a plan to make "ritual sacrifices." While Mario and Peach are brave, they and other characters are often visibly panicked and are in constant peril from villain Bowser, who burns down the walls of a kingdom and issues deadly threats to those in his way. Some kids may be frightened by a scene in which Luigi is chased by zombie skeleton turtles with glowing red eyes that creep out of the ground en masse and eventually capture him. The Mario Bros. also hear a lot of insults and are the targets of bullying behavior by a former employer and get teased by family members ("idiot," "stupid," "shut up," etc.). And, of course, there are those magic mushrooms. But ultimately themes of perseverance, courage, and teamwork are clear. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Parent and Kid Reviews

• Parents say (70)
• Kids say (105)

Based on 70 parent reviews

Fun Loving Movie Minus any Agenda

Great movie for families super fun, goofy and no politics, what's the story.

In THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE, Brooklyn plumbers Mario (voiced by Chris Pratt ) and his younger brother, Luigi ( Charlie Day ), fall down a mysterious portal and wind up separated inside a magical world. Mario lands in the Mushroom Kingdom, which is ruled by Princess Peach ( Anya Taylor-Joy ), who's strategizing how to prevent her land from being conquered by the nefarious Bowser ( Jack Black ). When Mario realizes that Luigi has likely been taken prisoner by Bowser, he and Peach team up to save his brother and her people.

Is It Any Good?

Nintendo fans will feel like they grabbed a Super Star while watching this brightly colored magical adventure, which mashes several Mario games up into a full storyline. But for viewers who are less familiar, sitting through The Super Mario Bros. Movie may feel like watching a second grader play a Mario game: It's cute, but you can't help thinking about all the other things you could be doing with your time. Making movies based on video games that have beloved characters and a built-in fan base seems like a natural choice, but not many do it well (exceptions include Sonic the Hedgehog and Detective Pikachu ), and The Super Mario Bros. Movie doesn't depart from that norm.

While it is fun to see the brothers in their "real life" environment in Brooklyn -- working as plumbers and living at home with their big Italian family -- as well as how the filmmakers incorporate elements of the games, the film isn't funny or creative enough to satisfy most teens or adults. Moreover, the child-friendly animation style is a tad misleading, as directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic up the scare factor, making Bowser and his minions more terrifying than they need to be. There's plenty of excitement, nonstop action, and colorful images, but this project as a whole doesn't exactly level up.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how the cartoon action in The Super Mario Bros. Movie compares to that of others you've seen. Does this kind of violence have more or less impact than what's in live-action movies?

What moments did you recognize from the games? If you're a fan of the games, create your own story about Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach.

Talk about the behavior Mario and Luigi experience in Brooklyn. Is Spike bullying them? Is there a difference between that and how Mario's family speaks to the brothers? What's the difference between bullying and razzing, if there is one? What should you do if someone is trying to put you down?

How do Mario and Peach demonstrate perseverance, courage , and teamwork ? Why are these important character traits and life skills? Do you think video games teach you perseverance? Why, or why not?

Movie Details

• In theaters : April 5, 2023
• On DVD or streaming : June 13, 2023
• Cast : Chris Pratt , Anya Taylor-Joy , Charlie Day
• Directors : Aaron Horvath , Michael Jelenic
• Inclusion Information : Female actors, Latino actors
• Studio : Universal Pictures
• Genre : Family and Kids
• Topics : Princesses, Fairies, Mermaids, and More , Brothers and Sisters
• Character Strengths : Courage , Perseverance , Teamwork
• Run time : 92 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG
• MPAA explanation : action and mild violence
• Award : Kids' Choice Award
• Last updated : July 15, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

What to watch next.

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Wreck-It Ralph

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury

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Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

Review: 'The Super Mario Bros. Movie' is the next best thing to playing the actual game

Critics jeered, but audiences came in droves.

When "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" opened in theaters earlier this month, the experts were ready to count out the computer-animated film as another disposable video-game byproduct like the colossally awful, 1993 live-action take on the 1985 Nintendo game. Not so fast.

Critics jeered, but audiences came in droves. Having already cleaned up with more than $700 million worldwide, "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" is now the biggest box-office hit of 2023, setting records for the largest global opening ever for an animated film. How far can it go? Do I hear a billion? Easy.

What happened? Parents starved for family entertainment, that's what happened. There's also the fact that "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" is way more fun even for non-gamers than skeptics predicted. Repeat business is off the charts. So get over your hesitation and jump aboard.

Don't expect miracles. Even at 93 minutes, the movie can drift into dull and derivative. Still, I think it's an asset that "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" is aimed at 5-year-olds of all ages, meaning the child in all of us. Look elsewhere, maybe "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves," for winking adult references. It's the dedication to silliness that makes "Mario" such an impish delight.

As directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, from a script by Matthew Fogel, the film doesn't even try to reinvent the genre. It only wants to capture enough of the joystick energy of the game to cover the sins of merch pedaling and thin plotting and characterization.

MORE: 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' review: Tom Holland is better than ever in this thrill-a-minute whirlwind

Fears about ethnic stereotyping emerged from the voice casting of non-Italian Chris Pratt as Mario. Relax. Pratt uses his own voice to play the mustachioed Italian plumber in overalls. Ditto Charlie Day as his shy brother Luigi. Both put on exaggerated Italian accents in a TV ad for the bros' Brooklyn plumbing business, then revert to normal. Problem solved? Pretty much.

Trouble starts immediately as Mario and Luigi go underground to fix a manhole leak and are sucked into a warp pipe that sends them into two separate universes. Mario lands in the Mushroom Kingdom, ruled by Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy in fine, frisky form).

Poor Luigi is zapped into the Dark Lands controlled by the evil King Koopa, Bowser, a kind of demonic turtle with red eyebrows who finds the perfect verbal pairing in wild man Jack Black. Bowser yearns for Princess Peach and will destroy her kingdom if she refuses to marry him.

MORE: Review: 'M3gan' is a miracle of modern horror cinema that leaves you reeling

Mario, who is also hot for Peach, can't have that, plus he needs to rescue Luigi from Bowser and form an alliance with the Kong family of gorillas by showing that he -- even in a cat suit -- can win a fight with the king's son Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen doing a great Seth Rogen).

Got that? No matter. The plot is just a flimsy excuse to have these characters mix it up one more time on the big screen. Live action can't cut it. The first "Mario" movie proved that by staying rigidly earthbound.

The real secret behind the unexpected and staggering success of "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" is animation, which niftily catches the anarchy of gaming. It creates the illusion that anything is possible. It's also the next best thing to playing the actual game, which continues to thrive and multiply.

Can the movie spawn its own hive of sequels? Two words: Game on.

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Everything We Know

Everything we know about the super mario bros. movie, we break down all the details, including who made it, who's in it, what the story might be, and what this could mean for the future of video game adaptations..

TAGGED AS: movies

Video game adaptations sure are leveling up this year, if you’ll forgive the pun. HBO’s take on The Last of Us got the year off to a good start, but this spring, the most iconic video game character of all will be making the jump (pun also intended) to the cinema. The Super Mario Bros. Movie , from Illumination and Universal Pictures in collaboration with Nintendo, will stomp into theaters on April 5, 2023.

If you have questions about The Super Mario Bros. Movie , allow us to answer them as if we were punching a big floating “?” block. Let’s-a go!

The Cast is Mostly A-List Actors

(Photo by Jon Kopaloff, Phillip Faraone, Samir Hussein, Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Nintendo announced the cast of The Super Mario Bros. Movie in September 2021, with Super Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto revealing the news during a Nintendo Direct event — one of the gaming company’s regularly streamed preview presentations. Mario is a man of few words in the games; Charles Martinet has voiced the character since 1992, but “It’s-a me, Mario!” isn’t quite enough dialogue to fill a feature-length script. A new, more talkative voice actor was required.

But when Miyamoto revealed that Mario would be voiced by Chris Pratt , there was some outcry. The Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World star has done voice work before — he’s quite good in The LEGO Movie and Onward — but there were criticisms that he was overexposed as an actor and that his Mario voice would probably just end up sounding like… Chris Pratt. Your mileage may vary on the first point, but when trailers for the movie came out, it was confirmed that Mario does indeed sound like Chris Pratt in this film. Meanwhile, Martinet will still feature in the film in what’s been described as surprise cameos.

(Photo by Universal Pictures)

The rest of the cast is less controversial. Anya Taylor-Joy , star of The Witch , The Northman , and Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit , voices Princess Peach. The movie, as with more recent games in the Mario series, gives Peach more agency as a capable leader of Mushroom Kingdom rather than just relegating her status to a damsel in distress. Charlie Day of It’s Always Sunny in Philidelphia , Pacific Rim , and The LEGO Movie (in which he co-starred with Pratt) plays Luigi, Mario’s younger, green-clad brother. Day’s on-screen persona tends to lean towards the manic, which should be a good fit for Luigi. Jack Black voices Bowser, Mario’s archenemy and frequent kidnapper of Princess Peach. Based on early reactions to the trailers, Black’s take on King Koopa looks poised to be a highlight of the film, as he’s imbuing the character with a good mixture of menace, bluster, and comedy.

Keegan-Michael Key ( Key & Peele , Wendell and Wild ) voices Toad, Peach’s dutiful but oft-hapless assistant. Seth Rogen voices Donkey Kong, who was technically Mario’s first villain when they both made their debut in the 1981 arcade game, but they’ve since become allies — or at least acquaintances who go-kart and party together. Fred Armisen voices Cranky Kong, an elderly and, well, cranky member of Donkey Kong’s family. Comedian Sebastian Maniscalco voices Foreman Spike, a relatively obscure Mario character who made his debut as Mario and Luigi’s boss in the 1985 game Wrecking Crew . Kevin Michael Richardson , a veteran voice actor, lends his pipes to the role of Kamek, Bowser’s magic-using right-hand man — err, koopa — and Khary Payton voices the Penguin King, the monarch of a chilly land that Bowser conquers.

The Plot Does Not Seem to Be Based on Any One Mario Game

Typically speaking, the Super Mario games are not known for having deep, complex plots. There are exceptions — the Paper Mario series of RPGs are fairly lore-dense — but for the most part, the mainline platformer games are pretty bare-bones: Mario must find peach and defeat Bowser. The spin-off games are devoid of a plot. (Mario and Bowser and Co. race go-karts because of… reasons?) The Super Mario Bros. Movie , based on the trailers, seems to be adding a little more context to the basic premise while also drawing in lots of video game Easter eggs.

Bowser is attempting to conquer the world, as one does, and once he obtains a Super Star (the sort that makes Mario temporarily invincible in the games), he has the power he’ll need to do so. Only Mario — who it appears is a newcomer to Mushroom Kingdom — stands in his way. As a character, Mario is said to be an Italian plumber from New York City, but most games don’t really engage with his supposed real-world background or hometown. He just jumps around and plays golf and tennis in Mushroom Kingdom. It seems like the movie’s Mario hails from a place that’s more like our real world and less fantastical than Mushroom Kingdom, but it’s unclear exactly where he’s from.

Upon arriving in Mushroom Kingdom, Mario meets Toad and is taken to Princess Peach, who attempts to train Mario in order to face off with Bowser. There are Yoshis, a Super Smash Bros. -like duel with Donkey Kong, and a Mad Max -esque chase down Rainbow Road, a classic course from the Mario Kart games.

This Is Not the First Mario Movie

(Photo by ©Buena Vista Pictures)

There have actually been two movies based on Mario before this one. In 1986, the anime film Super Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach! opened in Japan. It’s notable for being the first film ever that was based on a video game, though it technically shares the honor because Running Boy: Star Soldier’s Secret , another video game adaptation, came out on the very same day. The plot follows Mario as he’s sucked into the video game he’s playing, an early example of what’s now known as the isekai genre.

Western audiences are probably more familiar with 1993’s live-action Super Mario Bros. , which is either a cult classic or one of the worst films ever made, depending on who you ask. Starring Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo as the titular Bros. and Dennis Hopper as Bowser, the film drastically altered the basic Mario story, reimagining King Koopa as a highly evolved dinosaur from a parallel world that first formed when a special meteor hit the earth. It’s a mess, albeit one that’s not without its charms, but its commercial and critical failure is reportedly part of the reason it’s taken so long for Nintendo to allow more film adaptations. Nintendo worked with Universal Parks & Resorts to build Mario-themed lands at Universal’s theme parks, and that relationship helped lead to the upcoming feature film.

Talk of a new movie began in the mid-2010s and production began in earnest in 2018 when Shigeru Miyamoto and Illumination founder Chris Meledandri were confirmed as co-producers. The film is directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic ; Horvath oversaw Teen Titans Go! to the Movies , while The Super Mario Bros. Movie marks Jelenic’s feature film debut.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie Could Be Just the Beginning

Nintendo saw some big-screen success in 2019 with the release of Pokémon Detective Pikachu , a live-action adaptation of a Pokémon spin-off game. Should The Super Mario Bros. movie be a success, there will probably be even more adaptations, and Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa has said as much. There are already (unconfirmed) reports that Illumination is prepping a Donkey Kong spin-off, but there are so many Nintendo IPs that could easily become movies. The Legend of Zelda ? Metroid ? Star Fox ? Fire Emblem ? And imagine them all coming together in an Avengers -style crossover (too much?). It could be the start of a new wave of video game adaptations, one that could finally disprove the conventional wisdom that all video game adaptations are bad.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie opens in US theaters on April 5, 2023, and it will open in Japan shortly afterward on April 28.

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A Dr. Mario Love Story

By Alan Ng | August 19, 2024

Finally, a love story for us nerds. Mark Scheetz’s documentary, A Dr. Mario Love Story , follows the love story of Mark’s good friend, Dana, and his wife, Rachel, as they compete at the Dr. Mario Championship tournament in Columbus, Ohio.

Dana and Rachel were meant for each other. He proposed after finishing a game of Dr. Mario on the Nintendo. Today, they live in a rural home with a large yard to grow vegetables and raise ducks with their daughter.

Since their meeting, Dana’s obsession with Dr. Mario has bled over Rachel. Dana sees Dr. Mario as the only game the two can play where they mentally spar with one another at an equal level. For the uninitiated like me, Dr. Mario is a puzzle video game in which players must match and align colored pills with viruses in a row to eliminate them. Like Tetris, the challenge is to clear the screen before viruses overtake the play area.

“Since their meeting, Dana’s obsession with Dr. Mario has bled over Rachel…”

Having thought about competing in the past, this is the first year that Dana and Rachel have both felt ready to compete. As the pair practice intensely against one another, their only daughter sometimes feels a bit left out. The time has come as the Sink family heads to the Torg Gaming Expo in Columbus. Day 1 of the competition is about weeding out the less serious players, and in their first-ever competition, the Sinks will soon learn how serious they are.

A Dr. Mario Love Story is the story that nerds have longed for. It’s about a couple in love and video games. The film plays well because Dana and Rachel Sink are such an endearing couple. Dana describes himself as a competitive person, which Rachel finds attractive. Their bond over Dr. Mario is sweet. As much as Dana wants to win the competition, he reiterates that if Rachel wins, he wins…but Dana wants to win.

Scheetz’s documentary primarily consists of talking-head interviews with the couple and a great deal of BTS footage of their home life. As their trip begins, the story becomes a video journal. The film may not be ESPN quality, but Scheetz definitely tells a charming story.

In A Dr. Mario Love Story , Scheetz captures the sweet, competitive spirit of a couple whose love is as enduring as their high scores. It’s a heartwarming tale that reminds us all that sometimes, the best games are the ones we play together. Nerds in love rejoice. This documentary will have you cheering for Dana and Rachel every step of the way.

A Dr. Mario Love Story (2024)

Directed and Written: Mark Scheetz

Starring: Dana Sink, Rachel Sink, etc.

Movie score: 8/10

"…Finally, a love story for us nerds."

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You can ai-generate netflix’s ‘the union’ plot, but it’s actually better.

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Looking for something, anything to watch on Netflix this weekend, my wife and I settled on The Union, an action spy film laced with some amount of comedy starring Mark Wahlberg and Halle Berry.

It was not good. The Union felt generic on a level I had not seen in some time, and middling-to-poor critic and audience reviews seemed to say the same. When I watched it, it felt to me like this wasn’t just a film borne out of the Netflix algorithm which combines concepts and actors to films they think people would want to watch, it felt like something that could be replicated through AI, in an age where AI can indeed generate entire movie structures, albeit not very good ones. But again, The Union is not very good.

Out of curiosity I entered the following single-sentence concept into ChatGPT to see how similar the two would be. This is the very first prompt I entered, I did not re-run it in order to try and get a more similar storyline:

“Generate a plotline for a movie about a blue collar worker who is hired to be a spy for a secret non-government agency.”

The movie it came up with is “The Fixer,” described as “A skilled mechanic is unexpectedly recruited by a mysterious non-government agency to become a spy. As he navigates the dangerous world of espionage, he must rely on his blue-collar instincts and resourcefulness to stay alive and uncover the truth behind a global conspiracy.”

Given how generic the film is, the AI comes up with close to identical plot points in some instances, such as:

“One evening, after closing the shop, Joe receives an unusual visitor: Maya Davis, a sophisticated and enigmatic woman who claims to represent a secretive non-government agency known as The Network. She tells Joe that they have been watching him for a while and that his mechanical skills, sharp mind, and ability to think on his feet make him an ideal candidate for a dangerous assignment.”

This mirrors how Wahlberg is recruited in the film, the main difference being Halle Berry, his recruiter, is his ex-girlfriend from decades ago. The AI plot says he initially refuses, and he does in the film, before joining. Next up:

The Best Gaming Laptops Under $1,000: Boost Your Games For Less

“Joe undergoes a crash course in espionage—learning the basics of combat, surveillance, and high-tech gadgets—but he's no smooth James Bond. Instead, he approaches his new role like a mechanic solving a problem, using his hands-on skills and blue-collar intuition.”

Again, exactly what happens in the film, a montage of Wahlberg learning various spy things despite no formal training any time before this.

“He is partnered with Maya, who becomes both his handler and mentor. Together, they uncover a plot involving corrupt global corporations, cyber-terrorists, and rogue intelligence officers who are selling military secrets to the highest bidder.”

Exactly what happens in the film. An important hard drive is stolen containing the name of every soldier to agent in the US and there is a literal auction to sell it the highest bidder.

“As Joe delves deeper into this world of espionage, he begins to understand that he is a pawn in a much larger game. However, he soon discovers that The Network itself may not be as noble as it seems, and their true motives are shrouded in secrecy.”

The Union is in fact said to be run by a corrupt leader in a plot turn, albeit that reverses itself soon when a seemingly dead-agent is found to be a traitor in their midst and has orchestrated this thing. But the call is still coming from inside the house.

There are actually better developments in the AI script, including:

• Joe is given a daughter, giving him actual stakes in the story rather than “Wahlberg has nothing better to do” which is why he joins The Union in the film.
• There is real moral conflict here as Joe wrestles with whether he’s made the right decision to apply his skills to this somewhat murky organization. Wahlberg does none of that.
• The end of the AI film has Joe actually walk away from The Network as he believes it’s ultimately too dangerous for his family, but he has money to make a better life for them now. This did not happen in the film as Wahlberg stays on with The Union as the film very much seems to aim for a sequel.

I do not think that The Union actually was written by an AI, but it’s so generic, an AI that uses very generic plot points for a movie like this is able to recreate an extremely similar, actually better in some parts version of the story. And clearly Netflix needs to hold itself to a higher standard, no matter what movie stars they jam into films like this.

Follow me on Twitter , YouTube , and Instagram .

Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy .

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