The Super Mario Bros Movie Review

by Fanboy SEO · Published April 19, 2023 · Updated June 25, 2024

Here’s my The Super Mario Bros Movie Review which is distributed by Universal Pictures PH and stars Chris Pratt, Charlie Day, Jack Black, Anya Taylor Joy and more! The film is directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic!

Spoilers abound!

spoiler alert photo

SKIP this part if you don’t want spoilers

This film is a perfect adaptation of the game Super Mario Bros and features the voices of Hollywood A-listers like Chris Pratt as Mario, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Jack Black as Bowser, Charlie Day as Luigi, Keegan Michael Keye as Toad and Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong.

The film gets into high gear when Mario and Luigi respond to an flooding emergency, get sucked in a green mysterious tube down in the sewers of Brooklyn and get separated. Meanwhile Jack Black’s Bowser has stolen the Super Star and is now set on conquering the Princess Daisy’s Mushroom Kingdom; with the former intending to marry the latter by any means necessary.

Mario learns that his brother Luigi (Charlie Day) ended up in the Bowser’s Dark Kingdom and wants to rescue his brother. He volunteers to join Daisy as she sets out to the meet the Kongs with the hopes of getting the Kong’s army to fight for the mushroom kingdom. There Mario is forced into a fight with the young Donkey Kong, makes a surprising win and get the army as agreed upon.

The heroes together with their new allies race back to the Mushroom Kingdom in a big “Mad Max Fury Road” style segment with a lot of Mario Kart sensibilities but gets totally ambushed by the Koopas. Mario and DK crash to the ocean and ends up swallowed by Uni the Eel while Peach and Toad gets captured. Bowser forces Peach to marry him and they set off still for the Peach’s kingdom.

DK and Mario find a way to escape the eel and race back to to save Peach and stop Bowser’s invasion while Luigi and the captives try to stay alive as they have been offered up as sacrifice for the Bowser and Peach’s wedding.

A defeated Bowser unleashes a bomb but Tanuki Mario gets it to come into contact with the pipe that sent him and Luigi there. The resulting blasts forces segments of the Mushroom Kingdom and Bowser’s fortress to be sent over to Brooklyn where Mario and Luigi and Bowser have their final fight.

SPOILERS END HERE

The film is filled to the brim with easter eggs and references that if you want to complete seeing all of them you probably need to watch it twice (in an IMAX theater no less).

While I still frown at the casting of Chris Pratt as Mario that blow has lessened now because I do see the point, they need a big Hollywood name to play the role and Pratt’s pretty OK when it comes to these thing. At the very least, he did a significant take on the character. But alas, there will be fanboys and fangirls who want to see the original voice actor, Charles Martinet, play the role. But no dice people. Again, Pratt was OK in this.

I wanted to get more of Charlie Day’s Luigi but hopefully we get to see more in the sequel. Anya Taylor Joy did a great work as Princess Peach especially in those scenes where she’s going all warrior mode.

The musical scoring and tracks are also worth the ticket price as we go old school with a number of classic tracks ripped straight out of the game and given some 21st century spin. Personally loved the new take on the classic underground theme. And then there’s Peaches…

Also loved their picks for 80s classics to appear here like Bonnie Tyler and A-HA. Also second project that has both Chris Pratt and Mr. Blue Sky.

Easter Eggs and References

If you’re a Mario fan who will be on the lookout for tons of easter eggs and references then you’ll be happy to know that the “Super Mario Bros Movie” is filled with that. From deep cut references like Wrecking Crew to references to sports-related games which featured Mario like Mario Golf, there’s so many things to look at here. We even get references to other Nintendo games like “Duck Hunt” and “Kid Icarus”.

But the majority of references here come from Mario games and spinoffs.

Even some of Mario and Peach’s power ups come from Mario games such as the Cat Suit from Super Mario 3D World…

We even get a bit of the DK Rap.

Let me say this though, the good thing about these references is that they don’t alienate viewers who don’t play the game. Some franchises just like to slap their audiences in the face if they don’t get the references but for this one, it’s more wholesome and fan friendly than a newborn yoshi.

Post-Credit and Mid-Credit Scenes

Also giving you a heads up that there are two post-credit scenes for the film. Both teasing a potential sequel.

Verdict:

10/10

The film is a fun-filled nostalgia romp in the Mushroom Kingdom. Super Mario Bros Movie is the perfect film that brings in the whole family whether they are familiar with the character or not.