Review of The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) by Calvincrack — 06 Apr 2023

This is like a 5/10 story. Wrapped in 10/10 animation. With 10/10 fan service & callbacks. I give it a C+ on its own terms. I think it has the makings of an A, if only they fleshed out the characters more and had an actual second act.

It kind of begins...and ends. Where's the middle? Where's the beef? Where's the twist? Where's the character motivation? What IS the Mushroom Kingdom? Why does Peach immediately trust Mario? The answers don't have to be perfect, but we NEED answers in order to stay with a movie.

The creators of the movie decided not to go deep on story at all, but instead decide on a bunch of cool sequences and lazily string them together. To their credit, the sequences are all very cool and well done, which is why this movie gets a C+ and not an F.

I am optimistic this movie will grow on me with the next viewing, now I fully comprehend what it is and isn't.