Review of The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) by Simplicity14 — 10 Apr 2023

I went in to this movie thinking it would be at least average to decent, and I ended up being blown away. Definitely not a critic's movie, but that's not who this was for anyway. As a lifelong Nintendo gamer that's played basically every Mario game, I enjoyed the unique presentation of the characters, the great animation quality, the medley of classic Mario music, and most of all the countless references both obvious and obscure that are crammed into every scene. It reminded me of why I enjoy Nintendo games; and specifically, the Super Mario series. Illumination and Nintendo somehow managed to catch the magic of the games with this film, and I had a blast watching it (so much so that I saw it twice!).

My main criticism was the non-Mario music that felt out of place at times, the pacing was a bit off, and the post credits scene could probably have been more than just a few seconds of teaser. But these were harmless non-issues for me that didn't detract from the overall experience. 9/10, but I'm marking 10/10 just to help further contrast the User Score with the Critic Review aggregate. There is obvious love and care that went into this film, and it's being rewarded with tremendous financial success. Any movie that can you make smile ear to ear for its duration deserves as much.