Review of The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) by Moviemitch96 — 09 Apr 2023

Based off the long-running classic Nintendo game series that most of us all know and love, Super Mario gets the 3D computer-animated treatment at long last in this vibrant and colorful film that follows him and his brother Luigi, a pair of plumbers living in Brooklyn, New York who find themselves transported to the Mushroom Kingdom and must band together with Princess Peach to stop Bowser from trying to marry her, lest he conquers the whole kingdom.

I was super on the fence about this one for a number of different reasons. For starters, like most others, I had my reservations about Chris Pratt voicing the titular plumber out of fear that he'd sound nothing like the Mario we've all come to know over the years, let alone the fact that he felt like such a random choice for the role.

I also had my concerns about how well it would cater to the OG fans that grew up with the series over the past few decades vs. how much it would pander to all the Gen z kids that don't have as near as much knowledge or background on the video games by just throwing in a bunch of irrelevant or silly gags.

However, the final result? I have to say that I was most pleasantly surprised for the most part, as this turned out to be not just a fun and entertaining romp for all ages, but it also really paid great respect and tribute to the legacy of Mario and the franchise as a whole! I really wasn't expecting this, but the amount of subtle winks, nods, Easter egg/sound effects and tributes to various games in the franchise were all greatly welcomed and fun to see.

As if that wasn't enough, it was so much more hilarious than I could've possibly imagined it being. I quite literally laughed my ass off through most of it! Granted, there were some moments that delved into a little more childish humor for my liking, but it thankfully doesn't go too overboard with it.

As for the voice acting, while it was a little difficult for me to wrap my head around Pratt's take on Mario, I did find myself becoming a little more used to it after long enough, although admittedly, he still would've been far from my first choice for the role.

Nevertheless, he gets the job and ever so slight Italian accent done adequately enough I suppose. Charlie Day as Luigi on the other hand felt and sounded absolutely perfect, though his character was rather wasted and spent the majority of the film as more of a prisoner/damsel in distress character than even Princess Peach.

Speaking of whom, Anya Taylor-Joy's take on Peach felt more capable, confident, and all-around badass as opposed to the prim and proper damsel in distress depiction most of us are likely familiar with for her character, which was a very welcome and refreshing change of pace.

Seth Rogen is also a hoot to watch as the voice of Donkey Kong. Last but certainly not least, Jack Black damn near steals the whole movie with his equal parts menacing and hilarious take on Bowser. Anytime he was onscreen, I was just about dying of laughter.

Storywise, none of it felt too predictable or formulaic in the slightest and it simply seemed to flow at a frenetic yet always enjoyable pace without ever feeling like too much or an overload. Overall, while Pratt may have not been the perfect choice for Mario in my eyes, and the humor felt only slightly forced towards the children demographic at times, the rest of the voice cast really fit and made the most of their characters quite well.

In addition, this was an undeniably enjoyable and satisfying modernization of the classic plumbing duo that pays all the loving homage that the beloved video game franchise deserves while managing to balance it all out and remain a delight for audiences of every age.