User reviews

This is a movie that feels like a love letter to all the Nintendo fans out there, even if they don't necessarily play Mario anymore. The film delivers a fun and enjoyable experience for viewers by faithfully adapting every aspect of the game into the movie, including the Mario Kart and Donkey Kong franchises. The movie is packed with non-stop action and fast-paced storytelling, leaving little room for some of the more significant elements that fans might have wanted to see. It may not be able to fulfill every fan's wishes, but it's understandable and sets up for a sequel, as there is a post-credits scene.

But for general audiences who are not familiar with Mario enough, this might be a movie that is difficult to understand. There may be questions like why does it have to be like this? Why do it this way? Why is the world so strange? This is because the story hardly explains in detail for us to know how the world is. Even though the story is simple and has nothing much. But if you don't think too much, it's an easy and enjoyable movie to watch, with the lovable characters in the style of the works from the studio that made Despicable Me.

I think for what this movie sets out to do, Super Mario Bros. Movie pretty much ticks the boxes of an entertaining, reference fan-service heavy movie. A lot of the jokes are basic sure, but it's just impressive that there is some competency to a Video Game Movie. Sometimes simple and straightforward is the best way to go. Not high art or anything, but it ticks off almost everything for what Mario should be at least. Voice acting wasn't as bad as I thought, and Jack Black was the highlight as expected. Yeah, not gonna win any big awards but judge it for what it is, and yeah by Video Game Movie standards it's one of the best ones easily if you ask me.

6.5/10.

Video games have long been plagued by subpar adaptions of their materials, but on their second attempt, the Mario Bros save the day. Being on par with the likes of Sonic and Detective Pikachu, this film hits all the fun beats you would want from a Mario film. Including plenty of fun moments for fans of the expansive franchise, this also stays completely understandable and entertaining for anyone who checks it out. With some interesting voice acting choices, no one took you out of the film and everyone felt like great choices for this vibrant world. Wishing that it stood out more or took on more intriguing choices, I was still walking away happy and hopeful for the future of this franchise and the possibilities to come.

If you only watch the movie with the intention of having fun, you will certainly have a good experience with Mario. However the plot is quite bland and the movie runs at a very fast pace between one scene and another, hampering the progress of the story.

Also, if you haven't played the Mario games, you'll fail immeasurably to pick up the game references that are scattered throughout the movie, and there are many of them. For anyone who's a Mario fan, this movie is literally fan service and it's no wonder why they're giving it a 10.

For me, this movie doesn't lived up to the hype, but for a Mario fan, it certainly did.

Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) are struggling Brooklyn brother plumbers. When the city's sewer goes haywire, Mario sees an opportunity for heroic fame. Instead, they get sucked into an alternate world. The brothers get separated. Mario joins Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) to recruit the Kong army in their fight against the evil turtle Bowser (Jack Black). Luigi gets captured.

It's brightly colored. It's energetic. It's got the characters. There's the game play. The story is fairly simple. It's pretty much what I expected. I wish there is more heart to it. The brothers could have been that, but they get separated pretty quickly. I played some of the games over the years and this will probably appeal to the fans. It's got all the brightly colored chaos for the kids. It's less so for everybody else.

Took my kids for a special sky screening and boy were we excited! At first I was rather skeptical thinking this film won't do any justice to the games. However, I was wrong! This film met our expectation and beyond. I think I enjoyed this film more than my kids. From the moment the film starts it is enjoyable. Good sense of humour and a lot of nice scenes. A lot of laughable moments. Apart from the film being too short it still met my expectations. As a 39 year old who played all the Mario games since childhood, this bought back a lot of fond memories of sleepless nights of playing the Mario games. A must watch film whether you have kids or not.

As a Super Mario fan myself, I was hyping this movie up for quite a while. So was it worth that hype? Yes and no. The references, animation, voice acting, and world building are incredible. But, there's a lot of filler and the plot isn't that good either. Despite that, I still really enjoyed it. Though admittedly kinda unnecessary, I really enjoyed watching the Mario Kart section. Same with the Luigi stuff, especially the "you just got Luigi'd" line. Though there are some other problems like Toad not really being funny, and this movie is kinda boring sometimes, but it's mostly pretty entertaining. So overall, solid 7/10 movie, must watch for Mario fans but it may not be for everyone else. If you want a Mario film that's an actual masterpiece, go watch Cute Mario Bros The Third Movie. It's not really based on the series, but besides that it's incredible.

Sometimes you come across a movie that takes no risks. It's light on story, avoids character development, and focuses on getting to the next scene as easily as possible. Mario Bros. Doesn't have any inherent plot holes or issues, but it tends to leave you in a state of just being a viewer rather than participating in the movie. In the end, it's not bad per se, but comes off as flat and lifeless.

The positives are all agreed upon by anyone who likes it, because the positives stand out by not being able to be compared against anything else. People have fun with the action. They love the Easter eggs. And the composed music is good. The action is done well, but without much dramatic weight, only carry the movie so far. Easter eggs don't nor should have any bearing on how good the ovoid is. The music was well incorporated, minus the pop songs that truly don't work.

It's not good enough to play things easy, and rely on fans to spot visual Easter eggs, to call the movie good. It's average at best mostly because it was watchable and didn't have any outright flaws. It just didn't take chances that could've ended up becoming flaws. Even if you had a good time watching it, there's not enough value to see it again. If you're a fan, check it out. If not, you won't miss a thing by skipping it.

As I started to write this review, I was told I was being too harsh on this movie. I was told to think of it more as a video game playing out on screen, to just have fun with it. And frankly, I have a different perspective, as I will get into. But it just reminds me of the beauty of film; the subjectivity of all our opinions. We can all go into the same movie, and all come out with a variety of different opinions, thoughts, and interpretations. Mine isn't the right one, it is just my opinion. But let me just say, it's a fact that audiences are going to enjoy the heck out of The Super Mario Bros. Movie! My proof? The audience I saw it with went nuts for it, there was lots of cheering and clapping, and a round of applause at the end (reactions I haven't seen since Spider-Man: No Way Home). But while everyone else was clapping at the end, I was sitting there thinking to myself: "That's it?"

Before you try and guess where this is going, NO I did not hate this movie. I enjoyed myself the whole time and loved so many moments in it. I have played Mario games all my life, especially lots of Mario Kart, so seeing these iconic characters and locations on screen was a blast. There were so many references that made me smile, and I even loved how cues from the music in the games were used in the score here. The whole movie has many great moments, from the Mario Kart scene to the Donkey Kong vs Mario fight, to the training scene in the Mushroom Kingdom that plays out exactly like me trying to play the games (a real struggle). But your liking or disliking of this movie really comes down to how far these Mario-isms go for you. The plot is simple, hollow even. The Illumination style doesn't help. But the Nintendo stuff is exactly what you want. So if you are a fan of Mario, you'll have a good time! If not, this movie probably isn't for you, you'll probably come out of it confused about why so many people are loving it. Me? I think I've established myself as very mixed.

And yeah, some of you are going to say I'm being too harsh on this movie. Trust me, I don't want to be, nor do I think I am. I did love the Mario stuff, I just really would've liked an actual script next time... it plays more like a demo of the world of Mario. The movie is still really cute and perfect for kids, it does a great job of capturing the spirit of the games and the excitement of the set pieces, it is just a pretty hollow script that barely operates as a narrative feature. Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Toad are all very blank slate characters (although this is perhaps at the request of Nintendo, maybe they didn't want overly specific versions of these marquee characters). Really, I think most of my issues stem from the Illumination side of things. This movie has all the same qualities as any other Illumination film, from Minions to The Secret Life of Pets: it's got 20 gags (or references) per minute and really moves fast through story and character moments - it feels like a movie speed run. I would've liked it to slow down more, explore more of the world and get more time with the characters. It also had some humor that didn't work for me, but seemed to work for people around me (singing Bowser wasn't my favorite). But frankly, I really can't fault the movie for all this, it did what every other Illumination film does. So it's easier for me just to accept that maybe Illumination's style isn't for me. I prefer the Pixar or DreamWorks style, or if we're talking about this type of movie, I prefer The LEGO Movie or the two Sonic films as those were both very good stories with thematic elements while honoring their source material (and being very charming films too!)

The voice cast was actually decent! I don't always love Illumination's insistence on hiring big-name actors over voice actors, but it worked here for the most part. Jack Black was awesome as Bowser, same goes for Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach, and the rest of the cast was pretty good too! But here's the big question: how was Chris Pratt's Mario voice? And the answer - it was fine. He did well for what they had him do, although I didn't love that this Mario had a Brooklyn accent over the classic Italian one. I thought it worked for the most part, but I still would have preferred they just use the original Mario voice.

I can be critical all I want. I could mention how the needle drops were too much, I could go on about the lack of plot, I could complain about how I wished it was longer, but I don't want to. Because as a Mario fan, I loved so many moments here. I was smiling throughout the film. Sure, some things didn't always work, but I had a good time, as did everyone else in my showing. Kids will go nuts for it, it's a great family film. It's so joyful and energetic and feels like a fun adaptation of the Mario games. Plus the animation is fantastic! It's pretty cute, and will be very re-watchable. The movie is by no means perfect, but families looking for a good movie will find one with The Super Mario Bros. Movie! And of course, this will be perfect for any Mario fan!

Now, time to go play some Mario Kart!

Can't help but feel like a massively missed opportunity for such a massive IP. While a lot of elements are added in from various games over the years, the script is simply flat and uninspiring, while fails to really showcase the wondrous world of the Super Mario Universe. However, I do understand that the film is a serious undertaking, attempting to introduce a somewhat dated character to a new generation of viewers who may or may not know much about them, but I think a better balance could have been done to appease both type of fans. The music score is definitely a highlight of the overall film, and I think that says a lot about the overall quality.

Let's start with the positives points: the movie is visually stunning, just like the film adaptation of the beloved characters we all know.

In addition, during the movie, you can find many references to the games of the franchise, which fans will surely appreciate.

Let's move on to the main problem of the movie: the plot. It doesn't add anything new to the things told in the games. It would have been nice to see something more.

Another negative element is how the character of Luigi was treated. He "lives" in function of Mario and during the film we either do not see him or he does nothing.

I saw the film in Italian and I didn't like the dubbing: many parts of the adaptation were strange, almost as if they were translated literally.

Despite this, it is a good movie for children that brings a smile to even the older ones.

Going into the movie I was expecting there to be fun for kids and adults who grew up with Mario. The movie feels more directed to children comedy and story-wise. There's nothing too much to like here as an adult except for the reference to Mario/ Nintendo's history. I chuckled at one or two things the whole movie (one of the times being the scene from the trailer when Donkey Kong beats up Mario) and that's coming from someone who finds cartoons unintentionally funny most of the time. The movie isn't bad at all for a kid's movie but with a property like Mario it almost feels criminal that there's no enjoyability for you as an adult who actually grew up with the franchise. Another thing is that they gave all of our well-known characters the personality of your average animated illumination film. The only characters that were pulled straight from the game was Luigi and Bowser. Princess Peach felt like more of a hero than Mario.

The movie was an enjoyable moment. Not going to lie on that front.

However most of the references to the Nintendo universe were forced onto the viewer and I much rather when it's done within a element of set that is not interacted with.

The mixed feeling is coming from that but also from the general feeling of nothing special. It is everything you wanted to see but without surprises.

On a good note some of the jokes are working very well and the animation is really clean - when you have Miyamoto on your producer roaster I guess it helps the artistic direction.

One thing that transpire is that Nintendo have been really careful with their I. P.

Some people are taking this movie too seriously. This movie is just supposed to be fun and colorful and not to be taken like a tarantino movie or something. Of course the plot could be improved a bit here and there but it's actually a really fun and entertaining movie when you just enjoy the ride. If you're a big fan of Mario you will absolutely love this movie 100%. I felt like a little kid again when i saw all the characters and easter eggs in every scene. The animation was insanely well done and i believe they could've made the movie a bit longer to expand on the world a bit more and get to know each character more but that's about it.

As a purely fluff piece - it's fun, bright spirited, and enjoyable for families. A movie that has all of the elements you'd want represented from Super Mario bros video games, and as a bonus, it also showcases Mario cart and donkey kong junior. The animation is strong, the worlds are exactly like the video games and truly fun moments for kids. The runtime is great and the movie moves along without pause.

AND I expect better, higher quality movie making.

The voice acting in this movie is so lazy. Chris Pratt is forgettable-anyone could have done better voicing such a beloved character. Princess Peach is the same - voice acting is boring and fairly emotionless. The worst voice acting belongs to Seth's terrible Donkey Kong junior - not a single attempt to make an actual character voice, just Seth's normal voice slapped on Donkey Kong. Toad's voice acting is also meatless and without any real jokes.

The script is mostly empty and there is little to no attempt at character motivation, organic character decision making - for example, why Princess Peach tells Mario he can come with her to save her kingdom. Almost every opportunity to make a joke is skipped. None of the characters have stated goals aside from King Koppa.

And saddest of all to me, there is no attempt to create backstory or give context to these beloved worlds and characters.

This movie wasn't bad, it wasn't good either though, it was just alright. Everything about it was alright. Whole the story itself felt pretty weak I feel a lot of people sat there and said I know that character or wow what a cool Easter egg, and thats why people enjoyed it so much. The movie itself sacrifices a lot of good storytelling to focus on these Easter eggs and nostalgia. A lot of the characters are really underdeveloped and I was so unmotivated to root for either of the Mario brothers. And idk who decide to cast Chris pratt as Mario but it felt so strange but Jack black definitely hard carried as bowser. 6.8/10.

As an avid gamer, but not really big in the Nintendo sphere, I was looking forward to this, but wanting it to be a good story, good direction and funny for adults and kids rather than seeing all the Easter eggs and nods to the Mario players. Unfortunately it delivers mostly on animation quality and amount of fan service, while the story, jokes and general writing are average at best, but mostly predictable and actually quite boring.

My 5yo loved it, but even he could barely recall any of the movie by the next day, whereas the classics (pixar, disney, other illumination selections) he can recall and quote them for days after!

In summary - Great for a quick watch for the kids, a bit meh for the adults, won't stick in your mind.