The Super Mario Bros. Movie Review – 1-Upping The Rest

The 1993 live-action movie featuring Dennis Hopper, John Leguizamo and Bob Hoskins marked the Super Mario Bros.’ big screen debut. Although the film gained a loyal following over the years, it doesn’t pay enough respect to Nintendo’s iconic franchise the way all great film adaptations do. Fast forward 30 years, and Universal, Illumination, and Nintendo have finally delivered a cinematic adventure starring the iconic fraternal duo that is joyful, fun, exciting, and, perhaps most importantly, respectful of the source material.

Warning: Although I do my best to avoid spoilers, some elements and characters will be mentioned in this article.

Super Mario Bros. Movie This is a tricky line to walk, as you have to keep the origin story in check and still enjoy the adventure. Mario and Luigi, his brother Luigi, are Brooklyn plumbers when they fall into an unidentified pipe that leads to the Mushroom Kingdom. Bowser, meanwhile, has started his journey to the castle of Princess Peach. The setup is obvious and has certainly been done before, but it effectively sets the stage for the subsequent thrill ride of an adventure.

Mario and Luigi are welcomed into the Mushroom kingdom by a largely flawless pace. Though a few areas stick out as moments where the story pumps the brakes, it moves forward before it comes to a screeching halt and drags. Fun action sequences consistently give way to major setpiece moments, which in turn often set up fun gags. The 92-minute runtime flew by, and while I was surprised to have already arrived at the final confrontation, I love that the film doesn’t overstay its welcome.

You can talk about conversational moments like Mario and Toad walking down the street at Peach’s Castle. Super Mario Bros. Movie is visually stunning. It is bright and colorful. Each scene is visually stunning, living up the Illumination tradition. Each scene is well-framed and expressive of the characters. 

From the moment the movie starts, it constantly throws references to the Mario franchise at the audience. These references include core titles as well as newer titles such Bowser’s Fury. Even the spin-off games, Donkey Kong titles, and other Mario media get some love. Many of the references are obvious, but a few of them either demonstrate the value of Nintendo’s involvement or a writing team with an outstanding understanding of the Mario fan base. One reference, in particular, made me gasp in surprise when it happened.

The references come at such a machine-gun pace that they can, at times, overwhelm (much like the standard cadence of the jokes), but I absolutely loved keeping my eyes peeled and scanning every scene for nods and references to the past. Many of the references aren’t even things you spot, but rather listen for; the music and sound effects pull from every single era of Mario’s past, creating a nostalgic delight – even if I lost count of the number of times I heard a rendition of the Overworld Theme from the original Super Mario Bros.

In the days leading up to the release of the film, the voice cast was undoubtedly the best-known aspect. Seth Rogen Jack Black is perfectly cast as Donkey Kong/Bowser, with Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach-Joy and Keegan Mike-Key as Toad. Charlie Day and Chris Pratt, the voice actors of Mario and Luigi respectively, are the most difficult to adjust to due to their distinct voices from Charles Martinet’s iconic characters. Pratt’s humor and timing are perfect for the Mario journey, as well as the jokes along the way. Day’s signature frantic lines match Luigi’s panicky personality. By the time the credits rolled, I had adjusted to the point that I simply heard Mario and Luigi, not Chris Pratt and Charlie Day.

The humor and references are sometimes a bit thick but the highs make the movie so great that I would have very few nitpicks. The stigma that videogame movies are bad for you by default has diminished in recent years. Super Mario Bros. Movie may be the new poster child for this first golden age of silver-screen game adaptations. Super Mario Bros. Movie delivers all the thrills of a great Mario game, and in the process, creates the best video game movie yet.