‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ owes its success to childhood nostalgia

Photo courtesy of Nintendo, Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures

One of the most highly anticipated movies of 2023 finally hit the big screen. Fans of all ages flocked to the theater to see Illumination’s new animated film, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.”

“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” is based on the insanely popular Nintendo game franchise dating back to 1983. Super Mario Bros. originated as an arcade game. Today, the Mario franchise has created more than 200 games, including Mario Kart, Mario Party and Mario vs. Donkey Kong. 

The Mario game franchise has been played across generations and, with its growing popularity on the Nintendo Switch, is now finding its way to Gen-Z and older members of Generation Alpha. 

So when Illumination and Universal Studios announced that they would be making an animated adaptation of Super Mario Bros., fans of all ages went absolutely wild. 

“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” serves as an origin story for Mario and Luigi and follows the plumbing duo as they discover a whole new world of talking creatures, power-ups, warp pipes and giant mushrooms. 

When Mario is separated from Luigi and lands in Mushroom Kingdom, he is taken to Princess Peach who informs Mario that Luigi’s life is in danger, along with the world as they know it. 

Luigi has landed in Bowser’s kingdom and is now a prisoner, and Bowser is on a warpath destroying cities left and right — headed straight for Mushroom Kingdom. 

Mario, Princess Peach and Toad travel to Kong Isle, home of Donkey Kong, in hopes of gaining their army to fight off Bowser.

The cast of this film is stacked with familiar favorites, including Jack Black as Bowser, Anya Taylor Joy as Princess Peach and Seth Rogan as Donkey Kong, and one casting that caused quite a bit of backlash: Chris Pratt as Mario. 

[From left, Mario (voiced by Chris Pratt) and Princess Peach (voiced by Anya Taylor-Joy) in “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.”]
Photo courtesy of Nintendo, Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures

Despite the chaos and uncertainty surrounding some of the casting decisions, I was thoroughly impressed with everyone’s performances. Jack Black made the perfect Bowser, Keegan Michael Key’s voice as Toad was nearly unrecognizable, and every line by every actor was delivered perfectly. 

Although people were initially angry about Mario’s lack of an Italian accent, the film’s story includes an explanation that their accent is simply a facade put on for their plumbing customers. Chris Pratt delivered a fun and believable Mario and kept the film entertaining. 

Although “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” seems targeted for children, this movie caters to adult audiences in every way. My favorite aspect of the film was its soundtrack, which featured Beastie Boys, AC/DC and a-ha. 

One of the best scenes featured “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC and showed Mario, Princess Peach and Toad creating their Karts, exactly how a player would in the game Mario Kart. The scene was so nostalgic, and the song choice was top tier. 

And when those karts hit Rainbow Road, it was like a dream come true. After an entire childhood spent navigating the Rainbow Road map in Mario Kart, seeing it on the big screen was amazing. Illumination’s animators deserve all the praise for how well they did on that scene. 

The visuals in this film were spectacular as well. The bright and vibrant colors, intricate landscapes and perfectly designed characters made the movie a dream to watch. Seeing such an iconic world brought to life in the most detailed way made the viewing experience 10 times more enjoyable. Illumination delivered above and beyond every standard I had set.

Throughout the film, we get glimpses of Bowser and we learn why he’s on a mission to take over the world. While in the film’s trailer he may seem malicious, during the movie we learn his intentions aren’t as evil as we thought. And while he’s still the movie’s villain, audiences get to see a more vulnerable side of the giant turtle.

“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” is classified as an adventure/comedy, and the content in the film lives up to its genre assignment. While the comedy in this movie is fairly shallow and childish for obvious reasons, adults are still sure to get a couple good laughs in. 

Adults might find the most humor in Lumalee, one of Bowser’s captives who yearns for “the sweet release of death.” The character’s dark humor is masked by an adorable voice and cute design, helping the jokes to go right over the children’s heads, but directly at the older faces in the audience.

Trust me when I say to ignore the painfully average critics score this film is receiving. As of April 10, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” has a Rotten Tomatoes critics score of 56%. If you choose to check out any scores, make sure to look at Rotten Tomatoes’ audience score, which currently sits at 96%. On Google, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” has a 4.7/5 star rating. 

If you grew up playing Mario games, this is a film you cannot miss. “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” is now playing in theaters. Don’t miss out on the post credit scene too!

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