Growing up I, like many others, enjoyed a Mario game every now and again. Whether it was Mario Kart or just your classic Super Mario Bros, I loved it all. 

As a Mario fan, I was skeptical of the 2023 “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” at first. I didn’t think that they would be able to do any justice to the feeling of playing the games, and was confused by a few of the casting choices, such as Chris Pratt. 

Before seeing this movie I assumed it would be a cringy money grab, in which Chris Pratt didn’t even do the coveted Mario accent, but was delightfully surprised by how well done it ended up being. 

While I don’t think Chris Pratt was the ideal Mario voice, he did get more tolerable as the movie progressed. I really enjoyed all the other voice acting, especially Jack Black as Bowser and Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong. 

This movie follows two brothers trying to start their own plumbing business. These brothers are, of course, Mario and Luigi. 

Something that hooked me right away is when Mario and Luigi are running to get to a plumbing job, they run through a construction site with a very similar setup to the classic Mario game. 

They parkour through the scaffolding, and I thought it was a nice way to bring the viewer into the world and a nice nod to the original game.  

Then their plumbing business goes sour and Brooklyn is flooding, some animation magic happens and they are transported to a different universe in which they are split up. 

Luigi gets trapped in a realm taken over by Bowser, and Mario lands in Toad City. Mario joins Princess Peach on her quest to stop Bowser in exchange for her help finding his brother. 

The movie’s main villain is Bowser. He is obsessed with finding the Super Star and taking over the entire universe. He also is in love with Princess Peach and hopes that she will be impressed with his power and take his hand in marriage. 

This movie is fun and fast-paced — it is geared toward children, so I can’t judge its cheesiness too hard. I think the highlights come through in the soundtrack and voice acting. 

The soundtrack featured a lot of 80s hits, which are something I always enjoy during action or training scenes, both of which were featured. 

I thought it was cool how they changed the narrative a bit for Peach’s storyline. Instead of being a damsel in distress, she is on Mario’s side helping him and teaching him along his quest. I think it’s important for young girls to see women being the strong ones. 

The only downside to having Peach join the quest was not seeing a ton of Luigi. I thought Charlie Day did an incredible job of capturing Luigi’s character. If this movie were to do a sequel I would love to see it have a plot about Luigi’s mansion.  

I really enjoyed how they brought these characters to life, especially characters like Donkey Kong who haven’t had much room for characterization. They made him a showboating guy who knows his own strength and doesn’t work well with others. 

Throughout the movie, Donkey Kong becomes reluctant friends with Mario and has a very satisfying character development that doesn’t feel too forced or awkward. 

While Rogen played an amazing Donkey Kong and Fred Armisen played a great Cranky Kong, I was most impressed by Toad’s voice actor Keegan-Michal Key. Key was able to change his voice completely and really embodied the role of Toad. 

Overall, I would definitely recommend this movie if you are looking for something light and easily digestible. While I can’t promise you will have an adorable little kid in your theater audibly reacting to what’s going on, I can promise a fun afternoon. 

Freeman can be reached at f[email protected].