The Super Mario Bros. Movie review: Fun, nostalgia-filled trip to the Mushroom Kingdom

Illumination brings the Mustachioched Nintendo mascot to gorgeous new life on the big screen with The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

Animation, nostalgia, voice acting (with one exception) and music by Brian Tyler and Koji Kondo are fantastic.

The animation quality is staggering with Illumination faithfully recreating The Mushroom Kingdom, Donkey Kong’s Jungle Kingdom and Bowser’s Castle.

Outside of maybe Steven Spielberg‘s Ready Player One, The Super Mario Bros. Movie features a seemingly endless number of references to Nintendo’s extensive video game catalog. Sometimes easter eggs can take away from a story or feel disconnected from the world. The Nolan North cameo in the Uncharted film is a prime example. However, The Super Mario Bros. Movie has barely any plot to disrupt. The easter eggs lead to an imaginative world full of creativity that makes the inner kid in everyone want to get lost.

The voice cast is tremendous with Chris Pratt as Mario, Charlie Day as Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach and Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong all succeeding at different points. Jack Black steals the film as Bowser and yes there’s a fantastic musical number. The only weak link is Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong. For some reason, Armisen decided to play old-man Kong like he’s channeling Pete Davidson, which is bizarre.

The biggest issue in The Super Mario Bros. Movie is the plot. Unfortunately, Mario games have never had original stories to draw from. The Super Mario Bros. Movie is basically a bunch of scenes thinly stitched together. Mario and Luigi’s relationship is great. The love-hate dynamic between Donkey Kong and Mario is wonderful. Taylor-Joy and Pratt do their best, but the dynamic between Peach and Mario is rushed. Outside of nostalgia, The Super Mario Bros. Movie never approaches the complex emotions found in Pixar, Disney or Dreamworks animated films.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie isn’t a great film, but it’s everything a Super Mario Bros. film should be.

With the overview out of the way, let’s dive further into the Mushroom Kingdom’s worlds. The Super Mario Bros. Movie will stream on Peacock at a later date.

Separation of brothers in The Super Mario Bros. Movie

The story begins in Brooklyn, New York. Mario and Luigi are plumbers who are trying to start their small business. The dynamic between older brother Mario and younger brother Luigi is immediately established.

Mario is the more capable of the two. He’s resilient to a fault, which makes Mario a protagonist worth cheering on. A flashback later in the movie demonstrates how Mario prides himself on looking after his brother. Mario and Luigi accept a plumbing job with a hilariously terrifying dog. When the job goes off the rails, Mario does everything he can to fix the problem. Luigi obsessively worries.

Mario and Luigi return home to their parents’ apartment. Mario’s father is disappointed. He blames Mario for taking Luigi down a dead-end path. Luigi insists Mario’s doing the right thing for him. Suddenly, a water mane explodes and water begins flowing onto the streets of NYC. Mario’s inner hero is stirred and he convinces Luigi to find the source of the problem.

They venture down into the sewers where they find a mysterious pipe, which after closer inspection is actually a portal. Luigi and Mario go in separate directions. Mario lands outside of The Mushroom Kingdom. Luigi lands in the badlands.

The relationship between Mario and Luigi is great. Day and Pratt develop an easy chemistry, which helps set up the emotional stakes for the film. The work by Pratt and Day makes you want Mario to save his brother. Therefore, the thin plot isn’t as much of a hindrance to the film.

Exploring the Mushroom Kingdom

Mario is welcomed to this new world with open arms. He meets Toad (Keegan-Michael Key) who gives Mario a tour with enthusiasm. It doesn’t take much work for Toad and Mario to reach Princess Peach.

She’s the ruler of The Mushroom Kingdom and has been preparing for an attack by Bowser. Mario wants to save his brother. Peach doesn’t object but wants to test Mario first. In a wonderful recreation of a Mario level, Peach puts Mario through his paces. If he can’t complete the course, then he’s not going to make it against Bowser’s army. Mario repeatedly fails but never gives up. Even though he doesn’t succeed, Peach appreciates Mario’s resolve and lets him come along.

Meanwhile, Luigi is in Bowser’s prison and with a hilarious blue star named Lumalee. Her cryptic humor is a consistent source of humor.

By far the biggest update from the Mario video games to the big screen is Peach. She’s never a damsel in the film. Peach is the one who runs the Mario level first. When she agrees to Bowser’s demands, it’s out of concern for her people. Even then, she’s still looking for an angle to get out of Bowser’s scheme.

The first interaction between Peach and Mario starts the relationship between these characters in an inauspicious place. There’s little skepticism from Peach and her immediate acceptance doesn’t allow for their relationship to mature much going forward.

Donkey Kong vs Mario

Cranky Kong is the king of the Jungle Kingdom. In order to combat Bowser’s army, Peach needs to join forces with Cranky’s strong army. Cranky makes Peach an offer. If Mario can defeat his son Donkey Kong, then he and his forces will help protect Peach’s kingdom.

The fight eventually leads to a fun dynamic between Donkey Kong and Mario. They poke and prod each other. If Donkey Kong, makes fun of Mario’s flirting skills, then Mario returns fire (pun intended) about Donkey Kong’s intelligence. They also take turns saving each other.

Eventually, they realize they have something in common. They’re disappointments to each other’s fathers.

The relationship between Donkey Kong and Mario is the only one that actually changes over the course of the movie. Luigi believes in his older brother and Mario’s insistence on protecting his younger brother never wavers. Peach immediately trusts Mario so the only progression is more trust. However, with Donkey Kong, the relationship starts with fighting and gives way to begrudging respect, which is great.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie final thoughts

Overall, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a fun, somewhat flimsy film that banks a lot on nostalgia. However, the terrific musical callbacks, gorgeous animation and impressive voice cast armed with nostalgia make up for the stitched-together story.

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