Warning: This review may contain spoilers for the Super Mario Bros movie
Heartwarming, nostalgic and a little bit cliche is how The Super Mario Bros Movie came across. The movie takes you through the adventures of the Super Mario Bros who live regular lives as plumbers in New York City that stumble upon a mysterious green pipe that transports them to another bright, magical universe. Here they meet all sorts of odd characters who band together to defeat the evil tyrant looking to destroy anyone who gets in his way.
The movie just brought on a warm nostalgic feeling to everyone who grew up with the Super Mario Bros franchise, especially with all the easter eggs planted throughout. From snippets to the mechanics of the classic games to the nostalgic sounds interwoven into the soundtrack, this movie will definitely make you smile at times and has a certain sentimental charm to it. They even introduce you to the friendship killing sight of Rainbow Road from the Super Mario Kart along with all the power ups that you may encounter throughout the games.
The arguably best part of the movie is the soundtrack. Listening in closely, you can spot the elements of the classic game sounds that have been added to the movie soundtrack for specific areas of the game which help to set the tone well for the movie. How can anyone ignore the Bowser in the room, which is Jack Black’s heartfelt performance of “Peaches” which is a song Bowser dedicates to the love of his life, Princess Peach which doesn’t just get stuck in your head after but also hits you in the feels.
Now, it’s not an entirely enjoyable ride throughout because the movie is extremely cliche. The whole story of the underestimated hero proves himself, makes unlikely friends, has a potential love interest and defeats the villain (specifically in that order) makes for a pretty typical underdog rise to victory type of storyline which has been greatly overdone. At this point, just seeing the first 20 minutes of the movie, you can probably guess what happens next which may not be too bad of a thing since this is widely marketed as first being a children’s movie and second being a nostalgic piece for adults.
What was pleasantly surprising though, was that the comedy in the movie was actually not too bad (all things considered) with Jack Black’s performance of Bowser truly being the icing on the cake. The jokes and small funny bits in between also didn’t feel too forced despite being a kid’s movie which had us chuckling at times. It didn’t try too hard to be funny for the adults in the room and the conversations did feel pretty organic with fairly good pacing throughout.
Verdict: 6/10
Overall, this movie is nothing more than just a cute, feel-good animation but hey, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Just reduce your expectations, go in and reconnect with your inner child again because that was what truly made this a more enjoyable experience. From the appealing visuals, great voice acting and the right sprinkle of comedy, it’s definitely an appropriate movie for all ages that we recommend you give a watch. Especially if you’re looking to feel nostalgic and sentimental. Oh! Don’t forget to stay all the way to the end for two surprise end credit scenes!
