96% Audience Score Vs 57% Critics Score: In Support Of Nintendo’s $420 Million Worldwide Grossing THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE

The Super Mario Bros. Movie was released on April 5 2023, just last week and we at The Fan Carpet were lucky enough to be among the first audience to see the film, and a fun time was had at the screening, our review, written by Ben Peter Ward is here, and I'd like to give my thoughts on the film, from the perspective of someone that has awareness of the characters and the games but isn't steeped in the lore.

First off, I love animation, I always have, in fact my original career path would've taken me to Bristol to work for Aardman Animation, I chose a different path, but I digress, so back to The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

I have seen a lot of articles online saying that the 90s film is better than this one, and there is no way that that is the case, for one thing; it was that film, which came out in 1993 that was so bad that Nintendo, for at least 25 years refused to have any of their properties adapted to screen, this film, especially with the partnership with Illumination, the studio behind the Despicable Me and Minions franchises, the Secret Life of Pets films, Sing and Sing 2, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and more, was a genius move, the film is true to the spirit and the look of the beloved games.

On Rotten Tomatoes, The Super Mario Bros. Movie currently sits at a 57% in the "Tomatometer" with an Audience Score of 96% and I sit firmly in the audience camp, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is awesome, it is by far one of the best video game adaptations that I have seen in quite some time. 

Growing up, I was always in the SEGA camp, my first console was a Mega Drive (aka Genesis), so Sonic The Hedgehog was my game, and I love the film adaptations, although to its strength, it cherry picks and creates its own narrative, whereas The Super Mario Bros. Movie is more of a straight adaptation of the games, blending elements from many games and from what I understand every scene is packed full of nods and Easter Eggs from the The Super Mario Bros. lore.

So first off the objection to Chris Pratt voicing Mario was unwarranted, he does a fine job and the mechanic that they use to explain why he doesn't have the stereotypical Italian accent from the games reminded me of the mechanic used in Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers, it works and I think his chemistry with Charlie Day's Luigi and Anya Taylor-Joy's Peach is great, sure Luigi doesn't have a tonne to do in the film but there is scope for the sequel to explore that especially since the film will undoubtedly receive a sequel since it has grossed $420 million worldwide at the time of publication.

All of the voice cast are ace, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong and of course Jack Black as the villainous Bowser are all stand outs for me alongside Pratt, Taylor-Joy and Day. Special mention to Charles Martinet, the voice of Mario in a lot of the games, so having him voice Mario's dad in the film, works in my opinion as a nice "passing the torch" moment. Martinet's version of Mario is still here, and it is possible to like both.

The music is great, I loved the blending of the classic game themes with the more modern film score composed flawlessly by Brian Tyler, the music accompanies the action of the film brilliantly, and the inclusion of classic 80s songs including "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC and "Holding Out For a Hero" by Bonnie Tyler was a brilliant touch, especially with where they were placed in the film.

I had a smile on my face the entire time whilst watching The Super Mario Bros. Movie, it's fun, colourful, vibrant and from my perspective, you'll get a lot out of the film if you know the lore but it is not essential to enjoy the film, sure the plot is very paint by numbers, but some of the best films have a simple plot and this is definitely up there with the greats, and it continues the recent trend of video game adaptations being good.

Undoubtedly there will be a sequel and there is already fan casting for Wario with none other than Pedro Pascal, so let's see what happens, but a sequel, whist not announced at the time of publication is a "when" not "if" and I for one will be more than happy to revisit the Mushroom Kingdom.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie Film Page | The Super Mario Bros. Movie Review

THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE IS OUT NOW

Written by Marc Jason Ali