“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” is smart and emotionally nostalgic. It’s also a simple and easily digestible animated film that will entertain viewers, young and old, with a fresh adventure.
Chances are if you’re a Gen X or Millennial parent, then you have some familiarity with two Italian, overall-wearing brothers who collect coins, eat mushrooms and fly through green pipes like they’re slick as water. Mario and Luigi were a staple of many pre-Y2K childhoods. Now they are returning to the big screen with an animated film that bundles up every iconic turn the pair have taken into a short, but sweet jaunt through Mushroom Kingdom and beyond.
Classic characters
Produced by Despicable Me-mainstay Illumination Entertainment and from a script by “Minions: The Rise of Gru” writer Matthew Fogel, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” reimagines the siblings as Brooklyn plumbers. Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) stumble upon a portal that spits them into a magical world filled with mushroom people and spear-wielding turtles. Minus Yoshi, all of our old avatars are here: Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) rules over her pint-sized mushroom-capped subjects. This includes brave and loyal Toad (Keegan-Michael Key); Cranky Kong (Fred Armisen) and his chest-thumping son Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen) oversees their own kingdom of monkeys.
The crux
It is Bowser (Jack Black), the fearsome, spiky-shelled King Koopa, who threatens the balance of the mystical worlds. He has captured a beloved Super Star, an energy force that allows him supreme power and destructive capabilities. Mario must team up with the princess and crew to save her world and prevent kingdom-wide devastation.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie, despite having the heavy prerequisite of rebuilding these many fictional worlds, reestablishing the characters, and fitting in the many inside jokes and hidden treasures sourced from the various video game iterations over the years, manages to do it all. The backlash at Pratt’s casting was all for naught. He rules as Mario, and Black’s spirited Bowser keeps his sharp-toothed bite with a charmingly brainless underbelly. Kids are sure to be enchanted by the various colorful, sometimes frightening lands. The plot requires no attention span to follow.
No gaming experience necessary
If you don’t have any previous experience with Mario in video game form, there is still plenty of comedy and delightful action to keep both child and parent engaged. The Super Mario Bros. Movie is concise, but packed with wholesome jokes in line with what you’d expect from an Illumination creation. Think anthropomorphic dogs, ironic pairings like a small penguin with an unnaturally deep voice, and an overarching approach to animation that focuses on symmetrical, round, attractive features.
It is particularly fun, however, to have knowledge of the video game and experience behind the console to fully appreciate the Mario Kart allusions. It’s also helpful to have some experience so you too can chuckle at the various jokes informed by a collective experience shared by an entire generation of former players. You don’t have to blow the dust out of this cartridge; Mario is ready to jump, high kick and spin back into action. Let’s-a-go!
Cut to the chase:
MPAA Rating: PG for action and mild violence
Recommended Age: 6+
Runtime: 92 minutes
Nightmare inducers: When Bowser first joins the scene, he is spiky, menacing, and in midair on a floating lava prison. His appearance, coupled with his cruel treatment of his opponents, is sure to initially frighten those who are easily scared. Luckily, he is softened as the film progresses and is a far less sinister villain. By the film’s end, he’s belting out love ballads and proving not nearly as invincible as he seemed in the final battle on N64.
Difficult concepts or emotions: There aren’t many hard-to-grasp ideas floating in this film. Good and evil are clearly designated, and there is no outcome that is totally unexpected. There also are no concepts that will confuse or overwhelm young ones.