The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)

Score: B (8.5/10)

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a fantastic adventure for adults and children. It feasibly balances known moments with fresh ones and offers opportunities to bring more Nintendo franchises onto the big screen.

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Mario Bros. is a household name in pop culture. From the first iteration at arcades in 1983, the money-making machine it is today dominates the gaming market. Franchises like Paper Mario, Mario & Luigi, and New Super Mario Bros deliver outstanding 2D Mario games, with titles like Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario Galaxy, and Super Mario Odyssey bringing Mario further into an open three-dimensional world. Mario also offers Nintendo their mascot that’s been around since the pack-in title, Super Mario Bros, on the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1986. Mario is also a mascot for the gaming industry, as the man and the game he originated from brought the industry to what it is today. However, one industry Mario hasn’t yet found success in is the film industry. Fortunately for Mario and Nintendo, they found it with The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

The film makes one thing clear from the get-go: this is a MARIO MOVIE. There are hundreds of references to previous games, like the tanooki suit from Super Mario Bros. 3, the cast suit from Super Mario 3D World, numerous items and mechanisms from across the franchise, and even King Bomb Omb from Super Mario 64. The movie is an easter egg gold mine, something many also enjoyed about Ready Player One. However, Mario influences tens of millions of childhoods. With that in mind, Nintendo delivers massive nostalgia levels throughout the film, resulting in a better experience than Ready Player One and many other nostalgia-filled movies.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie also answers many questions asked since the 1980s and builds on what fans already know. Fans learn who makes the karts from Mario Kart, how they make them, how Mario discovered the Mushroom Kingdom, how the Mario brothers went from plumbers to heroes, and what the blue shell’s origin story is. It’s a brilliant way to address fan theories logically and entertainingly. They also work well with the film’s novel concepts. Audiences learn more about Mario and Luigi’s personalities beyond their heroics seen numerous times by now. Bowser’s backstory is also touched on as he explains why he’s the villain he appears to be. Peach also gets a bigger and bolder personality similar to Mario and Luigi that positively screams “girl boss” alongside numerous characters from the Mario franchise. It leaves many possibilities for what comes next for Mario on the big screen, with Peach’s galaxy and universe references pointing toward other Mario and Nintendo stories not yet told.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a fantastic adventure for adults and children, perfectly balancing known moments with fresh ones. There’s so much more to explore in the Mario universe, especially considering the number of franchises the franchise includes. However, the film takes it slow, acts as a cinematic introduction to the Mario universe, and hints at Mario and Nintendo productions in the future. I, like many others, cannot wait for what Nintendo has in store for new and returning fans (especially if a possible Nintendo Cinematic Universe culminates in a Super Smash Bros. movie–a feasible idea that hardcore fans and the entertainment industry would love to happen).