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The Super Mario Bros. Movie Review

By Matthew Passantino

The new animated film "The Super Mario Bros. Movie," directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, is like being a nineties kid all over again, at a sleepover, watching your friends play their new fun and exciting video game they are eager to show you. It's entertaining in spurts, but after a while it grows tiresome. At a fast but frenetic 92 minutes, the new animated film replicates that experience.

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It might not be fair to be cynical about an animated film that's targeted at younger audiences, but, frankly, "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" is pretty cynical. Bright colors thrown at the screen shouldn't be the best Hollywood has to offer young moviegoers. There's a deep and rich well of animated movies that are often small parts of a bigger franchise but don't feel like a 90-minute commercial, as "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" does for Nintendo.

As for the plot, does it really matter? Mario (voiced by Chris Pratt) and his brother Luigi (voiced by Charlie Day) don the overalls and famous mustaches as the plumber siblings from Brooklyn who are trying to make a name for themselves. While on a job, they are transported into a different world, but eventually separated; Mario winds up in the Mushroom Kingdom, run by Princess Peach (voiced by Anya Taylor-Joy) and Luigi becomes trapped in a more nefarious world ran by the evil Bowser (voiced by Jack Black). Other things happen, and they cross characters like Toad (voiced by Keegan-Michael Key) and Donkey Kong (voiced by Seth Rogen).

Nostalgia is often used as a dirty term because some suggest that liking something for nostalgic reasons isn't a justifiable reason to like a piece of art. Disagree. Having nostalgic feelings towards a movie, a song, a show, a book, or anything else one chooses to consume can transport a person back to a simpler time with fond remembrance, but it has to be done right. "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" aims to serve those who grew up playing the games through a checklist of characters and winks and nudges, which is an empty and lazy way to invoke one's memories.

Strategically, "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" has come out at the perfect time, mid-week during Spring Break, when parents might be looking for something to do and a few moments of silence. As the box office continues to grow after a tough few years, any movie doing well is a win. "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" is just a blatant ploy at trying to appeal to a wide-ranging audience, and on that front it never levels up.

What did you think?

Movie title The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Release year 2023
MPAA Rating PG
Our rating
Summary This take on the classic 90s video game aims to transport fans back to a simpler time but the effort is empty and lazy.
View all articles by Matthew Passantino
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