With help from Princess Peach, Mario gets ready to square off against the all-powerful Bowser to stop his plans from conquering the world.
Chris Pratt, Charlie Day, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jack Black, Seth Rogen, Keegan-Michael Key, Fred Armisen, Sebastian Maniscalco
‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ is a fun, crowd-pleasing film, packed full of references and vibrant visuals. While it’s surely an enjoyable ride, the story leaves much to be desired.
Chris Pratt is surprisingly great as Mario. The issue of the Super Mario Bros. iconic Italian accent is taken care of early on in the film. Hopefully this film will truly make audiences realize that Chris Pratt is a great, and more than capable voice actor.
The standout performance is from none other than Jack Black, who was perfectly cast as the delightfully evil Bowser. His charisma matches this character so well, and he made what could’ve been a very one-noted, boring to watch villain, extremely entertaining. There’s a few musical numbers that Bowser performs that are some of the best parts of the movie.
Fans will be delighted to see several Easter eggs throughout the film, referencing nearly every Mario game, and many other tidbits that hardcore fans will immediately pick up on. While it’s certainly fun to watch, and fans likely won’t be disappointed, this left little room for any plot. You’ve seen this kind of story before, Luigi’s been kidnapped and has to be saved by Mario, and there’s not much originality or heart to how the story is handled.
Despite not having a very compelling narrative, it’s Mario. Maybe it never really needed one. I left the theater fairly satisfied, having enjoyed this 90 minute eye candy of a film. It’ll surely receive plenty of sequels and spin-offs, so we needn’t worry about the Super Mario Bros. abandoning the big screen anytime soon.
