Is The Super Mario Bros. Movie Any Good? 

What did you think of the Super Mario Bros. Movie 🤔

I love the end credit scene when sonic comes out of a portal and tells Mario “we need to smash, bro.” My entire movie theatre went insane

"critics hate it while audience loves it" is honestly a recurring pattern in a lot of cases

This is really a movie just for Mario fans, that's about it

everyone’s pointing out that charles had the cameo as “Jump Man” but nobody’s addressing his stellar performance as Mario’s Dad

For a movie based on Mario, it was definitely great. Good thing Nintendo stood over Illuminations shoulder.

I feel like if there was an extra 20 minutes, everything could be fleshed out more and maybe give Luigi something to do

I couldn’t help but feel the movie had a huge sense of love and celebration for the Mario games and cartoons.. and because of that I walked out really happy with this movie. It was just so charming.

Just figured I’d say since you didn’t seem to notice: Martinet not only briefly voiced that one dude in the pizza shop (designed as OG Mario), but he also voiced Mario and Luigi’s father. Just thought I’d say

Hearing character yell things like “IM GONNA KILL MARIO” was a highlight of this movie for me

Jock Donkey Kong was an insanely fun character. Not only did they play THE song, but "Yeah, but your dad was right!" was the funniest line in the movie 7/10 movie, 10/10 experience

honestly, it wasn’t a great MOVIE, but as a mario fan? it was an absolute dream. when the DK rap started playing, i was bouncing in my seat and singing along like a little kid. i wish there was more exposition for the world, dialogue between the characters, and, most of all, closure for peach’s story and why there’s a pipe in brooklyn in the first place. i also would’ve loved to see some of peach and boswer’s background growing up together, maybe even the reason why bowser is the way he is. and that would mean more screen time for kamek, too! i also would have loved to see wario and waluigi included in the family dinner scene.

Weirdly, this video was pretty helpful in summarising my thoughts on the movie. I liked it overall, but came out having a problem with it I couldn’t really figure out. Then this video came out and reminded me, “Oh yeah, it’s the character development and pacing”. Aside from that it was a fun movie

Definitely felt a big budget version of the super show, especially with the use of license music in the film, and in that aspect it was pretty enjoyable for me .

Jack Black’s performance as Bowser is so good. He killed it with his line delivery and was my favorite character in the movie.

Mario not really having a crush on peach is a brilliant breath of fresh air from the “hero wants the main girl” trope

Despite the story not being the best, this is one of the most fun movies I've seen, which I feel like is similar to the games.

I loved the movie and hearing the *Donkey Kong Rap* from N64 in a cinema was truly a life-changing experience for any audience member.

As a massive Mario fan, this movie was everything I’ve ever could’ve wanted, I’d probably give it an 8/10 for an actual score but to me personally it’s an easy 10/10

The movie is fast paced, but in a decent way, it makes you think "wait, that's it? We're moving already? I wanted more" instead of saying "wait we're on the next scene already? Did I miss something? I don't get this"

It was funny, had tons of references, and the characteristics including Peach ,Donkey Kong, and Bowser are incredible. The animation overall is great.

Honestly, since i got popped out in 02 Mario has been at the source of so many fundamental gaming experiences, I think I honestly got everything I wanted out of it, I honestly kinda cant wait to see it again just to look in the backgrounds of every scene

I’m not gonna lie and say the movie was flawless but I personally really enjoyed it. All the references, easter eggs, and the nostalgic music numbers were amazing. My friends and I were giddy the whole time

I feel like you described exactly how I felt about this film. I find it to be okay and my biggest issue is that many scenes end quickly and don't seem to allow for any real interaction between the characters While it's nice to have a film with a running time of 1.5 hours I think it would have benefited greatly from a 2 hour run.

If you want Mario stories, the rpg games are definitely where it's at. Bowser's personality in the movie seems very rpg influenced.

I do wonder how different things would’ve been if Dreamworks got the reins to do a Mario movie. Planning to see the movie in theaters this weekend.

I also agree that the movie was just okay , but did anyone else think the ending was a little weird and rushed? The people of Brooklyn seemed totally fine with their city being destroyed and another universe existing. They also don't show how Mario and Luigi return and live in the Mushroom Kingdom even though the warp pipe they used to get there in the first place was destroyed.

Honestly bowser “stole the show” due to being played by Jack Black, but honestly I love the way Bowser was portrayed.

In regards to "Mario games have no story", you got the RPGs. While may not make the best 1 to 1 conversion for movies, they still prove you can have a Mario story.

If I had a nickel for every time an animated character voiced by Chris Pratt accidentally shrank, I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice, right?

I haven’t seen it yet but I feel like this movie would have benefited greatly from some extra runtime (edit: I have seen it now the movie desperately needed an extra 30 minutes but I still enjoyed it)

I agree with his points about pacing and character arcs, but I was just fanboying through the whole thing and I barely noticed those problems and was just happy it wasn’t a huge disaster

I went with a large group of friends and had an absolute blast! I understand the criticism, but the memories and being able to point out references with your friends is what made it shine for me!

It was a beautiful scene when Marlo and the green one said "We're the The Super Mario Bros. Movie!" My whole theatre clapped.

Honestly I do wish the movie was a bit longer, spend some more time in Brooklyn to set up the whole “Mario doesn’t quit” thing that the movie was going for It also would’ve meant we got to see more of Mario and Luigi interacting and that would’ve been amazing!

Glad you mentioned "Wander Over Yonder". That's exactly what I thought of with some of the Bowser scenes, especially the "Peaches" part.

Everything youve said is exactly what ive been thanking. When i went to go see the movie, i had WAAAAYY TOO HIGH of expectations for it. I guess i was just too excited. But because of it, I left feeling kind of disappointed. I mean, its a fun movie, i enjoyed it, but the film critic in me keeps it from enjoying it to it's max. My biggest problens were the pacing, runtime and how it affected the characters. I feel like none of them got proper development. Like Luigi, for example. Throughout the entire movie, he was shown to be reliant on his brother for help and safety. However, in this movie they threw him to the side and just let the exact same things happen, and never really let him grow. Seriously, the amount of screentime he got was criminally low. He'a characterized as a weak coward throughout, and it makes me incredibly sad. I also had problems with peach- Im all for girl power (i am a girl myself so hehe), but they kind of took it too far with her character. She doesnt feel like the same character from the games, and feels quite one-dimensional. I really didnt enjoy it, she just felt really bland. I tend to hyperfixate on characters as a budding writer myself, which is probably why alongside the high expectations i was a bit let down, but in the end i still think its a fun movie! Sure people see things in black and white when it comes to criticism, but just because the movie has its flaws doesnt mean its horrible. Id give it a 7/10 personally.

The characters don't have personalities in the mainline games, but you should play the Mario Rabbids, Mario and Luigi and the three first Paper Mario games if you didn't. They're a lot deeper and well written than in the mainline games.

I think a large problem with online discourse nowadays is that people value critics opinions in terms of a films SUCCESS wayyy too much Like if critics hate it they won’t make another movie or something when that’s not how it works at all, the deciding factor will be how much money it makes, not how good it is (I mean look at 80% of the despicable me adjacent films lol)

mario's father was voiced by Charles. hearing him call mario a disappointment was hilarious

Super Mario bros movie review Personally I really like the movie it sure it has a predictable story and isn’t the greatest movie of all time but it’s definitely the best video game adaptation & illumination movie ever plus the animation was a nice mix of realism & cartoony and the cast while at first a bit questionable did a really good job plus the movie is really funny Overall 9/10 really good movie definitely better then turning red,Lightyear & Strange world that’s for sure

i’m a huge fan of mario and i dressed up as luigi to see the movie the day it premiered and so did other people. the whole vibe in the theater was wholesome and amazing. at the end of the movie everyone clapped and it felt so unreal. 10/10 watching it every week👍also i love all the humorous jokes they made

Hard agree on the "low expectations" part! I hate being told to "lower my expectations" in order to enjoy something. What does that even really mean? I shouldn't expect a movie to be good? What? Of course I should! There's nothing wrong with wanting that. And if I don't end up enjoying it that doesn't mean I went in wanting to hate it. I honestly find that sort of attitude more pretentious than someone simply being honest and saying "Yeah, I didn't like it I'm afraid".

As a movie, sure, it was just plainly ok. Still had some flaws, but was alright. But the fact that this is an ILLUMINATION movie and it’s about MARIO, it was honestly waaaayyyyyy better than expected. A 6/10 movie with a 9/10 enjoyability.

It’s definitely the best movie Illumination has ever made!! It doesn’t have a lot of story but it’s still really enjoyable Unlike any other illumination movie

I can't really give my thoughts on the movie yet, but I agree with the last part, the internet sees criticism in a black and white way

I think the best and worst thing about this movie for me is that it was exactly what I expected. It's a quick fun kids movie full of references to something I like, nothing more, nothing less.

I thought that even though the movie was just fine it was all just REALLY fun. The fast pacing just complimented this and the whole community surrounding it

I watched it today and I thought it was pretty damn good. It absolutely has it's problems tho. The story is a bit fast paced and the character development is just not there except for Mario himself. I still went out of the movie with a cute lil smile on my face cause....I just love the Mario series. There are so many little nods to the entire series (hell even other Nintendo Franchises like Punch-out and Kid Icarus). The kingdoms looks absolutely astounding (I guess Illumination is just good at making things look good). Where the characters don't develop that much, I really love their personalities. Mainly, Bowser and Donkey Kong. Jack and Seth absolutely killed it with their performances.

I actually really liked the movie, I loved peaches character in the movie instead of being a damsel but shes like...a good princess of her kingdom

Agreed, not great. How do you handle Mario in the medium of film with characterization, motivation, and a hero's journey? Well, they certainly didn't. It's not really much of a movie, rather a spectacle. Not a 10/10 by a longshot. Especially compared to other animated films this generation. The Mushroom Kingdom looks amazing, there's fun to be had, but there's no real hook. Mario and Luigi's dynamic in Brooklyn struggling to be self-employed was my favorite angle, but overall it's actually a lot LESS developed than Illumination's other films, ironically enough.

10:49 That is literally the main problem with any argument or war I seen on Twitter

Can we all just agree this movie is a masterpiece compared to the original super Mario bros. Movie

10:43 "I'm tired of everything needing to be good" made me laugh out loud. Despite its execution, I see where they're coming from. I'm reminded of your Sonic 2 review where you said it wasn't great, but you still really liked it. Personal enjoyment and critical "quality" can be quite different. There's plenty room for mindless entertainment. You just don't need to have a fit online when some doesn't feel the same lol. Congrats on the deserved 500K!

Saying "it was cute" is just a shallow way of saying "it sucked, but I'm too afraid to admit it"

11:44 what…

Literally all I wanted out of it was to be a Mario movie. And I got it, and I was satisfied.

BRO thank you for that part about “why does there have to be a victor” when it comes to liking things. I agree so much. Just because you like something more than someone else has nothing to do with the quality of that thing.

This is just me being American, but how come nobody is talking about how he says "Mary-o"?

A nice and simple review of the film. You did a good job covering every ground, Mark. Think I'm about to see it soon, thanks to this

Damn, the mario movie was really good! I loved the 3 suicide bomber scenes! And when mario said “meow” and meowed all over the place my theater went wild! 🐱

I personally loved the movie, but it's great to see a different interpretation

People complaining about critics not liking a movie they liked as if a movie being good or bad is objective just shows that many people still have too much of a herd mentality. They want everyone to agree with their opinion or they get uncomfortable. Everyone must conform to the collective in their eyes, any subjectivity is dismissed. People should be allowed to like or dislike a movie without getting screeched at for it. It's absolutely fine to want a kids movie to just have a little more depth. Nobody was asking the Mario movie to be a philosophical masterpiece, they just wanted at least 5% more nuance. It doesn't have to be high art but it could be something a little more than the barebones. Twitter freaks out whenever someone disagrees with the collective on something as simple as thinking a children's movie was just ok. This is why critical thinking is dead. The court of public opinion is too narrow minded to want to hear any opposing viewpoints. If criticizing a kid's movie is now taboo then I won't use the internet. The LEGO movie is the perfect example. It was also a kid's movie with a simple plot but it still had that lil message about being creative and expressing indviduality which is a good message to give kids. It wasn't deep but it was good. All kids movies should be like it.

On the drive back from seeing it today, my sister and I just kept discussing all the ways the script could've been expanded on and improved, like maybe have a conflict between Mario and Luigi where the latter escapes earlier in the film and just wants to get back to Brooklyn while the former wants to stay and help Peach. Methinks Miyamoto had a hand in keeping the script as minimalist as possible, which wasn't necessarily for the best. I do find it funny how in these recent theatrical adaptations, Sonic and now Mario share a hatred of mushrooms.

The movie comes of as a love letter to Mario fans and in that I think the movie succeeds

From what you're saying, i'm thinking that they were more focused on the visuals and references rather than characters, so the movie would've been much better had they made character interactions somewhat longer with more depth and shortened the list of references they wanted to put in

Loved the soundtrack for sure, herring all these Mario songs done in big orchestras was honestly amazing

As a life long Nintendo fanboy I loved the movie. It was a fun twist on these iconic characters and the amount of references blew me away! Illumination really did their research, damn!

I loved it. Had a big smile on my face basically from start to finish. I think any longtime fan will inevitably have a fun time. Bowser also reminded me a lot of Paper Bowser in his personality which was great he got most of the big laughs from me Jack Black was perfect.

Judging by that ending I'm gonna assume Mark is reviewing that Winnie the Pooh horror movie

I never figured out how the blue Koopa guy found out the princess and the kong kingdoms plan to ambush

11:04 the Lego movie fucking rocks!

5:32 I had the same problem when I saw sonic 2, sonic and tails didn’t really have any scenes that made them feel like their bonding and all the sudden their best friends, glad you brough up a similar problem

The thumbnail with Brian looking like Birdo has had me laughing way more than it should have.

It’s really kind of amazing how horrifically miscast Chris Pratt is as Mario. Like nothing about either voice he swaps between fits the character and it just comes across as somebody half heartedly doing a Mario impression for a paycheck.

the echo chamber that is twitter tried convincing me that chris pratts voice was good, im so glad you found issue with it changing too lmao. some other people were inconsistent too, like even some of jack blacks voice lines. seth rogen should NOT have been donkey kong. anya taylor joy, keegan michael key were highlights

For me the movie was great, it just tried to put too much in one movie which really janked the pacing and didn't give much character growth, like Mario and peach were already fancying each other instead of building it up and Luigi just suddenly knowing how to use the star power up despite being shown to not be as athletic as his brother in the beginning. this video addresses pretty much all the issues i had with the film so good on you Lark Sark Mark

I agree with ya in certain aspects. Pacing could’ve been extended to allow some development between characters and their interactions. Especially considering how toad was kinda useless throughout the movie. I liked the (little) arc Mario went through on becoming a great hero, it woulda been amazing if they focused more time on it tho. Visually and musically, the movie was stunning and perfect. Just about what I expected with Nintendo keepin a close eye on Illumination. And although I’m heavily biased considering I love this franchise, I liked this movie a lot! It may be a simple fun, paper thin plot adventure, but I was pleased with what we got. There’s certain things that I feel could’ve been done better but yeah 👍🏼 ⭐️ If anyone took the time to read all this, I appreciate it thanks

I think the cast's comments on this movie have been unconstructive. When they say "our biggest critics will be 35 year old guys who live in basements" it doesn't help anyone. I understand it's for kids, and I'm 100% okay with that, but when you're using an IP from the 80's, it DOES bring in an older audience, and that's also okay, excluding them is just mean.

I honestly love it! Especially the rainbow road part where a familiar music plays! It was honestly a blast and I squeal any minute of it!

I think my thing with movies (or any media) is that I go into them considering more what the intent of it was rather than what I personally wanted. To me, it's apparent story really was the last focus here, with the main idea being "compress the spirit of the games into a viewing experience". It's like another way to enjoy Mario without the games, and on that level, it seems like it's succeeded. I can't say much since I haven't seen the movie myself yet, but from what I have seen and and heard from everybody who has watched it, it just seems like it wanted to be fun, with the character/worldbuilding really just doing the bare minimum. That doesn't mean I disagree with the idea of calling that out, because that is a major issue of writing, but it's one of those things that was definitely intentional and something I honestly have to blame on Miyamoto's heavy influence on the story. Mario seems like it's wanted to move into more thoughtful stories, but hasn't been able to since the priority is "fun" before anything else. Since a sequel is an inevitability at this point, I hope the next movie is given the ability to really flesh out the world of Mario and it's characters, and really gives us that "This has no right being as good as it is" movie. I am going into this movie with the expectation being "A very fun movie that will make a Mario fan like me very happy", but I am also not going to ignore the admittedly second thought writing

I personally liked this movie, but I can see how someone who isn't a Mario fan wouldn't be into it. Good review!

It's another one of those "If you've seen the trailers, you've watched the movie" movies.

I saw the movie and I disliked it... 0:54 I think the characters do have quite good personality in the RPGs, though I mostly am a fan of Bowser and his minions, since they have the best personalities, I'm not too big a fan of the "good guys" even though they do have personalities too. 1:35 Oh my gosh am I not the only one who disliked the Mario Movie??? AM I NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO DISLIKED THE MARIO MOVIE??? 2:01 Nevermind, heheh, I disliked it a lot because they contradict the characters' personalities from the games. They changed Cranky Kong and Lumalee into completely different characters, Peach was only just a tough side, but worst of all, they completely destroyed how they portrayed Bowser! They made him threaten to kill if he doesn't get his way, then attempt to kill anyway despite getting his way! Minion Quest confirmed that "Destroy Mario" is too hardcore for something Bowser would order and Origami King confirmed that Bowser considers Toad Genocide too far, so why is Movie Bowser threatening to kill, then attempting to kill entire groups of people anyway!? They also flanderized Bowser's crush on Peach and made it way more unhealthy than it is in the games, granted it's still not healthy but god damn, they made him threaten to harm Toad if Peach didn't say yes... 3:09 Well actually, they, unfortunately, say that in the movie universe, they use "floataniam" a mineral exclusive to the Mushroom Kingdom. It's stupid because the Mario fanbase is dumb and is claiming it's a "canon explanation" even though it isn't! 5:15 It is disproven in the games, but the movie is not a valid source to disprove it. 7:23 I think they did have a balance between a threatening Bowser and goofy lovestruck Bowser, but they did it in all the wrong ways. The games do it completely differently and the games way of portraying him is far better. (I recommend the RPGs mostly, they have a lot of chances to have dialogue in the RPGs but when they have dialogue in other games, they're consistent there too) 7:35 I wish that they made him threatening in a different way, a way more reminiscent of the games, rather than the horrible out of character way in which they made him threatening. But unfortunately, it was inevitable I wouldn't have gotten what I wanted when the movie directors claim the characters in the games have no personality and use that as an excuse for celebrity casting... which is an insult to the games' actors as well as the fact the characters DO have personalities in the games, the movie just didn't follow those well, as well as the interview stating they DELIBERATELY changed character personalities, the ones brought up in question being Peach and Bowser (that explains it) because they claim their canon personalities are "unfit for the silver screen" which is so dumb. And I do not want the Koopalings in any movies, I am so scared they'll use them because Ludwig's name was on Bowser's piano!!! THEY CAN'T USE THE KOOPALINGS! THEY BETTER NOT!! I am so worried about if they'll use the Koopalings! 9:36 "If you're a Mario fan, this really is the best case scenario" Personally disagree. The way the characters are portrayed in the Movie so badly contradicting the way they are portrayed in the games, which has been consistent overall (just a bit hard to tell at times because of the bad and screwy localization) made it just a REALLY bad experience for me at the theaters overall. Maybe I'm not a Mario fan then, maybe I'm just a fan of Larry Koopa, Bowser, his minions, the other Koopalings, Bowser Junior, Kamek, like, maybe I'm more a fan of the characters. I don't know, I think the games are fine and the gameplay fun too, but I just really REALLY *REALLY* care about the characters to quite an extreme and the movie failed me on the thing I cared most about. 9:44 LMAO! YOU'VE NOTICED HOW TOXIC THE MARIO FANDOM HAS BEEN LATELY TOO??? I KEPT BEING TOLD I'M WRONG AND THAT THE MARIO FANDOM IS SO TAME AND WHOLESOME, SAME THING I'VE BEEN TOLD ABOUT THE MADOKA MAGICA FANDOM, BOTH FANDOMS ARE ABSOLUTELY ABSURDLY HORRIBLE AND I WILL NEVER FORGET THAT!! 11:21 I'm glad you liked the Mario Movie. Unfortunately for me, I just did not and could not enjoy it.

mark will now enter cryosleep until october 27th

I personally liked it, it just felt really short… there were a few people in the theater with me that needed to touch some grass tho… thank you Mark, for pointing out that there are toxic people on both sides of the spectrum

It wanted to do so much in such a short time span, that it felt like a glorified appatizer rather than a full meal. I would have gone a different route with the story personally, but as it is I still had a really fun time with it.

Bro, when Mario said "Look Luigi, We're the New Super Mario Bros!.... U Deluxe for Nintendo Switch coming this summer." I almost shed a single tear.

It's okay like a 6/10 honestly.

Mark's uploads confirm that it's Good Friday!

Watched it last night in Latin Spanish, hearing Toad offering “Cueritos” was just hilarious, the movie was filled with references and very enjoyable to watch from start to finish.

The way how they did princess peach’s backstory was actually charming how she managed to become the princess of the mushroom kingdom. Plus it had great type of humor and charm for their characters as they everything they needed in a super Mario movie for any Mario or video game fan.

9/10 movie for me. I’ve only played a small amount of Mario games which I wish I could play more but I loved this movie. The soundtrack, visuals, and storytelling were all amazing to me. Voice acting was surprisingly amazing with certain characters like Mario, Luigi, and Bowser which I had high hopes for. One thing I would change is the pacing like how instead of passing by the different lands like Yoshi Island or Rock Candy Mines, they could have done at least one thing in them. Bowser wasn’t just coming, he was arriving.

It was pretty bad, like Bowser had a de evolution gun? Also Bowser was a human. The goombas were some monsters. The were no Mario enemies that looked like what they did in any mario game. It was nothing like Mario and it was bad. What do you mean I'm talking about the wrong film?

I'm surprised you didn't mention how good the original soundtrack for this movie is. Yeah, it has the occasional out of place pop song haphazardly thrown in but when an orchestral rendition of the Mario 3 theme kicks in when Mario takes flight, I had the biggest grin plastered on my face.

Spot-on, dude! This is exactly how I felt too. I thought it was alright, better than the Sonic movies, but I didn't think it was that good either. I knew the moment I saw that low Tomatometer that it was time for the age-old complaining about critics again, glad you showed some of the dumbest examples because I was equally baffled. It's the same thing I said in my video about the second Sonic movie - "the movie isn't supposed to be good!".

To be honest you're going to get a little more characterization in the spin-off titles like Super Mario RPG, Paper Mario, and the Mario & Luigi series. I don't know why Nintendo never tried to give the mainline games any sort of story or the like, but I guess it's like the mickey mouse comparison, which is funny when you realize they have Nintendo World at Universal Studios. I haven't seen the movie myself yet so I am sure I'm going to be in the camp of thinking this movie was decent, which might as well be a damn masterpiece in Illumination's standards, and makes it the best Mario movie by default.

Low key the film is exactly like the games. It’s just something to be enjoyed and it’s definitely a fun rollercoaster ride at that. Actually gets me hyped for a potential smash universe

I'm glad this exists to at least kinda summarize my opinion. I had a really hard time communicating what I thought about it

Im honestly a fan of how fast paced it is