Review of THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE: Plucky Plumbers

April 23, 2023

Brothers Mario and Luigi have recently launched their plumbing business in Brooklyn, which their father did not look too favorably upon. Responding to a nearby flooding crisis which they saw on the news, Mario and Luigi go down into the manhole to try to fix the major leak. However, they were instead sucked into a Warp Pipe and were transported into an alternate universe where they get separated.

While Mario landed in the brightly-lit Mushroom Kingdom ruled by Princess Peach, Luigi landed in the dismal Dark Lands ruled by King Bowser. As he had just acquired the Super Star by attacking the Snow Kingdom of the Penguin King, Bowser now planned to force Princess Peach to get married to rule the universe together. However, he saw Mario there and considered him a rival for the Princess's affection. 

The character of Mario first appeared in Nintendo's 1981 Donkey Kong arcade game. From 1983's Mario Bros. and 1985's Super Mario, Mario had developed into a giant franchise that spun-off into different types of games. Mario is now the best-selling video game franchise of all time. The wealth of characters and genres of the Mario universe over 40 years made it perfect material for a rich, colorful full-length animated film for all ages. 

The voices were provided by an A-list cast led by Chris Platt (as Mario), Charlie Day (as Luigi), Anya Taylor-Joy (as Princess Peach), Seth Rogen (as Donkey Kong). Jack Black stole his scenes as the growly voice of King Bowser, especially for his musical number "Peaches" dedicated to his lady-love while playing the piano. The actor who gave Mario and Luigi their voices in the games, Charles Martinet, voiced the brothers' father. 

As of now, this film joins Universal's recent animated films "Croods 2" (2020), "Sing 2" (2021) and "Minions 2" (2022) as the top animated films of their respective years. Different viewers would be familiar with different storylines and game designs of various Mario games. As with other movies where nostalgia is a main selling point, the more Mario games you have played, the more you will enjoy this movie. My sons rated this film higher than I did. 7/10.