The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) Review

 "Let's-a go!"

-Mario

When a pipe bursts in New York City, struggling plumbers, Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) head underground to fix it.  However, they find themselves in the Mushroom Kingdom.  When Luigi is captured by the evil Bowser (Jack Black), Mario teams up with Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) to save Luigi and the Mushroom Kingdom.

What Works:

This movie has a lot of problems.  And believe me, I'll get into all of those, but one thing it does have going for it is that it's fun.  I had fun watching it and it was enjoyable to see these characters and setting on the screen.  It's not a good movie narratively, but it's a fun cinematic experience.

This movie is filled to the brim with Easter eggs and references to the series.  A lot of them are fun and I'm excited they included them.  There are plenty of extremely subtle references that are so quick that you could easily miss them.  The movie relies too heavily on them, but I liked a lot of them and you can tell the filmmakers love this series.

The music is absolutely incredible as well.  They took tons of music from the game and made it even more  cinematic.  I would absolutely listen to this soundtrack on repeat.

Finally, Jack Black is fantastic as Bowser.  I wasn't sure what direction they were going to take the character.  I thought he might be a little one-note based on the trailer, but they lean into the romantic side.  He loves Peach and wants to marry her.  That's his goal.  This big, bad turtle wants to have a romantic wedding and that's his motivation.  That's hilarious and they give Jack Black the opportunity to sing about Peach.  I love it.

What Sucks:

So, Chris Pratt is a bad Mario.  He's not terrible or anything, but he adds nothing to the character.  I appreciate that they did the hardcore Italian accents at least once during the movie, but Pratt was still the wrong choice for Mario.  Danny DeVito would have been ideal.

Like I said, there is a lot of focus on Easter eggs and references, but there is a real lack of story.  Mario wants to save Luigi.  Peach wants to save the Mushroom Kingdom.  Bowser wants to marry Peach.  There isn't really anything more to it.  If you aren't a Mario game fan, there isn't much here to grab your interest.

Finally, most of the characters are underused.  Luigi, Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen), Toad (Keegan-Michael Key), and even Bowser don't get enough to do.  I would have loved if this movie had been more focused on the ensemble and given us characters to root for.  We just don't get enough because the movie is too focused on references.

Verdict:

I had fun watching this movie, but I feel like I could have made a better a Mario movie.  It's such a rich world and what we saw of it was fun, but it wasn't enough.  The story and characters weren't nearly engaging enough which is a shame.  That said, I really enjoyed watching it, especially when they point out the strange logic of these games.  Plus Jack Black and the music are just fantastic.  Hopefully, they can do better with the sequel.  They have nearly endless potential.

 7/10: Good