Mamma Mia! An Animated Mario Movie!

Our beloved Italian plumber Mario is back! But this time it’s not for a video game, but on the big screen in multiple theaters worldwide. Follow Mario as he goes on his biggest adventure yet! The Super Mario Bros. Movie has the world’s undivided attention and people can’t stop talking about it. With audience responses of 8.3 on Metacritic and 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s no wonder this movie is the talk of the year.  

Two Italian brothers, Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day), have just started their own plumbing business in Brooklyn. After receiving some backlash from his ex-employer, Spike, and even from his own family, Mario wants nothing more than to prove them wrong. So, after seeing a giant leak in the city on the news, Mario and Luigi go to fix the problem. As they go underground to try and fix the leak, they soon come across a strange green pipe that takes them into a different world. Unfortunately, as they’re sucked into the pipe, they’re also separated from each other, with Mario landing in the Mushroom Kingdom and Luigi in the Dark Lands. Now Mario must team up with Princess Peach, Toad, and Donkey Kong to save his brother and the Mushroom Kingdom from the evil Koopa, King Bowser. 

When I saw the trailers, I knew I had to see the film. From Jack Black voicing Bowser, to the beautiful animation, to Princess Peach being a complete badass. I went during the week it just released, so I got to experience just how many people were waiting to see this film. As I was watching the movie, it was a little slow at the beginning, but it soon grabbed my attention again. I loved to see so many things from the Mario games in the movie. The items, sounds, side characters, worlds, and music. There were so many Easter eggs that were added it felt like my Mario knowledge was being put to the test, and I pointed out everything that I was supposed to, such as one of the stores you would see in the Super Mario Odyssey being shown in the Mushroom Kingdom and the characters driving karts on Rainbow road, which you would see in any Mario Kart game.  I enjoyed watching the movie so much that I went to go see it again with my sister. My sister also enjoyed it, despite not being one to play Mario games like me. 

Unfortunately for critics, the movie did not appeal to them. Metacritic gave it a 46 and Rotten Tomatoes a 59%, making it seem like the movie was not off to a good start. Most critics described the movie as beautifully animated and bright, but with a plot that lacked good storytelling and no character development. The film tried its best to capture the audience for both children and adults alike, but critics explained the wacky ideas in the movie would only capture the eyes of children and leave adults unamused. 

But despite that, this did not stop fans from watching the movie; oh boy, did they love it. From its amazing story to the classic, familiar characters, and nostalgic areas/sounds from Mario games, fans were not disappointed. Fans loved it so much that some of them went to see it again and again. But one of the issues that fans were afraid of was the choice of voice actors. When Nintendo announced the cast list, people instantly started coming after Chris Pratt, who is the voice of Mario. Many were upset that Nintendo didn’t get Charles Martinet, the voice of Mario in the games, to voice him in the movie. But after fans watched the movie, they were quite impressed by Pratt’s performance. He wasn’t trying too hard to make his voice sound like the original that people know and love, but it didn’t disappoint the fans. It seemed to be a refresher for them and they enjoyed it, myself included. The audience also really enjoyed Jack Black who voiced Bowser, especially his love song for Princess Peach, Peaches (which has millions of views on YouTube and was number one on Spotify at one point). 

The movie came out during Easter weekend (April 5th) and made almost $205 million during the 5-day opening weekend in the United States and Canada. Outside the United States and Canada, the movie grossed $172.8 million during the first week it came out. As of right now, the movie has now made a total of $1.356 billion worldwide. If you have time to see it, I highly recommend it and I bet other people would say the same. 

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is now available to buy or rent on Apple TV, Vudu, Amazon, Redbox, Peacock and Google Play.