★★★½
Children of the ’80s and ’90s and fans of Nintendo nostalgia of any age rejoice! The Super Mario Bros. Movie, directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, offers viewers a beautiful walk down memory lane with the characters from the game that made Nintendo the powerhouse it remains today.
Richly hued, The Super Mario Bros. Movie opens with the ultimate baddy, Bowser, on his path to find a Super Star and take over the world. The audience is then whipped into our everyday universe, where the writers firmly situate Mario and Luigi in a very recognizable Brooklyn, NY, where they live with their big, stereotypical Italian-American family.
The film is star-studded, with the title brothers voiced by Chris Pratt as Mario and Charlie Day as Luigi. Princess Peach is voiced by Anya Taylor-Joy, while Keegan-Michael Key voices Toad, and Seth Rogen is Donkey Kong. Jack Black lends his vocal talents to the villain Bowser, who has more than one musical number to show off his singing chops. Other supporting voice actors are Fred Armisen, Sebastian Maniscalco, and Kevin Michael Richardson.
Just as exciting as seeing the beloved plumbers in gorgeous computer animation is hearing all of the theme songs that Nintendo players grew up humming even when they didn’t have the controllers in their hands. Fans will be delighted that all of the game’s sound effects are used throughout the film, including the power-up notes, which let audiences know Mario has the advantage now.
The movie follows the classic hero’s journey as Mario must cross the threshold into a new world, through a pipe, of course, and learn how to navigate the land. With Princess Peach as his guide, Toad as his companion, and Donkey Kong as his friendly beast, Mario achieves his goal: to find his brother, Luigi, and save the Mushroom Kingdom.
Though audiences, especially those seeking sentimental flashbacks to their simpler childhoods, will enjoy seeing their video game characters come to life, they may walk away from the film realizing the story wasn’t as deep as they’d hoped. The Super Mario Bros. Movie offers a lot of surface appeal: gorgeous graphics and recognizable melodies. However, there’s not a lot to offer besides serious fan service.
Even though the film may lack the deeper storylines of contemporary animated films, it does remind viewers of one of the most important aspects of playing video games: you have to keep trying. Mario makes a lot of mistakes and fails numerous times, but the refrain throughout the film is that he doesn’t know when to quit. Gamers are the same—when faced with the question, “Ready to quit?,” most will agree with Mario and reply, “Never.”
