The Super Mario Bros. Movie Parent Guide

Brooklyn brothers Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) are struggling to get their new plumbing business off the ground. While exploring the sewer system, they both get sucked into a mysterious pipe that leads them to magical worlds. Luigi finds himself in a barren world of lava and skeleton zombies ruled by the terrifying Bowser (Jack Black), while Mario falls into a world of mushrooms led by the courageous Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy). With Bowser intent on taking over all the kingdoms in the realm, Mario and Peach team up to defeat him and save Luigi.

I told a coworker that I was seeing this movie and she asked if it would be a good choice for someone who has zero knowledge of the Nintendo property. To answer her question publicly, no. Although I enjoyed the film overall, which I’ll expand on in a moment, I don’t recommend it for people who don’t know anything about the Mario games. You do not have to be an expert (I know I’m not) but you should have some basic ideas of the characters and their worlds, or you’ll be completely lost and probably quite bored.

Illumination is possibly my least favorite major animation studio. With maybe one or two exceptions their productions are generally lackluster, immature, and poorly written. Super Mario Bros unfortunately falls into some of the same traps as its studio siblings. The story is underwritten, most of the characters are flat, and the script comes across as juvenile. The plot serves mainly to set up video game call back set pieces, with very little keeping the scenes together.

That all said, I had a great time and so did the theater full of kids. What little plot there is manages to be fun and deliver positive messages about courage, teamwork, and persistence. There are some great jokes that even got me howling with laughter and, contrived as the set pieces may be, they are super enjoyable. Troops of monkeys and turtles fighting Mad Max-style in Go Karts on a rainbow? Come on, that’s just great cinema. Jack Black is the glue holding this precarious production together as he brings the perfect balance of menace and ridiculousness and even gets to flex his musical chops.

I want to make a special shout out to the composer, Brian Tyler, who crafted the perfect blend of the original Nintendo score (by Koji Kondo) into an orchestral score. The soundtrack pays homage to the familiar themes, but not to the point that it becomes annoying; on the contrary, it’s absolutely fantastic.

Overall, I think children and fans of the franchise are going to have a blast with this movie. No, it’s not going to win any writing awards, but it made me laugh and it looks good which is more than I can say for most children’s media. Parents need only worry about the fantasy violence throughout, which could be a bit scary for very young viewers. If you’re ok with a lot of spectacle and not much substance, The Super Mario Bros Movie is sure to power up family movie night.