As someone who’s seen this film multiple times in a row, and as a Mario super fan and general movie-goer, I like to believe that I’m the most qualified person to talk about this film. This will be spoiler-free, but there may be some things you may have not wished to hear about such as the soundtrack or certain scenes revealed in trailers, so read with caution. 

In case you’ve been living under a rock for the past 38 years, Mario is a world-famous jack of all trades: A plumber, carpenter, construction worker, golfer, referee, doctor, professional kart racer, a Vietnam soldier (huh?), and more. 

Before I get deep into the film though, I should talk a little about me. Mario has practically raised me, he’s like my second father. One of my first Mario games was the original Super Mario Bros. on Virtual Console, downloaded onto my Wii. After that game, I jumped straight into Mario Galaxy and then Mario Kart Wii. I watched the Mario cartoons as a kid, specifically the Super Mario Bros. Super Show, the Super Mario Bros. 3 show, and the Super Mario World show. I even watched the original Mario movie and I distinctly remember going “This isn’t Mario” as a kid. But when I heard a new Mario Movie was being made, I got excited before it was revealed it was being animated by Illumination. And I’ll be honest, I don’t like Illumination. I loved the first Despicable Me film, but none of their other films have impressed me at all. So, needless to say, I was very worried about the film upon learning that it was not only being made by Illumination but also that the directors were the same guys who produced Teen Titans Go. 

But I’m happy to say, the film is great, maybe even perfect if you’re a long time Mario fan. 

The plot of the film follows Mario & Luigi, both plumbers from Brooklyn who find themselves in the Mushroom Kingdom. Luigi gets kidnapped by Bowser and Mario must be trained by Peach to save his brother and by extension, the Mushroom Kingdom. The film pretty much acts as an origin story for Mario, showing Mario become more experienced as the film progresses, much like how somebody who picks up a game for the first time starts off as relatively inexperienced at the start of the game but becomes better the more they play. 

This film is definitely not winning any awards though. The film’s general plot is very basic, with the characters being relatively surface level in their personalities and character arcs, never really developing over the course of the story all too much. All the main characters remain sort of the same from when they first appear in the film to the end of the film. The plot itself is a generic adventure story with almost no twists or turns but puts a Mario twist on things. And while that may sound bad, I think it works for a film like this. Watching the film is almost like watching a Mario game unfold before your very eyes, which may not make the most sense at first, but if you’ve seen the film, you probably understand what I mean. Even without a compelling story like something such as the Lego Movie, the film still manages to be fun with its well animated action sequences and genuinely funny jokes. 

But I have no clue what the critics were smoking when they saw this film and began calling it “inaccessible” or “offensive” because this film is still very accessible even for non-Mario fans. Everybody knows who Mario is, they know who Donkey Kong is, what a mushroom does, and almost everybody knows the original Ground Theme song. And frankly, if you don’t know anything about Mario, like absolutely zero information, then I’m sorry, but you’re a weirdo. I took a friend to the film who didn’t really have much prior knowledge or emotional attachment to the series, and they came out of it saying it was really fun and how they even wanted to get into the series now. So, while the plot and characters are very basic, it should be noted that that’s in no way a bad thing, it is generally a really fun film and an even better Mario film for long-time fans.  

While still on the general subject of the film’s story, the pacing of this film is lightning fast. And for a comedic adventure film like this, I think the pacing suits the film very well. Right when I thought a part of the film was starting to drag, the film immediately jumped to the next part, not letting any part of the movie overstay its welcome, which is greatly appreciated in a world where almost every film is now 2 to 3 hours. Around 10 to 15 minutes are spent in Brooklyn before the brothers find themselves in the Mushroom Kingdom. This general pace is kept up throughout the film, with a couple of minutes dedicated to each part of the film. It never dwells on any scene, and it feels great because of that. The film definitely could’ve benefited from a few more minutes given to certain aspects. Maybe give more screen time to characters like Luigi or Toad, as both don’t really have a lot to do in the film. And there are plot points that aren’t really focused on too much in the film, but some of those plot points are probably there to set up a potential sequel. And when it comes to giving characters more screen time or spending more time on a specific scene, I’m not talking about like a whole extra 20-minute sequence or something, I mean something more along the lines of anywhere between maybe 30 seconds to a minute in each location in the film. 

The animation really enhances the film though and helps in areas where the film’s narrative is kind of lacking. The animation in the film is simply gorgeous. The squash and stretch used in the film definitely add to the cartoonish world in the film. The Rainbow Road sequence is probably one of the most beautiful sequences I’ve seen in a CGI animated film. Action scenes such as the final battle, the Donkey Kong fight, and the previously mentioned Rainbow Road sequence are all animated delightfully well. Characters are incredibly expressive, and the environments are cartoonishly colorful thanks to the animation. The problem with a lot of video game adaptations is it feels like they all try to adapt the games into live action, things like the original Mario movie, the Sonic movie, the Uncharted movie, the Last of Us TV Show, and more. And while the medium of live action films can definitely work for some video game adaptations, others like Mario definitely benefit from being animated. The original Mario movie was trying to contextualize all the aspects of the games and make them realistic and fit in with the real world, but it ended up feeling nothing like Mario. Animation is used in this film to really bring the Mario world to life, both in the characters and in the locations. 

The cast of the film was something I and many others were definitely worried about, especially regarding Chris Pratt. And while I still think Chris Pratt was miscast as the titular plumber, he does a passable job as Mario. The intern who edited the trailers for the film definitely did Chris Pratt dirty because they took all of Pratt’s worst outtakes and lines from the film and stuffed it into those trailers. Charlie Day makes a great Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy does a great job as Peach, Keegan-Michael Key makes an excellent Toad, Seth Rogen is just kind of himself, and Jack Black easily steals the show as Bowser. Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek definitely deserves to be talked about more considering how great of a performance he puts on as the character. Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong is surprisingly the only performance, I don’t think I’m really a fan of. Even ignoring what the original character sounds like, the voice Armisen puts on for the character just doesn’t really seem to fit. Overall, I feel as though the cast did a pretty good job as each of their respective characters. 

I stand by the idea that this film would not be nearly as good if it wasn’t for Brian Tyler’s brilliant score, adapting all of Koji Kondo’s original music from the games for the film. A lot of the best scenes from the film come from the music alone, such as when Mario first enters the Mushroom Kingdom, and it plays “Inside the Castle Walls” from Super Mario 64 or how the Airship Theme from Super Mario Bros. 3 is played when Bowser appears at the beginning of the film. There’s so many musical easter eggs in the film that it’s hard to keep track of them all. But there is one problem with the film’s soundtrack, and that is the prevalent use of licensed music. Licensed music in films is not bad, in fact I think they can actually impact scenes in films greatly, Guardians of the Galaxy is a film that I think uses its licensed music in such an organic way that also makes sense in terms of the film’s narrative. The Mario movie does not do this. There is no reason to play Bonnie Tyler’s “I need a Hero” during a training montage when there’s a beautiful score you can use. It’s even worse when you consider that they cut an entire medley consisting of Donkey Kong music from the film just to replace it with one of these licensed songs. The licensed music sticks out in this film and takes me out of the experience every time I hear one, though not all people may have a problem with this. 

For average film goers and people who don’t really have a strong attachment to Mario, this movie is a fine 7/10 film and is definitely better than some of Illumination’s other movies. But for anybody who really likes Mario and Nintendo in general, this is a fantastic 9/10 movie. It’s just a nice, short, fun film for family and friends. It’s not trying to be as emotionally in depth as other video game adaptations like the Last of Us, so critics should stop comparing it to adaptations like that. The film’s main goal is to be a fun film that can appeal to anyone, regardless of whether they’re a long-time fan or someone relatively foreign to the series. I would highly urge anyone who hasn’t already seen this film to go out and see it immediately.