With The Super Mario Bros. Movie finally releasing, fans and critics alike have a lot to say about the long-time Nintendo mascot making his modern appearance on the silver screen.
After Mario’s first appearance on the big screen didn’t end so well back in 1993, The Super Mario Bros. Movie stormed into theatres across the world with a ton of feedback coming from all the long-time fans of the series. While the initial Rotten Tomatoes score lands with a middling 55% at the time of publishing, the Audience Score gives a resounding 96%, clearly showing the broader fanbase is happy with the film.
Seeing as the response is so positive from the fans, we here at CGMagazine wanted to compile some responses from fans across the internet showing how excited they are, as well as some of the critical feedback from the journalists who went to see The Super Mario Bros. Movie as it opened this holiday weekend.
The founder and Editor-in-Chief of the prolific Nintendo-centric YouTube channel GameXplain, André Segers, had a ton of positive views of the film after already seeing it multiple (4?!) times. He says, “I have NEVER seen a movie absolutely DOMINATE my timeline like The Super Mario Bros. Movie has. And I love it!” Adding in that he feels for Japanese fans who have to wait three more weeks to see the film. Also, his parents liked it.
While tons of feedback is seeping from the Mario-verse, some critics also have found it’s getting given a lot of grace simply for being based on a nostalgic property, like Kotaku writer Carolyn Petit, who stated on Twitter: “I’m not really swayed by the ‘it’s for kids!’ defences of the Mario movie. There are plenty of genuinely great films for kids. They can handle great, interesting stuff, and they certainly deserve better than a transparently calculated corporate commercial.”
On the flip side, Senior Editor at The Verge, Tom Warren, said: “The Super Mario Bros. Movie reminds me of the special moment of getting an NES for Christmas as a kid. There are so many delightful memories in this movie of the Mario games that I’ve grown up with and adored. All I want now is a game that looks as good as this movie.”
On that same track, our own reviewer here at CGMagazine, Zubi Khan, stated The Super Mario Bros. Movie “continues the trend of well-adapted videogame properties while delivering a film that will please both fans of the source material and children alike.” They ended their review with a score of 7.5/10.
Some fans, like @Allabyb on Twitter, gave praise to Seth Rogen and Jack Black in their roles as Donkey Kong and Bowser, respectively, while @SMRock10 called it “my favourite movie of the year,” comparing the experience to the fun they had with Spider-Man: Homecoming and Deadpool.
Fans, while mostly positive based on the Rotten Tomatoes outcome, also had some harsh, mixed feelings online. For example, @AstartesIneptus on Twitter said it “didn’t do anything groundbreaking or amazing, but it was fun.” While @VyceVictus was much harsher, stating, “If you just wanna chill with your kids while they’re distracted for 90 mins, it’ll do the trick.”
John Leguizamo, who played Luigi in the 1993 film Super Mario Bros., has also been quite critical of the film for a lack of diversity and inclusion, criticizing the lack of Italian roots in Chris Pratt and Charlie Day, who play Mario and Luigi in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, while also taking issue with the lack of Latin American actors getting a shot this time around.
While people across the globe are going to see The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which looks to be doing very well in the box office projections for its opening weekend, fans and critics each have their own opinions as to how the movie fared, while most seem to be happy with the end result.
