Watch Kids' Reviews of
SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE, THE

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is the perfect video-game to movie adaptation! There's lots of laughs for all ages and loads of references to the Mario Games for all fans. I enjoy this animated movie because it gives the iconic characters we all know and love the movie adaptation that they all deserve.

In this movie, we learn the origin story of our favorite video-game brothers, Mario and Luigi. Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) are just your average brothers living and working in Brooklyn as plumbers, but when they find a warp pipe in the sewer, they get transported to the magical land where Toads, Yoshi's and Koopa Troopas roam. Along the way, Luigi gets captured by the evil Bowser (Jack Black) and with the help of Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy), Mario is forced to 'level up' and fight Bowser before he conquers the world.

There's no need to play the video games to like this movie, but existing fans of the franchise will especially love it because of all the Easter eggs and familiar songs. This is such an imaginative story with characters and themes from some of my favorite games in the franchise - Mario Kart, Super Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong. I love how this has elements of the classic games but also new twists, like how Princess Peach in this movie isn't like your normal Princess Peach in need of rescuing, because she can save herself and is very skillful at doing so. I also love how relatable the brothers are as they are from our world. We've been seeing a lot of high quality animation from Illumination recently, and this movie follows the trend. The animation is cheerful and lively and the quality is top-notch. Jack Black, as Bowser, is absolutely perfect in this role. His versatile voice makes for an almost manic Bowser - scary, evil, quirky and laughable - and he can flip the two like a light switch. Chris Pratt as Mario and Charlie Day as Luigi have a lot of chemistry and seem like very close brothers. Collectively, they are relatable and help us sympathize with the plot even more.

The messages of The Super Mario Bros. Movie are that family is the most powerful thing in the world (real and virtual) and when working together, you can accomplish anything.

I give The Super Mario Bros. Movie 4 of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 8 to 18, plus adults. Players of any Mario games will enjoy this. It comes out in theaters April 5, 2023.

By Katherine S., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic, age 15

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The story of The Super Mario Bros. on their journey through the Mushroom Kingdom. A Brooklyn plumber named Mario travels through the Mushroom Kingdom with a princess named Peach and an anthropomorphic mushroom named Toad to find Mario's brother, Luigi, and to save the world from a ruthless fire-breathing Koopa named Bowser.