Movie Review
By Luis Sanchez
Luis is applying to colleges this spring/summer! Go, Luis! photo submitted.
It’s me – Luis with another movie review! This time we will be referring to The Super Mario Bros. Movie released on April 5. It is an animated movie based on Nintendo’s popular Mario video game franchise. It was produced by Illumination, Universal Pictures, and Nintendo itself. The voice cast includes Chris Pratt as Mario, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, and Jack Black as Bowser.
The story follows plumbing brothers Mario and Luigi who are magically transported to an alternate universe where a battle between the Mushroom Kingdom, led by Princess Peach, and the Koopas, led by Bowser, is occurring. This film has gained a lot of appraisal, including breaking the record for the biggest worldwide opening weekend for an animated film and the highest-grossing film based on a video game.
To begin, let’s talk about voice acting. When the trailer was first released, a lot of people were against Chris Pratt’s casting as the voice of Mario. Although the public was right – Chris Pratt did not “sound like Mario” at all – it worked incredibly well for the tone of the movie. The rest of the voice actors fit incredibly well for their respective roles as well. There wasn’t anyone else that I would think of who would fit a role better. Jack Black as Bowser can go down as one of the best castings in the history of cinema, along with Joaquin Phoenix as Joker!
I enjoy video games, so I always find it exciting when a video game becomes a motion picture. On some occasions, it’s more fun for the film to follow the plot of the video game. Otherwise, it feels as if the film is only using the characters, and not the game as a whole for the movie. The Super Mario Bros. Movie does an excellent job at sticking to its video game roots, while also developing a new path for the characters to follow.
There was never a time in which I found myself wanting to skip over a scene, and I know that when I rewatch the movie I will want to see it from the opening credits to the climatic fighting scenes. This is a film that is meant to be watched with friends, family and loved ones.
If there was a word to describe this movie, it would be “cute.” I recommend this movie, and rate it a 9/10 for its amazingly fun adventure and the true dedication that the screenwriters had towards making this a tribute to the wonderful Super Mario Bros game.