by Czarinah Galve, Staff Writer
On April 5th 2023, the long awaited Super Mario Bros Movie came out in theaters. The star-studded cast included Chris Pratt, Charlie Day, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key and Seth Rogen. When the first trailer came out, many people, including myself, were very excited about the movie. I grew up playing Super Mario on my Nintendo DS and would occasionally steal my brothers Gameboy just to play the famous game. So when I heard about the movie, I was ecstatic, but after seeing the movie, unfortunately, I was left feeling very underwhelmed.
In the theater, after I get back from using the restroom, the infamous Universal Studios introduction started to play. I rushed to my seat, trying to get through the crowds of big families, older folks pushing strollers and kids with toys in their hands, I am quickly reminded of how timeless Mario and Luigi are.
Finally, the movie starts. The first part was lifting and upbeat, I was pretty surprised how they decided on introducing the two brothers, in their own way, you get a glimpse of how different they are. Within the first 15 minutes, you feel reliability from Luigi and braveness from Mario. I really liked seeing their families and the dynamic of their parents, aunts and uncles.
The movie takes us to another universe, where we meet the main antagonist, Bowser. He’s mean, and greedy for power. He jails those who he’s beaten in battles as he takes over their land and people. Personally, I find Bowser in the games is more intimidating and “scary” than in the movie, but I think it works well with kids.
When we meet the main characters, Mario and Luigi, they finds their home, in Brooklyn, NY, in danger of a flood. In hopes of getting their families approval, popularity, and to show what they’re capable of as two plumbers, the brothers go out and tries to fix the problem, but they end up getting sucked into the Mushroom Kingdom, a really cute place, with adorable toads, but one ends up in a dark place, needing to get rescued. In this transition, I was in awe of how they made the Mushroom Kingdom look. It was really cute and on point, and just how I expected it to look.
It was predictable who ended up in the dark side and captured by Bowser. At this point of the movie, the focus is on Mario, Toad and Princess Peach. With their own missions, they train and show support to each other. They show friendships forming in a dark time. There was a twist in the movie that was a hit with the audience, including a funny song about love and longing for someone.
I give the movie ⭐️⭐️⭐️. I do think it could’ve had a better climax, keeping in mind that it’s a children’s movie I feel a faster pace would’ve been better. There were times were it was easy to fall asleep or pick up your phone. But overall, the exciting parts were really good but I wish they were longer. The main reason I wanted to watch came from nostalgia and making my inner-child happy, and the movie did that. Though I expected more, I still enjoyed it and had fun.
