Wahoo! The Super Mario Bros. go to theaters

During spring break of 2023, Illumination and Nintendo released the long awaited “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” on April 5, and reviews are mostly mixed. “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” has made $377.6 million dollars globally, and now has the record for biggest global box office openings ever for an animated movie, beating “Frozen II” which made $358.5 million on its opening weekend.

When Nintendo first showed the main casting list for this theatrical film, people were surprised with the choices Illumination made considering that they chose celebrities instead of professional voice artists. The motion picture stars celebrities Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key and Seth Rogen.

The film was directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic who have both previously worked on the “Teen Titans Go!” “Teen Titans Go! To the Movies” and “Teen Titans Go! Vs. Teen Titans.” “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” is produced by Chis Meledandri, the CEO of Illumination, and Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of the “Super Mario” franchise.

The music in this movie consists of many orchestrated melodies of old themes from almost every Mario game. The soundtrack in this movie is very well done by music composers Brain Tyler and Koji Kondo. This film also holds a few licensed songs, which means that Illumination paid the owners of some songs to have them in their movie, such as “No Sleep Till Brooklyn” by Beastie Boys, “Take On Me” by A-ha and “Mr. Blue Sky” by Electric Light Orchestra.

The plot of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” is simple in a good way, like an ordinary Mario game. Mario (played by Pratt) and Luigi (played by Day) are two normal plumbers from Brooklyn, who soon discover a mysterious green pipe in the depths of the sewers. Once they get into it they become separated, Luigi into King Bowser (played by Black)’s domain and Mario into the iconic Mushroom Kingdom. Once learning where his younger brother is, Mario sets off with the great Princess Peach (played by Taylor-Joy) and Toad (played by Key) to rescue Luigi.

“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” received mixed results from critics, getting 59% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, but audiences seemed to enjoy this movie that came from Illumination, giving it a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. Earning a 7.4/10 according to IMDb. The film is very fast paced and goes by so quickly that we don’t get any character development or see our protagonist grow throughout the movie. The action and cinematography in the movie look absolutely amazing. The voice actors did very well as their respected characters. This movie is very enjoyable and fun.