Review: 'Super Mario' movie delights

Four out of Five Stars

By Juanita Kelly-Hill
Staff Writer

“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” is an animated film filled with adventure based on Nintendo’s Mario video game franchise. The movie was released in theaters April 5, 2023, but I watched the movie from the comfort of my home.

Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach and friends join together to defeat the evil Bowser and save the Mushroom Kingdom, along with Brooklyn. 

Even though it’s based on the game, I loved seeing all the gems and references from both the “Super Mario Bros.” game and “Mario Kart,” which I didn’t expect to see. We even get the evil, but funny antagonist trope from Bowser, who surprises us with a musical number.  

The thing I enjoyed most about the movie is that the writers didn’t go with the damsel in distress storyline for Princess Peach. They instead gave us an amazing, forceful Princess who could handle herself. 

One thing that disappointed me was the absence of Yoshi, who is probably one of my favorite characters from the franchise. Hopefully, we will see the brothers visit Yoshi’s Island in the next movie! 

Honestly, the movie made me want to go buy a charger for my Nintendo DS and play “Super Mario Bros.” for old-time sake.

Overall, I rate the movie 4 out of 5 stars, due to the lack of my favorite dinosaur, Yoshi.