‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie” grossed $1.363 billion at the box office worldwide, making it the second-highest grossing film of the 2023 theatrical year – right between “Barbie” (first place) and “Oppenheimer” (third place). These films could hardly be more different from each other, because Matthew Fogels “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” is a crazy action-adventure animated film based on Nintendo’s hit video game franchise. How this differs from both Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” probably needs no explanation.
Anyone who missed the hyperactive box office hit at the cinema now has the chance to catch up with a streaming subscription to Sky or WOW and can look forward to a wild ride through the world of the most famous plumber.
In addition to Marvel star Chris Pratt (“Guardians Of The Galaxy”), Jack Black (“School Of Rock”) and Anya Taylor-Joy (“The Menu”), Charlie Day (“Pacific Rim”), Seth Rogen (“Pacific Rim”) are also waiting. Bad Neighbors”) and Keenan-Michael Key (“The Bubble”) in the original voices of the famous video game characters. The film was produced by the video game company Nintendo itself in collaboration with “Minions” company Illumination Entertainment, which made the mega-movie with the hit. The flop of the live-action film “Super Mario Bros.” which was released 30 years earlier could be partially forgotten.
That’s what “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” is about
Brothers Mario (original voice: Christ Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) have quit their jobs and are about to open their own plumbing business when all of Brooklyn is suddenly flooded. They see this as their chance to finally show the world what they can do! However, a green pipe in the sewer leads them to a magical world where Luigi falls into the clutches of the turtle villain Bowser (Jack Black) and Mario ends up in the Mushroom Kingdom. He meets some well-known characters from the video games, such as Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) and Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen), who sometimes turn out to be allies and sometimes enemies.
For fans of the Nintendo franchise, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” to offer a whole horde of Easter eggs, including iconic sounds and music, as well as mechanics and worlds that are eerily reminiscent of the original games and should make every Mario fan’s heart beat faster. Admittedly, the story often gets lost in this deluge of effects and visual stimuli, but FILMSTARTS editor-in-chief Christoph Petersen’s review still gave the animated adventure a solid 3 out of 5 possible stars. The film convinced FILMSTARTS users even more with an average rating of 3.9 out of 5 stars – but it’s best to take a look for yourself.