“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” is a brand-new video game adaptation for the silver screen starring Nintendo’s famous character, Mario. I am not the biggest Mario fan but I do have a little history with the video games; I played “Mario Kart Wii” and “Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Beijing 2008” when I was younger. These experiences gave me a basic understanding of the characters and the world of Mario. But suffice it to say, I wasn’t expecting much from the movie…and I was right to do so.

The one thing I absolutely loved about the film was its visuals. They grab the audience’s attention and the colours leap off the screen. The exciting visuals are surprising, as the animation studio, Illumination (famous for the Minions), are not known for creating beautiful images on screen. The Rainbow Road setting and Bowser’s Lava Castle are clear examples of great animation. The final battle was especially memorable because of its vibrant visuals.

On the other hand, one of the things that bugged me most was how rushed the pacing felt. I think I would’ve enjoyed the movie more if it was ≈30 minutes longer. Plot points that should have been explored in more depth were rushed, making some things seem illogical. I felt this was especially true when the film tried to develop the characters. Even though the characters are pre-existent and popular, I think the creators should have explored each character in more detail. For instance, I wanted to learn more about Bowser’s motivations, Toad’s motivations and Peach’s backstory. With limited running time, it is difficult to delve too much into the intricacies of individual characters.

What I felt was the most frustrating part of the movie was that there were many childish moments (and jokes) that were targeted towards younger audiences. I’m sure younger viewers would have enjoyed these scenes, but I didn’t think they’d be entertaining for older audiences. Luckily, there weren’t many of these moments. However, some childish aspects were key to my disliking of the film. I mentioned Bowser’s motivations previously and I think this was a specific moment where they should have taken a much more serious approach to him.

This is a classic adventure film, where a protagonist (Mario) ventures into unfamiliar territory and learns to navigate a new world and fight bad guys. The film is very cliche in its structure, but I enjoyed watching Mario interact with the different characters and the bizarre environment around him. I loved the relationship between Mario and Donkey Kong, and I wish there were more scenes between them. I loved how the movie tried to deeply explore the fraternal relationship between Luigi and Mario. I thought this was the directors’ attempt to put some emotion in the film. It didn’t work that much on me, but I could see many people wanting to see more of Luigi and Mario’s relationship.

Something that I heard many reviews talk negatively about were the film’s use of references and Easter eggs. I realized that there were many references to the different Mario games but I couldn’t catch all of them because I am not a huge fan. The references that I did catch made me really happy, because they reminded me of when I played these games, and made me recall memories I had forgotten. I do not think that the references were bad or negatively affected the movie at all. If the movie had relied entirely on its references, I would say that the creators should have focused more on the story. However, the movie has an understandable story and fun characters, so the references were just a nice addition. I’m sure true Mario fans would have loved them all.

One small thing that I really enjoyed was the world-building in the movie, though this isn’t surprising, as all the worlds are pre-existent and well-developed. The movie doesn’t really build much more on top of these pre-existent settings, but while I was watching, I was very interested in all the worlds they (briefly) touched upon. I’m sure the sequels and spin-offs to the film would explore them much more deeply.

“Super Mario Bros. Movie” was a mediocre experience for me. The characters and the story were bland. I was annoyed by how the pacing was quick and skipped over some important plot points. The visuals were great and I was fairly engaged throughout the movie, but, I did feel distant when the film became childish. Anyone can watch this movie and enjoy it, but in the end you could feel it was a waste of time. If you are a young Mario fan, I would recommend this movie. But if you are not, just know that it’s exactly what you would expect from an animated video game children’s movie. Therefore, I would give “Super Mario Bros. Movie” 2.5 out of 5 flames.