This review is spoiler free
“The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” by Illumination, is a fun, fast-paced adventure that serves to provide its audience a really good time. The movie doesn’t go very deep with its characters, story or themes, but that doesn’t inhibit it from being a satisfyingly entertaining and enjoyable experience.
First and foremost, this movie is FUN! All facets of it are geared towards giving the audience a blast. The animation is cartoonish yet detailed, giving the characters enough room to physically express themselves while also looking very polished. Every voice actor gives a performance that expresses their character very well, with the standout performance being Jack Black’s Bowser. The story itself is extremely fast, constantly moving from action set piece to action set piece with very little downtime. This is something I do think the movie slightly suffered from, as it could have benefited from a few more quiet moments between characters in order to flesh out some very fun relationships and further raise the stakes to spice up the action set pieces. However, even with this small detraction, each action set piece is extremely enjoyable. All of them are very well directed and choreographed, each of them being distinct enough to be memorable and fun in their own specific way. All in all, this movie is just meant to be pure fun, with every part of it serving that end very well.
That being said, this movie doesn’t go much farther than just being a fun action-adventure experience. The story is simple, the characters and their motivations are simple and easy to digest, and the themes, while still being good, are in no way groundbreaking. However, in all honesty, that's perfectly fine. Not every movie needs to be a masterpiece of cinematic storytelling. Not every narrative needs to deeply explore the human condition. In fact, it would be absolutely exhausting if every single movie took the audience on an impactful emotional rollercoaster. We need movies that are unafraid of simply being super fun and entertaining because people need to experience jovial fun just as much as impactful, deeper stories, and “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” as I continually say, is very fun.
Overall, while not being a very deep film, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” offers audiences a super fun, fast-paced experience that will leave them with smiles on their faces. I recommend it to anybody who wants to have a good time at the movies. Also, it's “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” why wouldn’t you want to see it?