The reviews are in for Nintendo, Universal Pictures, and Illumination’s CG-animated “The Super Mario Bros. Movie”, and the critical reaction is… mixed.
With 71 reviews counted, the film is charting at a 55% (5.2/10) score on Rotten Tomatoes which is pretty abysmal for a kids animated film. It’s at least well ahead of its live-action predecessor from 1994, which sits at 29% (4.1/10).
Reviews paint it as a film packed with a ton of easter eggs and references that fans will adore, and there’s an appreciation of the film’s upbeat optimism and tone. However, there’s plenty of criticism of the basic filmmaking fundamentals, including a paper-thin story.
Here’s a sampling of quotes from various reviews around the web:
“Largely plays things by the book, which is exactly what the assignment called for. Co-directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic have delivered a perfectly serviceable movie that is going to make a lot of kids very happy and a lot of adults very rich.” – Christian Ziiko, Indiewire
“Its ingenuity is infectious. You don’t have to be a Mario fan to respond to it, but the film is going to remind the millions who are why they call it a joystick.” – Owen Gleiberman, Variety
“Directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, creators of the Teen Titans Go! series, deliver a reasonably faithful big screen adaptation that, while it features plenty of juvenile humor, wisely doesn’t lean toward broad satire.” – Frank Scheck, THR
“The Super Mario Bros. Movie isn’t perfect, but as a kid who grew up watching The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! and Super Mario Bros., hoping that they’d one day get this character right in a different medium, this is sort of a dream come true of a film.” – Ross Bonaime, Collider
“The Super Mario Bros. Movie is absolutely a Nintendo game brought to dazzling life. It’s got the characters, world, and adventurous spirit right on the money. But those expecting something akin to The LEGO Movie might be left cold.” – Kyle Anderson, Nerdist
“Whatever fan-service thrills we might get from seeing those familiar pneumatic pipes and Bullet Bills retrofitted for the big screen fall away fast when there’s nothing else to prop the thing up.” – Kimberley Jones, The Atlantic
“In the end, it feels like one long commercial. Sure, I walked away wanting to revisit my old Mario games. But I also walked away with no wish to ever again hit play on The Super Mario Bros. Movie.” – Kristy Puchko, Mashable
“This much-trailed, much-hyped new animated feature is tedious and flat in all senses, a disappointment to match the live-action version in 1993.” – Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
“It is disappointing that Super Mario has not only been reduced and molded to fit the unambitious and lackadaisical Illumination brand but is also this generic and soulless, speedrunning through as much fan service as possible” – Robert Kojder, Flickering Myth
“The film absolutely works as a vehicle to deliver slapstick silliness and Easter eggs for the Nintendo fanatic, but for anyone else, this adventure is in desperate need of a power-up.” – Patrick Cavanaugh, ComiBook.com
“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” is open in cinemas from Wednesday and is charting for a $125 million haul over the Wednesday-Sunday period domestically along with a further $100 million overseas across the same period.
