The Super Mario Bros. Movie could be in trouble
Uh oh, it doesn't look like there's "mushroom" for The Super Mario Bros. Movie in our lives, as the first reviews of Illumination's video game adaptation are panning the Chris Pratt-led adventure.
Although we were originally sceptical about Star-Lord voicing the portly plumber, the various trailers and teasers have won us around - making The Super Mario Bros. Movie one of 2023's most anticipated outings. The critic reviews are trickling through...and it ain't looking good.
What are the critics saying about The Super Mario Bros. Movie?
Click to enlargeThe reviews are in, and over at review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, The Super Mario Bros. Movie currently has a paltry 55% based on 97 reviews. This lands it in the realms of "rotten," alongside Shazam! Fury of the Gods (50%) and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (47%).
The LA Times' Katie Walsh writes, "The Super Mario Bros. Movie is mildly amusing, swift, noisy and unrelentingly paced, which is par for the course considering this is the studio that brought us the Minions."
Inverse's Eric Francisco says, "With a pixel-thin premise and a plot propelled by a candy-induced sugar rush, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is an overstuffed 90 minutes of colorful, inoffensive fun."
Polygon's Joshua Rivera concludes, "The Super Mario Bros. Movie feels like it’s made to be screenshotted more than watched... When it comes to regular movie things like plot and character, well, all that gets blue-shelled to hell."
It's not all doom and gloom, as there are some fans too. We Got This Covered's Erielle Sudario cheers, "Nintendo knows what's great about the 'Super Mario Bros.' games, and perfectly brings them to life on the big screen."
MovieWeb's Julian Roman gushes, "The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a rollicking CGI adventure that hilariously incorporates Nintendo's most popular characters. Childhood favorites run, jump, kick, and go-kart race through colorful, eye-popping worlds."
Critics, who needs them?
Looking at what else came out recently, Creed III has 89%, John Wick: Chapter 4 scores 95%, and Air has a massive 99%. In terms of other video game adaptations, Mario falls short of 2020's Sonic the Hedgehog (64%), its 2022 sequel (69%), and Detective Pikachu (68%).
If the critics can't decide, then what hope do we have? The Super Mario Bros. Movie is aimed at fans of the franchise, with Easter eggs popping out of every warp pipe. Also, critic and audience scores can differ massively.
Quantumania's 83% audience score is a million miles away from its 47% critic score. The same for Fury of the Gods being awarded 86% from fans. At the end of the day, shouldn't the studio be making movies for the fans, not those being paid to watch them?
The score has already jumped up while writing this article, so maybe there's hope at the end of the Rainbow Road yet. On the plus side, The Super Mario Bros. Movie's opening score is a damn sight better than 1993's Super Mario Bros. movie that starred Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo - boasting just 29%.
