The best way to describe the new Super Mario Brothers movie is nostalgia. I remember vividly the first time I ever played Mario Kart. In 5th grade, my friend had just got a Nintendo Wii for Christmas and invited me over to play. We sat on the floor in the living room and played at least five rounds of Mario Kart.  

Now, years later, watching the new movie, all the memories came back.  

The movie was released April 5 and is one hour and 30 minutes long. Almost three weeks later, the movie has grossed over $800 million worldwide, making it the highest grossing film of 2023.  

“Super Mario Bros” takes you on an adventure of Princess Peach and Mario trying to protect the Mushroom Kingdom from  evil Bowser.

The movie is rated PG and is considered a family and adventure movie. However, some parts I would consider scary for younger kids. Bowser and his evil crew had bright, fire-like eyes and lived in a dark scary place, that could give younger kids nightmares. 

The cast of the movie consisted of famous Hollywood actors like Jack Black, who plays Bowser, Chris Pratt, who plays Mario and Seth Rogan, who plays Donkey Kong.  

The movie had beautiful animations. My favorite was the array of mushrooms. It was a whole field full of all different shapes and sizes of blue and red mushrooms. It was magical and the animations made me feel like I was a part of the movie and going on an adventure with Mario.  

Another aspect of the film that I enjoyed was one of the only female characters, Princess Peach. The Princess ruled over the Mushroom Kingdom. In the movie she was portrayed as strong, brave and independent. It showed women’s empowerment in a beautiful light. There was not a male character that ruled beside her, or fought her battles for her, she fought every battle in the movie.  

Although I loved the movie, there are a couple of things that I think could’ve changed. The film included an instance that had notions of domestic violence and harassment. Although it would not be obvious to children, without giving too much away, one character asks another character if they will marry him. She says no and the other character responds by forcing her to marry him or there would be violence towards others.  

This part of the movie made me feel uncomfortable and shows children that if you don’t get your way you can push or threaten someone instead. Additionally, I wish there were more female characters and actors. The only main female character in the movie was Princess Peach. Although she did play a significant role, it would be nice to see more diversity. 

Overall, I would rate this movie an eight out of ten. It turned classic games into a fun, new animated movie for kids. It was immersive and made you feel like you were part of the adventure, however, due to the lack of diversity and the forced marriage part in the movie, I removed two points. 

 This story was written by Aiyona Calvin. She can be reached at [email protected].