I'll keep this short and sweet: The Super Mario Bros Movie is a ton of fun.
Currently, it looks like Mario Bros Movie has made a bunch of records -- including the biggest world-wide opening weekend for any animated film, the biggest openning weekend for a video game adaptation, and the biggest movie of the year (so far), and the 4th largest opening for ANY Universal movie. Ever. Wild.
And, honestly, it deserves it. This is good family fun. Something that Illumination and Dreamworks have been hitting it out of the park with lately (as they pick up the slack from a Disney that has so obviously forgotten how to make family movies).
No politics of any kind. No weird content. Nothing questionable or inappropriate. I can't think of a single group of people that would be offended by this movie. Good, simple, wholesome fun.
The voice acting is surprisingly good. Chris Pratt as Mario? Perfect. I like Pratt, but I would never have guessed he would make a perfect Mario. But he does. By 10 minutes into the movie, it became hard to imagine any voice, other than Pratt, as Mario. He absolutely nails it.
And Charlie Day as Luigi? Perfection. Again... had no idea Day could pull off a Luigi... but he does.
Jack Black as Bowser? Almost too perfect for words.
The visuals of the movie were astoundingly faithful to the games. It looked like a slightly spruced up, theatrical version of one of the more modern Mario games. Which, honestly, was perfect.
The whole thing felt like a true passion project by someone who loves Mario. All Mario, of all eras.
One example: The first time you really see Peach's castle... it looks very close to what we see in the opening of Mario 64. Very, very close. And -- what really made me smile -- the music of that moment in the movie, as we see the castle for the first time, used significant inspiration from the music of that exact same scene from the opening of Mario 64.
Little touches like that were everywhere.
Near the beginning of the movie, there is a scene with Mario and Luigi in the sewer. With pipes and a dark color scheme similar to World 1, Level 2 of the original SMB game. Aka level "1 - 2". And, lo and behold, in the background of that scene you can see a sign that literally says "1 - 2".
The whole move is sprinkled with stuff like that. Big, in your face stuff that is directly lifted from one Mario game or another... and little stuff, in the background, that you almost miss.
Each scene almost feels like a direct lift from a different game. Multiple SMB games, Donkey Kong, a few versions of Mario Kart, Luigi's Mansion, Super Smash Bros... so many are included. With fun references to Wrecking Crew, Baloon Fight, Kid Ikarus, and early Mario history throughout. For an 80s kid or a Nintendo fan... there are roughly a thousand moments where you want to point at the screen and explain things to your kids.
The whole movie's plot is... terribly goofy. Light and more than a little ridiculous. Multiple points are a bit of a stretch (to put it mildly). But that is kind of the charm of the film. The plot feels very much like a Mario game plot. And it works.
Highly, highly recommened. Especially if you have kids. Shoot. I would have enjoyed it even if I had seen it by myself.
I took mine to see it last night (as a reward after they had an especially productive day of school). We all had a blast. Best movie experience in years.