An animated adaptation of Nintendo’s popular video game franchise. Two Brooklyn plumbers are transported to the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario teams up with Princess Peach to rescue Luigi and defeat the evil Koopa King Bowser. A film by Aaron Horvath & Michael Jelenic, featuring the voices of Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key, Seth Rogen, and Fred Armisen.
MARIO BROS.
MOVIE
ザ・スーパーマリオブラザーズ・ムービー
Aaron Horvath • Michael Jelenic
(2023)
Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day), Italian-American brothers, recently opened a plumbing business in Brooklyn after quitting their jobs. Unfortunately, their business is struggling to meet their expectations.
Mario and Luigi’s ex-employer, Spike (Sebastian Maniscalco), disdains their new plumbing business, believing that it is doomed to fail. Their family, with the exception of their supportive mother, is also unsupportive of their decision to quit their full-time jobs and start their own business. The brothers’ first job goes so poorly that Mario begins to doubt himself, wondering if he is good enough and if he has disappointed his brother and family.
Upon seeing the news broadcast of broken underground pipes causing water eruptions and flooding the city, Mario believes he has a golden opportunity to redeem himself. If he can fix the pipe, he and Luigi will become renowned hero plumbers who saved the day. However, as they work underground to repair the main pipe, they are sucked into a Warp Pipe.
Luigi finds himself lost in the Dark Lands, while Mario lands in the Mushroom Kingdom, where he encounters Toad (Keegan-Michael Key), a mushroom citizen who volunteers to assist and lead him to Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy), the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom.
The Mushroom Kingdom is in crisis. Bowser’s army has attacked the Snow Kingdom, and King Bowser (Jack Black) has seized the Super Star, which grants the user the power of invincibility.
King Bowser has taken the Penguin King (Khary Payton) hostage and is navigating his floating castle towards the Mushroom Kingdom. He intends to marry Princess Peach and will destroy the kingdom with the Super Star if she refuses.
Princess Peach recognizes that the citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom are no match for Bowser’s army. She and Mario travel to the Jungle Kingdom to meet with Cranky Kong (Fred Armisen), who agrees to send his army to aid the Mushroom Kingdom in its fight against Bowser, on condition that Mario defeats his son, Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen), in a fight.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a highly entertaining and enjoyable film, especially for fans of the video game series. The script, written by American screenwriter Matthew Fogel, whose previous work includes Minions: The Rise of Gru and The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, is simple but effective, packed with humor and action sequences that faithfully capture the spirit of the original games.
The film seamlessly integrates memorable game characters from different eras, surprising game lovers with references to beloved games such as Spike from Wrecking Crew (1984), Pauline from Donkey Kong (1981), who recently also appeared in SUPER MARIO ODYSSEY, the flickering flashlight from Luigi’s Mansion (2001), and cars from Mario Kart (1992). There are so many references that it would take more than one viewing to identify them all.
Three decades have passed since Nintendo granted filmmakers the rights to adapt their Super Mario game characters into a live-action film in 1993. The film was critically panned and a box office failure, tarnishing Nintendo’s image.
Since then, Nintendo has rigorously vetted every request to use its game characters to avoid a repeat of the 1993 film’s disastrous reception.
Sony has reportedly been attempting to acquire the rights to adapt the Super Mario series from Nintendo for many years, but has yet to succeed.
Since 2015, Nintendo has collaborated with Universal Parks & Resorts to establish Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan and Universal Studios Hollywood, which officially opened in March 2021 and March 2023, respectively. During this collaboration, Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Mario, Legend of Zelda, and Donkey Kong, met Chris Meledandri, the founder of Illumination, an animation studio under Universal Pictures that is known for its work on films such as Despicable Me, Minions, The Secret Life of Pets, and Sing. This meeting led to the development of The Super Mario Bros. Movie project.
In a recent Variety interview, Shigeru Miyamoto and Chris Meledandri discussed their collaboration on The Super Mario Bros. Movie, including the scriptwriting process, voice casting for each character, and the importance of meticulously animating every character to Nintendo’s approval.
The film’s standout performance is Jack Black as the villainous Koopa King Bowser, who is smitten with Princess Peach. Black brings his signature quirkiness and energy to the role, making Bowser a truly memorable character. Jack Black also lends his majestic singing voice to the theme song, “Peaches,” which he co-wrote with Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic, Eric Osmond, and John Spike.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie was theatrically released in the United States on 5 April 2023, and was scheduled to release in Japan on 28 April.
As of 10 April 2023, The Super Mario Bros. Movie has grossed over $200 million domestically and $377 million worldwide against a production budget of $100 million, making it the biggest opening of all time for a video game adaptation.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie crossed the $1 billion mark worldwide on 30 April 2023.
