Upon the announcement of the voice cast for The Super Mario Bros. Movie, many in the internet community voiced doubts and concerns about some of the choices. Chris Pratt as Mario Mario, came out of nowhere, Seth Rogen as Donkey. Not just that, but the fact it was being animated by Illumination caused even more concern, the same studio behind Despicable Me, and Minions.

The last attempt at a Mario movie was a complete disaster, as it was nothing like the game. Yoshi was a straight up dinosaur, and the movie was some strange combination of Blade Runner with Mario characters.

It looked like everything was going to be against this movie, and then the movie opened up on April 5 of this year. It was a massive success, it has earned $724.2 million compared to a budget of $100 million.

So, the movie was a monetary success, but is it a success as a Mario movie? Yes, it is. The Super Mario Bros. is filled with cutesy references to Mario and other Nintendo properties, ranging from a Punch Out reference in the form of a pizza place, Mario playing Kid Icarus on his NES, and of course a scene that pays homage to classic levels from Mario games.

Enough talking about Mario, what about the other characters found in this movie? The main cast is rounded off by Charlie Day as Luigi Mario, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Jack Black as Bowser, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, and Keegan Michael Key as Toad. The cast for the most part does a solid job, Mario voiced by Pratt didn’t feel like Pratt, which is a good thing.

On the other hand, Rogen as Kong just feels like Rogen, which it shouldn’t have been. Highlights of the cast include Day as Luigi and Black as Bowser, both actors blew it out of the water. Day was perfect as Luigi, I only wish we could have had more of him. Black did a great job as Bowser, he molded his voice to match the character, and then when it comes to the singing parts (Yes Bowser sings) he completely destroys it.

I liked how they took plot elements, environments, and characters from the game and molded it to fit the story. It was a distinctively Mario story, in what other story would a giant turtle want to marry a human princess. The way they implement the different universe allows for sequel possibilities, maybe we could even see crossovers with other Nintendo games.

Even elements that felt a bit forced, such as the karts, are executed fairly well. I enjoyed the race scene between the Kongs and Bowser’s army, it was dynamic and entertaining. One of the best parts of the movie is the soundtrack, they took classic Mario tracks and then redid them with Orchestral arrangements. It was awesome, hearing the classic cave music, the title track, it was all done masterfully.

I really did enjoy this movie, it works well as a cutesy family adventure film, while also being a film that can appeal to Mario fans of any age. It really did surpass my expectations and I’m happy to say that.  I decided I wanted to see what others had to say about the film.

Beloved senior and Seattle Mist enthusiast Karson Hoffman,  “I thought it was fantastic. It was super accurate to the lore. Peach was my favorite part (He then winked at me). Disappointed there was no Luigi’s Mansion, but I’m excited to see what they will do in the sequel.”

Bespectacled junior and Fortnite enjoyer Reece Frederick stated, “I thought it was an excellent film, the story made sense, the animation was gorgeous, the cast was fantastic. Especially Jack Black, was a star of the cast. I’d give it a 9/10.”

In the end, I’ll have to give The Super Mario Bros. Movie a solid “You just got Luigi’ed/10.”