Super Mario Bros. Movie proves the haters wrong

Originally released Oct. 18, 1985, the Super Mario Bros. video game tells the story of a peaceful mushroom kingdom invaded by the Koopas. The Toads from the Mushroom Kingdom have been turned into stones, a spell that can only be undone by Princess Toadstool, who just so happens to find herself in the hands of Bowser, the king of the Koopas. The game stems from Mario’s point-of-view, and his mission is to save the Mushroom Princess and the kingdom.

That game later turned into Super Mario 64, a game following Mario while he tries to save Princess Peach and Toad from the clutches of Bowser, who trapped them in a painting. That story was used for the game Super Mario Kart, released in 1992. This racing game features not only the Super Mario characters but other characters in the Nintendo franchise. The list goes on: Super Mario Odyssey, Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, and Super Mario Maker. The amount of games based only on this one story is insane.

The game has also inspired a series and various TV shows, such as Saturday Supercade and The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, as well as movies such as Super Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach! and Super Mario Bros.

And now The Super Mario Bros. Movie, released April 5, has been added to the mix.

Instead of making Princess Peach a damsel in distress, the creators of this new movie give her real character and substance. Instead of rescuing the princess, Mario is fighting alongside her to protect the Mushroom Kingdom and stop Bowser. Though Mario does end up having to save her in the end, she is much cooler than she is in some of the games.

Now, there was a lot of worry about with Chris Pratt acting as the voice of Mario because . . . well, the reason isn’t apparent; people are just haters. But as The Lego Movie proved, Chris Pratt is a good voice actor. And he does an excellent job as Mario (probably because the actors didn’t have to do the Italian accents the whole time). Really, all of the voice actors do a pretty good job playing their parts and adding character to their voices. But the stand-out, the best VA in the movie, must be Jack Black.

Black is one of those actors who goes out for his roles, especially his voice acting ones. He adds depth to his characters and even does special warm-ups to make the shift to voicing Bowser as fluid as possible. Even as a kids’ movie with silly jokes, he make them land in ways other characters can’t. And the beautiful masterpiece of a song, “Peaches,” written by Black, has to be the best part of the movie. It’s dramatic, it’s heart-wrenching, it’s life-changing.

Even though this movie is a kids’ movie with its fair share of stupid jokes, it is rather enjoyable for older audiences. The worst part of this movie, though, is that it includes Seth Rogen’s annoying laugh with his voiceover as Donkey Kong. He honestly sounds like he’s in pain every time he laughs, and it seems like his laugh is only included for the memes. Rogen’s laugh does not fit Donkey Kong and pulls away from the character, which sucks because Rogen does play a good DK.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is one to watch multiple times without boredom. This movie is truly enjoyable, and these are just a few reasons why this movie deserves a 5/5.