When I was very little, the first Super Mario Bros movie was an example of what not to do about putting video games on the Silver Screen. But about 30 years later, Nintendo partnered with Illumination to make an animated movie based on the Super Mario Bros. universe. My stepdaughter was very excited to see the movie, so I took her on the very first day to see it.

I was a little surprised to see that the movie has Mario start out in Brooklyn in New York City. After a giant plumbing fiasco on the streets of Brooklyn, Mario and his brother Luigi end up going down a pipe to a different world.

And unfortunately, Luigi gets the pipe that takes him straight to Bowser’s Dark Kingdom. While his brother Mario ends up at the peaceful and benevolent Mushroom Kingdom.

The Mushroom Kingdom’s monarch, Princess Peach knows Bowser is coming to exterminate her kingdom. What she doesn’t know is that Bowser will agree to eternal peace if she marries him. Because this weird turtle-dragon has a thing for pretty blonde girls.

And soon enough she runs into Mario who wants to save his brother. And before he knows it, Mario is about to become the biggest hero the Mushroom Kingdom has ever seen, but it’s not going to be easy.

There was a lot of controversy with the casting of Chris Pratt as Mario as many gamers preferred if Charles Martinet would have stayed as the voice of Mario. Chris Pratt actually does okay but Jack Black absolutely killed it as Bowser. And since he dresses up like Bowser during official interviews for the movie, you can tell this was a labor of love.

Anya Taylor-Joy was surprisingly perfect as Princess Peach. They also wrote Peach to be more of a hero than a damsel in distress, and it honestly worked out pretty darn well.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is not entirely perfect. While I do love the Minions films, Illumination doesn’t possess the talent that Pixar does. But overall, it’s a very enjoyable movie especially if you love Mario. My stepdaughter loved the movie and one of the friends I had in high school took his kids on day one too and the kiddos thought it was the best movie ever made. A lot of critics didn’t like the movie, but if you’re a grown adult who doesn’t like video games, I can see why this would not be your thing.