This lively computer-animated take on the video game just opened and it’s already the biggest box-office smash of 2023. Despite lapses into dull and disposable, it’s also a godsend for parents seeking family entertainment for the 5-year-old in all of us.

Full Review | Apr 21, 2023

Among the many errors of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, screenwriter Matthew Fogel plops him and his brother Luigi into a milquetoast Brooklyn family that doubts them and disrespects their small-business dreams.

Full Review | Apr 15, 2023

It is the laziest possible version of a Mario movie, and for most viewers, young and old, that’ll be totally acceptable.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Apr 12, 2023

The whole package is a deranged mishmash of overstimulating elements.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/5 | Apr 10, 2023

A frantic Easter egg hunt of a film that does the bare minimum to please its loyal existing fanbase.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Apr 9, 2023

The film belts along with an assault of candy colours and a commendable command of canonical detail.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 7, 2023

What it seems to have forgotten is creating an engaging story. It's bland, uninteresting and cobbled together.

Full Review | Apr 7, 2023

While The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s ambitions don’t stretch far beyond telling a competent story featuring these beloved characters… it at least succeeds at that.

Full Review | Apr 7, 2023

It’s emotionally bland and yet garish enough to psychologically sedate the pre-teen Easter audience.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 7, 2023

Kids may have the time of their lives watching The Super Mario Bros. Movie, but for most adults, this is game over.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Apr 7, 2023

The 8-bit world is faithfully reimagined for the modern under-10. Much of this will be slightly dull for anyone else. But it can also feel refreshing when a studio children’s movie is this squarely made for actual children...

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 6, 2023

It’s all dispiritingly rote, aside from bursts of weird vitality whenever the film veers into action out of the games.

Full Review | Apr 6, 2023

In terms of servicing fans who want more of their "Super Mario Bros." than they can get at home or in an arcade, the movie gets the job done.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Apr 5, 2023

This isn’t a movie; it’s a checklist of fan expectations.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Apr 5, 2023

For all its detailed worlds, like the Mushroom Kingdom and Jungle Kingdom, the Nintendo film is just another soulless ploy to sell us merchandise that doesn’t bother to disguise its creativity-starved greed.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/4 | Apr 5, 2023

The new film is so colourful, sweet and playful, while ultimately insubstantial, going to it is like being handed a bowl of Froot Loops cereal to munch on instead of a bag of popcorn.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Apr 5, 2023

Justice for Bob Hoskins.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 5, 2023

While the details are meticulous, the attitude is all wrong, trading the simple, unaffected charm that has served the character so well since his introduction... for a snarky and fatuous air that leans hard on winking humor and bland, hackneyed irony.

Full Review | Apr 5, 2023

The artistry is enough to keep children and adults watching... At its 8-bit heart, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is ultimately about family.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Apr 5, 2023

Beautifully animated, and about as faithful and affectionate as a corporate cash-in is possible to get — but it still doesn’t come close to the experience of actually playing the games.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 5, 2023