Currently sitting at 55% on Rotten Tomatoes, early critical reviews for The Super Mario Bros. Movie have been largely negative.
Kids of the 90s that saw the original 1993 Super Mario Bros. movie in theaters know that adapting the iconic plumber to the big screen isn’t the easiest task in the world. Perhaps it was live-action actors trying their best to portray Mario and company (I still have love for you John Leguizamo) or the litany of other issues that plagued production, but these were issues believed to be mostly solved with the new film.
Distributed by Universal Pictures and led by Chris Pratt (Mario), Anya Taylor-Joy (Princess Peach), Charlie Day (Luigi), and Jack Black (Bowser), the animated The Super Mario Bros. Movie received some early fan criticism after the trailer debuted for the voice acting in the movie while remaining largely praised for its visuals and tone.
Early reviews for the movie include criticism over a lack of plot, too much fan service, and an overall thin premise. This all being said, it’s not all doom and gloom for the movie. For one, it’s still early, and not all publications have weighed in on the title. From the looks of early reviews, the reception seems to be much more “lukewarm” than it is vitriolic hatred.
Secondly, as we’ve seen countless times, critical reception doesn’t always match up with audience perception. So while the vast majority of professional critics and reviews may pan the movie, there’s no telling how audiences will receive it.
A case in point was the 2021 Mortal Kombat movie, which received an aggregate critical score of 54% on Rotten Tomatoes while maintaining an 86% audience score, with most viewers largely praising the movie for not only the gaming elements but film elements as well. According to some reports, Mortal Kombat earned $84 million at the box office worldwide and only cost $55 million to produce while also remaining widely popular on HBO Max.
Only time will tell whether The Super Mario Bros. Movie will be a similar case, but for now, we’ll just have to wait and see for ourselves (or not).
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