With a stellar voice cast and great animation, the “Super Mario Bros.” movie debuted as a highly anticipated film, and it did not disappoint. The film is funny and heartwarming and achieves its goal of offering an enjoyable moviegoing experience for the whole family while remaining loyal to its source material.

The plot of the movie is very simple and provides more insight into the origin of the titular Mario brothers. Mario (Chris Pratt) and his brother Luigi (Charlie Day) are two down-on-their-luck plumbers living in New York City. While on the job one day, the pair discovers a pipe that transports them to the Mushroom Kingdom. When they arrive, however, Mario and Luigi separate from each other. Mario teams up with Princess Peach (Anya-Taylor Joy), Toad (Keegen-Michael Key), and Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen) in order to save Luigi from the evil King Bowser (Jack Black). Albeit, the plot is not what makes the movie stand out.

“The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a fireball of animated fantasy,” IGN’s Tom Jorgensen said in a review of the movie. “[The movie overcomes] a Paper Mario-thin plot with undeniable charm and energy.”

The comedy, charm, and energy of the movie is really what makes it shine. The characters are amusing and likable, and the movie is chock full of various gags and jokes through its lighthearted adventure. The movie’s energy is precise as well, with no part of the movie feeling slow or wasteful. 

In terms of characters, the movie’s best feature has to be Jack Black’s Bowser. Black does a perfect job of encapsulating Bowser’s angry, menacing, and compassionate sides, which accumulates in his now-viral love song to Princess Peach.

“I think Jack Black as Bowser was phenomenal,”  English teacher Kevin Winsheimer said. “His song “Peaches” was the highlight of the movie.”

Still, the film does have some drawbacks, including its short duration. With only an hour and 30 minute run time, some aspects of the movie feel rushed and abbreviated and may leave some things to be desired in terms of character development and plot.

“The pacing was pretty fast,” Mr. Winsheimer said. “It jumped around to get the story across and to try to get as many fan-favorite things in there [as possible].”

With that being said, the movie was still largely entertaining and the positive opinions are clearly shared by the public with the movie having achieved the highest opening weekend of an animated movie of all time. The movie also leaves ample room for potential sequels to expand on the vast Mario universe.

“They’re definitely hinting at other things,” Mr. Winsheimer said. “There’s a ton of stuff they haven’t touched on yet in the ‘Mario’ lore.”