YMMV / The Super Mario Bros. Movie

YMMV tropes with their own page:

• Memetic Mutation

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A-I

• Accidental Innuendo:
  • A particular frame◊ of Bowser stroking Luigi's mustache was heavily memed-on by fans due to the position of his index claw and middle finger causing that part of his hand to strangely look like an uncircumcised penis, accentuated by Luigi's uncomfortable expression while Bowser pokes his face.
  • While inside the Maw-Ray, Donkey Kong says this gem:
    DK: I! Am! More! Than a guy! Who smashes things!
• Adorkable:
  • Luigi is an enduring classic of an example, and this iteration of him is no exception, with Charlie Day providing a new take on him that's familiar to the original but still full of unique, high-strung energy that only he could provide. Many people cite him as one of the best parts of the film, particularly in how well it endeared them to his relationship with Mario; in turn, even its biggest fans all but unanimously agree that it could've been improved by giving him more screentime, with hopes high that he will get more love in future films.
  • Despite being a villain, Kamek is weirdly endearing with how much of a Sycophantic Servant he is to Bowser. His demeanor is rather cheerful throughout most of the film. Despite how Bowser sometimes abuses him, he seems to genuinely enjoy working for him and trying to help him win over Peach (it’s implied that he was the one who came up with Bowser's cheesy pickup line). Even him crossdressing as Peach is kind of wholesome. In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, he only did it to deceive the heroes, but here, he does it to help Bowser practice his proposal, and to imagine Peach instantly falling for him. Kamek's big glasses with Opaque Lenses help, and so does his nice accent (even if it's a bit hard to place). His accent gives him oddly adorable inflections, like when he says that there's "nothing to worry about!"
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Was Cranky's insistence on a Trial by Combat to decide whether he was going to help the Mushroom Kingdom simply down to his eccentricity, isolationism, or, well, crankiness? Or did he do it to test the martial abilities of Mario and the rest of the Mushroom Kingdom's leadership? After all, no just ruler would want to lend his army to a cause that had no chance of winning, or that had a high chance of getting lots of his troops killed. Were his adding power ups to the arena simply to ensure that the fight was fair, and that Mario had a chance of winning, or to test Mario's ability to compensate for his lack of strength with strategic use of the resources at his disposal, which would be the mark of a good commander? Alternatively, he set up the fight in order to teach his son a lesson to try and steer him away from his Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy ways.
  • Is Bowser just your standard psychotic Abhorrent Admirer/Stalker with a Crush, or is there some kind of Culture Clash at work here? He seems genuinely surprised when Peach somehow fails to be won over by him invading her kingdom, brutalizing her subjects and preparing to slaughter his prisoners as a tribute to her. Is Koopa culture so innately martial that acts of aggression and conquest are just how courtship works for them? Not that this would justify any of his actions, naturally, but might perhaps help explain them.
  • Does Bowser know how power-ups work? The answer might determine if he was actually trying to kill the empowered Peach or just neutralize her.
  • In the end, is Bowser really helpless being small and trapped in Peach's castle, or is he just pretending to be helpless so he can be closer to Peach while plotting an eventual escape?
  • It's been established that Luigi is much meeker and more cowardly than Mario. One flashback shows that he was the subject of bullying. A big theme of the duo is that they stick together. Early in the movie, their father mainly criticizes Mario for "bringing his brother down with him". Is the father harder on Mario himself not only because of their livelihood, but out of concern for Luigi's wellbeing and habit of getting into trouble? Or is it possibly because he thinks Mario is coddling Luigi, and them doing everything together is preventing Luigi from growing, since he knows he'll always have his brother to defend him?
  • During the wedding, was Bowser's plan of dropping all the prisoners in the lava as a sacrifice really another attempt at wooing Peach? Or was that just what he was claiming, and it was really a threat to her about what he's willing to do to ensure she doesn't resist him?
  • After Bowser stomps Mario and Luigi, both powered up by the Super Star, he looks genuinely shocked that they’re unharmed. He then demands that his men kill the brothers after taking a double Megaton Punch. It’s established that Bowser would have used the Super Star to kill everyone should Peach refuse to marry him. Was Bowser unaware of the fact that the Super Star grants the user the power of invincibility and super strength? Or was he so blinded by anger over his plans being ruined, he didn’t care that attacks from himself and his soldiers were useless? It's very likely that it's the former as Bowser was seemingly only aware of the Super Star's power and didn't really seem to know about it granting its users invincibility.
  • Considering Lumalee is small enough to slip past the bars of his cage, and can easily fly over the lava, is he really a prisoner of Bowser whose detainment made him cynical? Or is he just trolling the other prisoners?
  • In the end, do Mario and Luigi choose to become plumbers in the Mushroom Kingdom, or is it possible they could have been kicked out of Brooklyn (by a mayor or somebody with authority) for the damage that was caused from their fight with Bowser? Or maybe they choose to stay in the Mushroom Kingdom but use the pipe to return to Brooklyn every now and then to keep up their business and keep in touch with their family? Judging by the newspaper celebrating them and their friends as heroes of Brooklyn, it's most likely the third. According to the website, the brothers were awarded the Key to the City in a public ceremony, a symbolic gesture typically indicating one is free to come and go as they please, further indicating the third.
  • During his fight with Mario, when he says he's not giving up, Donkey Kong is angry for a brief second before returning to his usual attitude. Was he annoyed by Mario's refusal to give up, that the fight was taking so long, or was he angered by the fact that his refusal to give up could impress the Jungle Kingdom's other subjects?
• Americans Hate Tingle: Unlike in most of the world, where people found Lumalee to be one of the funniest characters in the movie due to his Black Comedy, it seems that Japanese audiences were less fond of the character, to the point where some wondered why he was even in the movie or what the point of his character was. The most likely reason for this is his lines being translated unusually literally in a movie otherwise localized well, combined with Values Dissonance regarding cultural views on death.
• And You Thought It Would Fail: In the months leading up to the film's release, there were quite a lot of perceived factors working against it, such as production being handled by Illumination Entertainment (which is controversial among animation fans for its perceived corporate approach to animation) and pre-release critical reviews being mixed, along with the general perception that film adaptations of video games don't work. However, the film's opening weekend would quickly prove doubters wrong, with it earning a monster $377.6 million globally over the Easter holiday, giving it one of the highest-grossing opening weeks for an animated film at the box office of all time. (Initial expectations were for it to "merely" make $85 million in the United States and Canada in its initial five-day opening frame — which would've been immensely successful on its own — but that number mushroomed, if you'll pardon the pun, all the way to over $204 million!) In just over a week, the animated blockbuster became the highest-grossing video game movie ever, surpassing Warcraft (which largely got there due to outstanding box office in China and remains the highest grossing live-action video game film), and clearing the coveted $1 billion milestone after its fourth weekend, with plenty of time to make even more money. Even Shigeru Miyamoto himself was shocked at just how much of a smash hit the movie was.
• Awesome Ego: Donkey Kong is a total show-off who revels in the glory, but combining his competence as a fighter, his desire to make Cranky proud, and his great dynamic with Mario, it's not hard to respect just how ego-driven DK is.
• Awesome Music:
  • For any longtime Mario fan, Brian Tyler's score for the movie alone is worth the price of admission, and has gotten massive praise for combining iconic tracks from all over Mario's history with original cues to create a very whimsical and fun score.
    • "King of the Koopas", which plays when Bowser's army arrives at the Snow Kingdom and destroys the penguin's castle and steal the Super Star, blends the Airship Theme with some original pieces and ends with a dark reprise of the Super Star Theme to create a dark, foreboding and militaristic track that gives the viewer an idea of how powerful and terrifying Bowser is in the movie.
    • "Welcome to the Mushroom Kingdom", first shown off in a teaser clip at The Game Awards, is a particular standout track that masterfully blends several classic Mario themes^note Fossil Falls from Super Mario Odyssey, the Ground Theme, Underwater Theme, and Underground Themes from Super Mario Bros., the Toad's House and Bonus Game themes from Super Mario Bros. 3, the Ground Theme from Super Mario World, "Bob-omb Battlefield" and "Inside the Castle Walls" from Super Mario 64, "Rainbow Road" from Super Mario Kart, and the main theme of Super Mario Galaxy 2, together and making all of them fit the scene flawlessly and establish the wondrous world Toad is guiding Mario through.
    • "Superstars", when the Mario Bros. snag the Star's power from Bowser's clutches and utterly destroy his army in the final battle. Never before has having that powerup sounded so grand and epic.
    • Even some of the unused music is incredibly awesome, as "Drivin' Me Bananas" (which was supposed to play as Mario, Toad, and Peach are driven to see Cranky Kong) provides a huge sweeping rendition of the classic Donkey Kong theme.
  • The snippet of the Super Mario Bros. theme used in the teaser is as neat as ever, but it gets bonus points for being sampled from the Super Show iteration. The full trailer has an epic orchestral rearrangement of the iconic theme, setting the stage for a massive journey.
  • On the topic of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, the Bros.' own plumbing commercial has their theme song be their theme song, as "Plumber's Rap" makes its triumphant return, repurposed as a Badass Boast about their plumbing business. The soundtrack album even has the full version!
  • "Buckle Up" plays as Mario, his friends, and the Kongs make for Rainbow Road. Once they arrive, the theme of the selfsame track from Super Mario Kart kicks in for maximum impact!
  • "Rainbow Road Rage" plays as Bowser's army ambushes the Kong army. It's a dark and chaotic back-and-forth, with triumphant bits as the heroes thwart the efforts of the Koopa Troop to crush them, and darker bits where the villains get the upper hand.
  • Jack Black's song "Peaches" qualifies as this despite being a mostly comedic song; it really shows Jack Black's talent as a composer. A song befitting the man who's one half of Tenacious D, who have tons of comedic songs in their résumé.
  • When the Kongs offer up their assistance and reveal their kart garage, the music swells with "Thunderstruck"... Never before has the act of making a go-kart rocked so much.
• Base-Breaking Character:
  • Princess Peach. While her not being a Damsel in Distress like usual has been near-unanimously praised for its inherent merits, the execution of it has been very contentious to say the least. In contrast to the games, which have gradually made her more of a proactive Action Girl and has given her more personal agency while still maintaining the same very feminine, elegant, soft-spoken and somewhat ditzy personality, the film version of Peach is a much more serious, no-nonsense and goal-oriented ruler, with her softer and more "girly" side being far more understated and socially awkward. This fairly significant Adaptation Personality Change drew a lot of criticism from fans, arguing that Xenafication doesn't come nested with her quirky and feminine traits and that removing them not only makes Peach less interesting but also devolves her into a generic and boring "girlboss" / "modern Disney Princess" character. On the other hand, some fans defended the change or welcomed it, seeing it as a fresh take that compliments the original, arguing that the personality change was necessary for the more dialogue-heavy medium, or even seeing it as an improvement, as her game counterpart is still a somewhat controversial character in her own right. Aside from her personality, the most commonly cited point against Peach's film version is that they just make Luigi a Distressed Dude instead of her, meaning she has more focus than Luigi overall despite the brothers' chemistry being considered the film's strongest asset. There's also a small amount of division over how her romantic relationship with Mario was handled in the film, with those who don't like it arguing that it being so lightly alluded to makes the story weaker or a case of They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot^note The wedding plot in Super Mario Odyssey, in comparison, was a very important moment in the relationship of their game counterparts, even if they didn't go through with it in end, as Mario's main motivation was to rescue Peach from being stolen away from him; meanwhile, in the film, he's an Unknown Rival to Bowser and doesn't even find out about the wedding until it's already been stopped, and those who do arguing that it makes more sense given that movie is about them meeting for the first time, preferring that their relationship go for the somewhat more realistic "slow burn romance" route.
  • Donkey Kong. Some fans are disappointed about how his character became more of an overconfident and cocky frat bro stereotype and dislike his initial rude treatment of Mario, in contrast to the All-Loving Hero he’s potrayed as in the Donkey Kong Country series. On the other hand, fans find appreciate this incarnation of the character leaning into the Friendly Rivalry angle, giving him lots of funny moments that gives some genuine Character Development and Hidden Depths compared to the Donkey Kong of the games.
• Broken Base: The casting of Chris Pratt as Mario has been divisive from the moment it was revealed. Detractors saw it a Stunt Casting that was disrespectful to Charles Martinet, who voiced the character for so long since then and was relegated to minor roles in the movies, but also completely unneeded since Mario as a character is already iconic and way more popular than any Hollywood actor at the time. On the other hand, supporters argue that Martinet's voice for the character wouldn't have been fitting for a dialogue-heavy movie^note Martinet himself had stated prior to the movie's announcement that it was getting more difficult for him to maintain his Mario voice for long periods of time, and he would announce his retirement from providing Mario's voice a few months after the movie's release and Pratt had proven himself capable of voice acting with The LEGO Movie. Some also Take a Third Option and say that a completely different actor should've been chosen.
• Can't Un-Hear It: Jack Black as Bowser has been the most universally beloved casting in the movie by far. Plenty of fans have reported that, after seeing the movie and going back to the RPGs or one of the other games where he has text dialogue, they're beginning to hear Jack Black's voice in their heads.
• Captain Obvious Reveal: The Koopa General's blue spiked shell is a dead givaway that he is The Dreaded Blue Shell from the Mario Kart series.
• Catharsis Factor:
  • Bowser launches an attack on the Mushroom Kingdom and tortures Toad in an attempt to force Princess Peach to marry him, and explicitly states he's going to sacrifice Luigi and all the other prisoners into the lava pool at the wedding. Thus, it is immensely satisfying when Mario and Luigi team up to beat the crap out of him, then Peach delivers the finishing blow (making it doubly satisfying for all the times the Koopa King kidnapped the princess in the games themselves) by shrinking him with a Mini Mushroom, and imprisoning him in a glass jar, just like his final fate in Super Mario 3D World.
  • Who wasn't satisfied when Spike was attacked by Bowser's goons during the climax in Brooklyn? And when he had to be saved by the Mario Bros, whom he bullied, mostly Luigi?
• Common Knowledge: It has been reported that the Japanese version uses the same voice clip for Giuseppe as the English version. In actuality, he speaks a mixture of Japanese and English, saying "Zenzen^note Not at all. It's-a perfect!"
• Creepy Cute: Lumalee is pretty twisted due to his nihilistic sense of humor, but his voice and design make him charmingly adorable.
• Critical Dissonance: The film received middling reviews from critics primarily because of its fairly minimalistic and straight-forward plot, a heavy focus on references and fanservice to the overall franchise, and a mixed reaction to the film's celebrity voice cast. Audiences, however, loved the film for much the same reason that critics didn't, enjoying the movie for being an unpretentious fun time that is also extremely faithful and referential to the game series, a factor that casual audiences are a lot more likely to appreciate than professional critics. With a Rotten Tomatoes critic score of 59 to an audience score of 96 and a Metascore of 46 to an Userscore of 83, it became the most successful video game movie adaptation of all time and made over $1 billion at the box office.
• Critic-Proof: Mixed reviews (59% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is just 1% below the threshold where a film is considered "Fresh"; and 46% on Metacritic indicating Mixed or average reviews) couldn't stop The Super Mario Bros. Movie from scoring the biggest opening weekend for an animated movie ever, as well as the biggest opening five days of any film at over $204 million. Its success continued with a massive second-weekend performance, shattering the second-weekend record for an animated movie (which was last set by mega-hit Frozen II), indicating that the record-breaking opening wasn't just a flash in a pan. By the end of its theatrical run, the film made well over a billion dollars, taking a close second behind Barbie for 2023 as a whole.
• Crosses the Line Twice:
  • All Lumalee's jokes are so twisted and disturbing for a Mario movie, especially because they're coming out of the mouth of an adorable Luma, yet are so funny because of it.
  • Bowser slamming the piano cover onto Kamek's fingers to vent his jealousy over Mario? Absolutely cruel. Kamek's over-the-top scream, followed by Bowser refusing to lift it, justifying it with "Pain is the best teacher"? Downright hilarious!
• Cry for the Devil: When Peach says to Bowser "You really thought I'd marry you?", Bowser's immediate reaction is to give her Puppy-Dog Eyes again, only this time they seem genuine. While Peach is entirely justified for rejecting him and calling him a monster and while Bowser is undeserving of any real sympathy, you still can't help but feel a tiny bit bad for the Koopa King even if it's just a tiny bit.
• Draco in Leather Pants: Bowser, naturally. Largely due to him being Laughably Evil and some hints toward the climax that he lives an incredibly lonely life (although even the latter can easily be interpreted as him just lying and making excuses for his cruel and monstrous behavior). There's also the theory (under Alternative Character Interpretation) that his extremely toxic and misguided attempt to woo Peach is just how courtship works to Koopas, making it possible that it's more of an instance of Culture Clash than anything, especially with how much of an Amazon Chaser Bowser seems to be although this theory is yet to be fully confirmed. However, many forget that Bowser is a dangerously entitled tyrant who destroyed and looted kingdoms, leaving many without a home, threatened to destroy everything and everyone Peach cares about just to force her to marry him, mistreats his own subordinates, tried to sacrifice a bunch of innocent people, tried to kill Peach once she defies him at the altar, and tried to nuke her kingdom to spite her. Not to mention that Bowser sees Peach as nothing more than a prize to be won.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Lumalee only has about a minute of screentime and doesn't contribute anything to the overall plot, yet you be hard pressed to find someone who didn't consider him to be one of the best parts of the film for being a complete Fountain of Memes with his Black Comedy filled dialogue, to say nothing of his mere existence implying that Rosalina now has a chance to appear in the films.
• Evil Is Cool: This version of Bowser has gotten this just like his game counterpart due to being Laughably Evil while still being a considerable threat and for being one of the most ruthless versions of the character. This is mostly due to Jack Black's performance with many fans deeming it surprisingly menacing. His and the Koopas' "war" with the Penguins was quite the highlight, too.
• Fan-Preferred Cut Content: The debate over the film's use of a pop music soundtrack in several key scenes heated up after the film's soundtrack made it obvious that Brian Tyler had composed original songs for each of those scenes that ultimately went unused in the final film. Several fans have felt that these cut songs were more fitting, particularly the more overtly Donkey Kong-inspired "Drivin' Me Bananas" instead of "Take on Me".
• Fandom Rivalry:
  • In what appears to be yet another repeat of the infamous '90s Nintendo vs. Sega rivalry, the Mario vs. Sonic rivalry would heat up again over this film vs. the live-action Sonic the Hedgehog film and its sequel, with many heated arguments and fans coming to blows over how Mario's film will stack up against Sonic's films. Sonic's fans criticize this film for its lack of in-depth plot compared to the Sonic films, while Mario's fans criticize Sonic for being a Human-Focused Adaptation compared to this film which fully embraces its source material.
  • A minor one was spurred between this film and Pokémon Detective Pikachu despite both being based on Nintendo properties. This is most likely over the positive reception to Ryan Reynolds playing Pikachu compared to the initially mixed response to Chris Pratt playing Mario.
  • There was also a surprising though minor rivalry with The Last of Us series after negative reviews unfavorably compared the film to the show. Several detractors of Mario held up Last of Us as the superior video game adaptation for its more mature story and darker tone, which Mario fans argue is an unfair comparison given differences in tone and target demographics of the properties. Furthermore, some also accused such comparisons of having a bias against kid-friendly animation.
  • Similar rivalries also formed with the likes of Castlevania, Arcane, and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners for the same reasons as The Last Of Us above, but with the Comedy Ghetto instead.
  • With the 1993 film. There are fans who unironically enjoy the original movie precisely due to so much Adaptation Deviation and criticize this film for being "too safe" in relation to its source material. This has come into conflict with people who adore this movie and consider the original movie to be, at best, So Bad, It's Good, but not an actual genuine adaptation of the games.
  • With Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, since many D&D fans blame this film for harpooning any chances of that film becoming a major box office success in spite of having a higher critical score on Rotten Tomatoes as opposed to Mario.
  • With Disney, oddly enough. Some animation fans would contrast this movie's blockbuster success will with the financial failures of Lightyear and Strange World to criticize how Disney's recent animated films haven't gone in the right direction.
  • A small faction of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish fans are irritated at the fact that months before the release of the Mario movie The Last Wish was praised for being so much more than just a funny Shrek spinoff, only to get a bitter reminder that the Animation Age Ghetto is far from being over through a large helping of people complaining about the So Okay, It's Average reception the Mario movie got from critics with "It's just an animated movie for kids, it's not meant to be groundbreaking" arguments.
  • A Friendly Rivalry has developed between this film and Barbie, specifically in regards to the Signature Songs from the films. Many fans of both films have since been hyping up the nominations of both "Peaches" and "I'm Just Ken" for Best Original Song at the Oscars, especially with the possibility of a duet between Jack Black and Ryan Gosling.
• Fandom-Specific Plot: Due to many feeling that Luigi was wasted during the film, there have been a decent amount of fan works created where he, Lumalee and the penguins all escape and work together to defeat or at least hinder Bowser from the inside.
• Fanfic Fuel:
  • Characters using powerups may not be new here, but it still sparks story potential knowing that characters can use the powerups in and out of the Mushroom Kingdom and the real world.
  • How did Bowser learn of the Super Star's location?
  • What is Princess Peach’s true origin? What world is she from? Is she actually from Mario's world?
  • What if Luigi had been sucked down another pipe? What other world could have it led to?
  • We finally get to see Mario and Luigi's family outside of the two brothers. Complete with a grandpa, some uncles, an aunt and, according to the directors, a niece. Plus, in the end, the confirmation that they can enter the Mushroom Kingdom if they want to.
  • It's shown that Nintendo completely exists in this universe, but it's all but stated that there isn't a Super Mario Bros. video game franchise, leading fans to wonder which of Nintendo's other franchises became the flagship brand in its place or if it branched off the "Jumpman" arcade game seen at the beginning with a similar cast of characters.
  • It’s very subtly revealed that other Nintendo franchises, such as Punch-Out!!, Ice Climber and Metroid, exist elsewhere within the movie's universe. This has led fans to speculate that the likes of Doc Louis is a regular customer at Punch-Out Pizzeria or that Popo and Nana are famed explorers.
  • It's stated that this wasn't the first time Bowser has attacked the Mushroom Kingdom and that Peach has defeated him multiple times before Mario and Luigi found their way there. Even better, Bowser states that her beating him so often is part of the reason he fell for her. With the Mushroom Kingdom as vulnerable as it is, how did she accomplish this? Exactly how many solo adventures has Peach gone on and how did Bowser factor into this?
  • Since it wasn't shown when and how Mario and Luigi made the decision to move to the Mushroom Kingdom, there's been plenty of fanfics exploring this premise.
  • With everything that Mario and Luigi have been through in the movie, a lot of fanfics set in the post-movie focus on their mental state. This is often shown with nightmares that include Luigi dreaming of falling into the lava and/or Mario having nightmares about failing to come in time to rescue him.
  • What happened when the NYPD inevitably showed up right after the final battle? What happened to Bowser's destroyed castle? Is it still in Brooklyn? Does Bowser have to pay rent for it now?
  • How was Bowser's upbringing, and what made him into the lovesick tyrant he is today? Was he spoiled rotten like in the games, or is there a Freudian Excuse to his evil? The line "I was finally gonna be happy! Now you will suffer! Like meeeee!" raises some questions and it really makes you wonder if Bowser is just saying that as a mere lie and bad excuse for all of his evil actions and his freakishly lustful obsession over Peach or if he's actually speaking the truth about his life.
  • After the movie events, what if Peach was invited by Mario and Luigi's family to have dinner? What kind of conversations they would have? They probably would welcome her with open arms, since she was there helping Mario from the start to rescue Luigi and for training him to defeat Bowser. Her mother and father would most likely support Mario for dating Peach, although they would respond with stating they're just friends, and his uncles would makes jokes about his previous dates.
• Fan Nickname:
  • The full title of the movie tends to get dropped and be referred to more as "the Mario movie" or the "Super Mario movie" instead.
  • Due to some confusion regarding Lumalee calling Luigi "fresh meat for the grinder" in the trailers — apparently, the line was one of the few that was localized poorly, translating the literal words without regard for their figurative meaning — the Japanese audience has taken to using it as an actual nickname for Luigi.
  • As the Mario bros' little cousin is one of several family members who goes unnamed, quite a few fans have taken to calling her Marilyn after their niece from the The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!. ^note It isn't uncommon for people, particularly Americans, to informally refer to their cousins as their nieces/nephews if they're significantly younger than them.
• Foe Yay Shipping:
  • There were already a number of fans who shipped Bowser and Luigi, but the second the trailers revealed that they would interact at some point in the film, the pairing got more prominent... even though the film itself shows that the context is that Bowser is interrogating him about Mario and his relationship with Peach (out of jealously) and threatens to sacrifice Luigi afterwards.
  • Following the release of the film, the Bowser/Peach ship saw a rise in popularity due to Bowser's crush on Peach and his attempts to woo her being a major plot point. Although the movie presents Bowser as an Abhorrent Admirer that Peach is repulsed by, there is fan art of her reciprocating Bowser's advances.
• Friendly Fandoms:
  • Despite the Fandom Rivalry between fans of Mario and Sonic, there remains a contingent of fans on both sides who don't hold a grudge and are looking forward to seeing how the Mario film pans out and how it compares to Sonic's approach. That Jack Black has joined Jim Carrey in voicing the antagonist in a video game movie and managing to impress despite initial expectations helps a fair deal there, as well. It also helps that the social media account behind the Sonic the Hedgehog movies is effectively encouraging this with a few jokes towards the Mario movie. It also helps that both fandoms are interested in finally seeing some decent film adaptations of video games in order to discredit the Video Game Movies Suck trope. On a funnier note, both this film and Sonic 2 even see a wedding get ruined for some reason or another.
  • With Earwig and the Witch, since Earwig had the involvement of a pre-Nintendo Nintendo Pictures. While both films try to adapt the Ghibli style (while it is not clear to most mainstream eyes, the art style of the Super Mario Bros. franchise was codified by Yoichi Kotabe, an ex-Ghibli animator who worked alongside Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata) to 3D.
  • One ended up developing with Teen Titans, due to the fact that many of the supporting characters are voiced by actors who are well-known for their roles on Teen Titans, including the Koopa General (Robin), the Penguin King (Cyborg), and Kamek (Trigon).
  • An unusual one with The Last of Us. Despite their differences and close proximity in release dates, which resulted in a minor rivalry, fans of both get along as their works are faithful translations that helped video game adaptations gain mainstream success. Those in the overlap are even confused about why the rivalry exists at all, given how the two adaptations are in vastly different mediums aimed at different audiences.
  • One has also formed between this and fans of the Guardians of the Galaxy films, due to in no small part, both films starring Chris Pratt, leading fans of the actor to both franchises, and the third film being released only a month later. Also, both films feature "No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn" in their soundtracks.
  • Being another animated film starring Chris Pratt and Charlie Day that smashed all expectations, it has this with The LEGO Movie.
  • It has developed this with Barbie, in regards to the two bombastic Signature Songs that the two films have.
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff: The film became the highest-grossing film of all time in Mexico, which had already been obsessed with Super Mario Bros. in the first place.
• He Panned It, Now He Sucks!: Critics gave the movie mixed reviews for its plot being too simple and the reliance on fanservice, but it nonetheless wasn't too bad, as the critical Rotten Tomatoes score sits at 59%, which is only one point away from being fresh, and a 46% score on Metacritic, which indicates Mixed or average reviews. Despite this, fans act like the critics hated the movie and lambasted them for expecting too much out of a Super Mario Bros. movie, their lack of understanding of the source material and the movie and some declarations made by them that irritated the fans of both the series and the movie, and made memes mocking them for it. Some reviews are more controversial than others.
• Heartwarming in Hindsight: Mario and Luigi's dad (voiced by Charles Martinet, longtime voice of Mario and Luigi in the games) congratulating and being proud of his boys for saving Brooklyn at the end of the movie becomes even more meaningful with the news regarding Charles Martinet officially retiring from voicing Mario and Luigi to become a Mario brand ambassador entirely meaning that Mario and Luigi's dad voicing how proud he is of his boys will now be Charles Passing the Torch to all new voice actors portraying Mario and Luigi. Charles' memorable "Too much? It's-a Perfect! Wahoo!" scene as Giuseppe praising Mario and Luigi's Italian accents in their commercial takes a whole new meaning as well, showing how he was very proud of the accent and the voice he created and gave to Mario and Luigi to the very end.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • The use of "No Sleep Til Brooklyn" early on in the movie becomes this when the song was again prominently featured in Chris Pratt's next movie less than a month later.
  • Peach using the Ice Flower has fans comparing her appearance to Elsa. Weeks later, the movie manages to outrank Frozen as the highest grossing animated movie.
  • From the earliest previews of Chris Pratt's Mario voice, fans criticized it for sounding at best like Star-Lord doing a Rocket Raccoon impression. A later preview would show that part of the movie would have Mario wearing the Tanooki Suit, a form commonly mistaken for a raccoon.
  • This was only the first of the 2023 animated films Seth Rogen voiced a cartoon animal in some part of New York.
  • The fact Peach got a more active role in this movie, compared to her video game counterpart besides certain exceptions where she's a capable participant/heroine, has caused controversy: ironically, she'll be playable in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, the 2023 remake of Super Mario RPG and in her own game alike (18 years after her last solo adventure in Super Princess Peach). Bonus points, her character poster had the line "She can do anything!". Her newest game, Princess Peach: Showtime!, allows her to gain transformations for different roles like Swordmaster, Detective, Baker, Martial Artist, Ninja, Cowgirl, Ice Skater, Phantom Thief, Mermaid and Superhero. So yes, Peach can do anything!
  • The humor in Mario spending a memorable scene dressed as a tabby cat wasn't lost on people once it was announced that Chris Pratt would be the lead in The Garfield Movie, just over a year after the film's release no less.
• Ho Yay:
  • Kamek tries his best to please his master Bowser, but his admiration comes across as suggestive a couple of times, such as his adamant refusal that Peach would ever turn Bowser down (also, if you pay attention to the piano scene, you can see Kamek licking his lips after looking Bowser up and down) and him gleefully dressing in drag to roleplay Peach accepting Bowser's proposal (though the latter is a Mythology Gag referencing New Super Mario Bros. Wii).
  • The bickering between Mario and Donkey Kong looks like a little something more to some fans.
• I Knew It!:
  • A Twitter user correctly (albeit jokingly) predicted that Mario would be voiced by Chris Pratt rather than Charles Martinet, over one year before the official cast reveal. Many have found this post and called out the user for getting it right, and the original poster took notice of this.
    StheGeneral: I never asked to be blamed for guessing WHAT KNEW WOULD HAPPEN! I DID NOT ASK FOR MARIO PRATT! I NEVER MEANT FOR MARTINET TO BE SENT TO THIS FATE!
    somanylolas_: YOUR WORDS HAVE CONSEQUENCES!!! LEARN FROM THIS MOMENT!!
  • Once it was confirmed that Chris Pratt would be voicing Mario and Charlie Day Luigi, many fans guessed that Charles Martinet would be playing the brothers’ father, which turned out to be true.
  • A popular edit before the film's release was after Bowser obtains the Super Star and declaring no one can stop him, it cuts to the original opening of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, and later to the Super Mario Bros. Plumbing commercial, which features the main theme of said show. This does indeed happen in the actual movie, though the commercial itself is now longer.
  • Many fans predicted that Mario and Luigi would briefly speak in the Italian accents they use in the games at the start of the film, but switch to their actors' normal ones for the rest of the movie. This was in fact the case, with the Bros. affecting Italian accents for the commercial that serves as their introduction in the film, which they don't use normally.
  • Several fans have predicted that the main green Yoshi will be present in The Stinger as a Sequel Hook, especially since he was conspicuously absent when all the other Yoshi were present. Indeed, that turns out to be exactly what happened as a slightly cracked green Yoshi egg is shown to be in the rubble in the post-credits scene, complete with its iconic Pokémon Speak.
  • Mr Bamason, a YouTuber, made a fanmade trailer before the movie's release, consisting of footage from other trailers edited together and set to "Holding Out For A Hero." Lo and behold, the song actually was used in the final movie.
• Improved Second Attempt: For what faults this film may have, it is at least much, much more of a faithful adaptation than the Super Mario Bros. (1993) adaption, as it tries to accurately convey both the story and aesthetics of the games compared to its predecessor, which took basic surface-level ideas from the games and took them in a wildly different direction, limiting its game nods to allusions and namedrops.
• Inferred Holocaust: Two regarding Brooklyn:
  • Mario and Luigi find the Mushroom Kingdom due to Brooklyn becoming flooded and the two venturing into the sewers to try to turn off the valve causing the flood. However, they never do, and although the flood is gone by the time Brooklyn is seen again, the flood would likely have caused mass property damage due to not being treated in a timely fashion.
  • When the Banzai Bill explodes in the warp pipe, the resulting explosion not only pulls Bowser's Castle into Brooklyn, which results in Bowser causing mass damage with his minions and fire breath, but the residue of the explosion ended up crossing over into Brooklyn, causing property damage en masse and likely causing a lot of deaths due to there being no time to prepare for it. However, as it was shown, nobody was seen on the streets during the attack and it's likely to be assumed that nobody really died, and everybody decided to hide until the dust settled.
• Iron Woobie: Mario. He's spent most of his life standing up for his brother and his core trait is being a Determinator even in the face of massive danger. However, he holds a lot of insecurity about his small stature and inability to please his family, which is why he refuses to give up on saving his kidnapped brother.
• It's Short, So It Sucks!: A common complaint about the film is its short running time of 92 minutes and its fast pacing (for the sake of comparison, Universal's previous animated film, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, was 102 minutes), with the general feeling that the film could've done with at least 10 more minutes to flesh out some of its setpieces or plot beats.

J-Z

• Jerks Are Worse Than Villains:
  • It's near impossible to hate Bowser, considering just how entertaining he is and a hopeless romantic to boot. Foreman Spike, on the other hand, was just a downright petty jerk to the Mario Brothers simply because they left his business to start their own; calling them childish names, mocking their commercial and writing a one-star review on their business website (when they were still waiting on their first customers) just out of pure spite. Even before the climax, he nearly accidentally hits Mario with his car, and Spike tries to beat him up over it despite Mario never even touching it. Naturally, most people were happy to see Bowser's goons beat him up before Luigi, the one whom he picked on the most, saves him. Thankfully, he semi-redeems himself by showing he is grateful to the both of them for saving his life and leads the people of Brooklyn in cheering for the brothers.
  • Francis the Dog also counts for being a petty jerk who ruins the brothers' first plumbing job, all because Luigi accidentally stepped on his favorite bone. While he eventually drops his grudge after the Mario Bros save Brooklyn, it looks more like he begrudgingly does it rather than being genuine.
• Just Here for Godzilla:
  • A common reaction from people who aren't enthused over the prospect of Illumination making a Mario movie or seeing Chris Pratt in the role is to instead express excitement over Jack Black as Bowser or the appearance of unexpected additions like Cranky Kong and Foreman Spike.
  • Many Nintendo fans saw this in hopes of increasing the chance that other franchises from the company could be adapted into other forms of animated media, especially those who were tired of Pokémon being the sole IP these days to be adapted.^note Coincidentally, the movie was released not long after the anime's protagonist, Ash Ketchum, was retired in favor of new ones. This is especially noticeable, since Nintendo themselves claimed plans for such a endeavors, and that any future adaptations would depend on the Mario movie's success.
  • Many people watched the movie for the many, many Mythology Gags to numerous entries in the Mario series, and even if they didn't care for the plot and the characters.
  • Some people admit to seeing the movie just to see the extended Mario family for the first time.
• Love to Hate: Bowser is a cold-blooded, sadistic sociopath who is fascinated with Peach. When she doesn't reciprocate, he tries to murder her alongside the rest of the Mushroom Kingdom. Despite this, Jack Black's outrageous acting and his Laughably Evil demeanor make him so much fun to watch. His Signature Song "Peaches" also deserves special mention.
• Memetic Badass: The Koopa Troopa who asks "What if she says no?" in regards to Bowser's marriage proposal and gets roasted by Bowser's fire breath has been joked by fans as having gotten a promotion/rewarded, due to him becoming an invulnerable Dry Bones.
• Memetic Loser: In the Super Mario Bros. Plumbing commercial, there's a shot of the brothers pushing a toy van across Brooklyn and Queens but stopping it before it rolls into the Bronx (a borough that they don't serve). This resulted in jokes among fans that the Bronx is a Place Worse Than Death that Mario and Luigi are desperate to avoid.
• Memetic Molester: Even from the trailers, the vibe many felt during the scene where Bowser interrogates Luigi were so notable that it became something of a running gag for people to jokingly refer to it as if it were a prolonged, graphic sex scene. This only got exacerbated when the film came out and it ultimately ended up being a short scene where Bowser's Faux Affably Evil demeanor gets angrily cast off the moment he gets the information he wants.
• Mis-blamed: As soon as it was revealed that Toadsworth was gonna be in the film before being cut, people started pointing fingers at Nintendo over the decision. While Nintendo has made similar decisions in the past, this time, Illumination themselves were in charge of the final decision to remove him.
• Moe:
  • The Toads are just so adorable, just like their game counterparts. One of them even lampshades this.
  • Lumalee is also adorable, despite his dark jokes.
  • As Luigi is kidnapped by the Shy Guys, he flashes back to his and Mario's childhood, where we see Baby Mario defending Baby Luigi from a bully. They are just as adorable as in their playable appearances.
  • Baby Peach is especially cute. It's little wonder the Toads took her in and made her their ruler.
• Moral Event Horizon:
  • Bowser crosses it when he orders Kamek to torture Toad in order to blackmail Peach into marrying him, showing how low he's willing to go to make her his. He keeps on going when he orders all of his prisoners to be executed in molten lava during his and Peach's wedding. And if you still hold any sympathy for him, the part where he orders his minions to fire a Bomber Bill over the Mushroom Kingdom out of spite for having his wedding with Peach thwarted will seal the deal.
  • Earlier, the Koopa General crosses it when he turns himself into every Mario Kart player's worst nightmare, The Dreaded Blue Shell, as a kamikaze attack to try and take out Mario and Donkey Kong, as well as destroying Rainbow Road to capture the rest of the Kong army.
• Most Wonderful Sound:
  • A substantial amount of the film's score consists of beautifully reorchestrated Mario game music. Every time you hear a familiar tune on the soundtrack it is sure to bring a smile to your face if you're a longtime fan.
  • The very last thing we hear in the movie is Kazumi Totaka crying out "YOSHI!" in The Stinger.
  • In two different scenes, Bowser can be heard letting out the unmistakable growls and roars of Kenny James, his voice actor from the games.
• No Such Thing as Bad Publicity: At the very least, Shigeru Miyamoto himself feels that many of the negative reviews from critics have actually helped the film become the box office success that it is.
• Older Than They Think:
  • A lot of fans were surprised that the film depicts Mario and Luigi as not being natives of the Mushroom Kingdom, with the phrase "they turned Mario into an isekai" making the rounds across social media shortly after the first trailer dropped. They didn't realize that Mario and Luigi being from New York City before moving to the Mushroom Kingdom was the de facto canon backstory for the first decade of Mario's existence, to reconcile the original arcade games with the post-Super Mario Bros. canon; the three DiC cartoons and the 1993 film all went with this story, while The Great Mission to Save Princess Peach! had the brothers travel to the Mushroom Kingdom through a video game. It was only beginning with Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island in 1995 that the Mario Bros. would be depicted as being raised in the Mushroom Kingdom.
  • Chris Pratt is not the first person to use a New York accent to voice Mario; before Charles Martinet landed the role, Mario was usually depicted with one, most notably when he was voiced by Captain Lou Albano. Martinet himself said in an interview that when he first auditioned for the role, his first thought was to use such an accent, before deciding to try something different and doing what would become Mario's most well-known voice. A key difference, however, is that Pratt's New York accent is the first not to be gruff, as it usually was back in the day (Mario was assumed by pretty much everyone to be middle-aged before Nintendo later clarified that he was in his early to mid-twenties, to the point that Danny DeVito was a popular fan casting idea among people not in the know).
  • This is not the first time Toad has been shown with teeth, as Toad was previously depicted with teeth in artwork◊ for Game & Watch Gallery 4. Toad's skeleton also shows him with teeth when he is electrocuted in Mario Strikers Charged.
  • While Princess Peach is the Damsel in Distress of video games, her taking a more proactive role is not remotely unique to this movie; her various kidnappings that make up the standard Excuse Plot for the core Mario platformers (and some of the RPGs) are vastly outnumbered by her near-perfect record of being playable and on par with everyone else in the Mario spin-offs. Heck, even a bunch of platformers and RPGs have her playable^note Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario RPG, Super Paper Mario, Super Mario 3D World (which was directly cited as an inspiration by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic), Super Mario Run, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, and Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, not to mention Super Princess Peach where she rescues the Mario Bros. from Bowser. Previous non-gaming adaptations Super Mario Adventures and The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! also put her in an active role.
  • This is not the first time a King Mook version of an already existing Bowser Minion leads the Koopa Troop's armies. Super Princess Peach had Army Hammer Bro, a General variant of the Hammer Bro fulfilling that role in Bowser's plan to capture Mario and Luigi, as well as 126 Toads.
  • While Luigi is usually right alongside Mario in most games, this is not the first time Luigi has played the Distressed Dude role, as he was kidnapped by Kamek and his goons several times as a baby in the Yoshi's Island games, was kidnapped by Bowser under a Peach disguise as part of a plan to rescue Mario in Super Mario Adventures, which he would do again in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga to fool Cackletta, was kidnapped by Bowser and his Vibe-Scepter powered army in Super Princess Peach and was briefly kidnapped and imprisoned by Bowser and his forces in Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario 3D Land.
  • Fire Donkey Kong is not 100% new, as Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis featured the toy version of him having a fire form (though, unlike the movie, he would turn white instead of red).
  • This is not the first time Bowser gets shrunken after his defeat, nor is it the first time he ends up trapped in a jar. He suffers these exact punishments during the credits sequences of Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Super Mario 3D World respectively.
  • Given many of the criticisms of the film are that the plot is too simple, the vast majority of Mario games have very straightforward or excuse plots to a point where the franchise has never been known for its narrative depth. There are a bunch of exceptions, especially in the RPG spinoff games such as Super Mario RPG, Paper Mario, and Mario & Luigi, where the story is the main focus; and Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Odyssey, which have the most elaborate stories out of all mainline games and the latter of which has a main plot point (the Forced Wedding) repurposed from it for the film.
  • This is surprisingly not the first time a pre-Mushroom Kingdom Mario and Luigi tried to prove their worth as plumbers by saving Brooklyn from a flood. A similar crisis occurred in "Plumber's Academy" over thirty years prior.
  • This isn't the first time that real world songs have been prominently featured in Mario, as The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! frequently made use of cover songs during the first two-thirds of its runtime. However, while Super Show's usage of songs was typically tailored to episodes or scenes that befitted the songs, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is much more liberal with its song usage, as while "Holding Out for a Hero" and "Thunderstruck" fit for the scenes they play in, "Take on Me" and "Mr. Blue Sky" are more haphazardly inserted.
• One-Scene Wonder: King Bob-Omb, who makes a small but memorable appearance at Bowser’s wedding, where Peach sets his fuse on fire and he blows up.
• Out of the Ghetto: This film is another in a string of positively received video game adaptations since the trend started in 2019 with Pokémon Detective Pikachu and continued by the Sonic films, as well as The Last of Us, Arcane and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners in television. The Super Mario Bros. Movie meanwhile, managed to capture much more of the general audience's interest in video game adaptations compared to prior films, scoring blockbuster box office numbers that have been able to compete with some of Disney's biggest animated hits.
• Preemptive Shipping: Based on the trailer alone (which showed a scene where Bowser was gently stroking Luigi with his finger after capturing him), many people started shipping Bowser with Luigi. The film itself would later reveal that the aforementioned scene wasn't a case of I Have You Now, My Pretty but rather Bowser interrogating him for information about Mario, and after that, he barely interacts with Luigi aside from using him as a Human Sacrifice, but regardless, a combination of habit and confirmation bias kept the ship alive and well.
• Questionable Casting:
  • The initial reveal of the cast in a September 2021 Nintendo Direct remains infamous for how shocking it was. Not only was such an announcement not expected for a series of announcement videos meant for games, the film's unapologetic push for A-list Celebrity Voice Actors for the main characters threw people for a loop. While some casting choices made sense to fans after the dust settled and were accepted early on (such as Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser and Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach), the same could not be said for Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong and especially Chris Pratt as Mario. Pratt was specifically mocked, given his heavy exposure in Hollywood blockbusters in both leading action roles and voice acting. Therefore, such a choice was seen as an executive-pushed money-making decision, with many feeling he would be a disaster as Mario. The teaser a year later did not help matters much, as fans thought Mario just had Chris Pratt's normal voice, with special criticism given to the cheesy delivery of the line "Mushroom Kingdom, here we come!"^note Perhaps the filmmakers agreed, since the line didn't end up in the final film. However, once the film came out, the voice acting ended up far better than expected, minds were changed and both Rogen and Pratt's performances were seen as, at the very least, solid, with some going further to praise how well of a job they actually did.
  • After release, the only actor whose performance was less well-received was Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong. Many felt he didn't sound, well, cranky enough like the late Aron Tager did for the DK cartoon series and didn't lean into the old geezer energy the character is beloved for in the Donkey Kong Country games.
• Realism-Induced Horror: Though Bowser is as Laughably Evil as ever, he is also a shockingly realistic portrayal of people with unhealthy obsessions and who are dangerously entitled to have romantic affection and who won't take no for an answer. Bowser believes that if he gets a powerful artifact in the Super Star, Peach will automatically fall in love with him. When he finds out that's not the case, he decides to use force to make her comply to his demands and when she rejects him a second time, he goes on a destructive rampage and tries to kill her for not returning his "love". Even his song "Peaches", while comedic, only goes to show how he is obsessed with the idea of her, not her as an actual person.
• Rooting for the Empire: Thanks to Bowser being Laughably Evil and cool in equal measure, along with pretty much everyone agreeing that Jack Black gives it his all in the part, it's common to see audiences saying they would have enjoyed seeing Bowser get away with his crimes and even succeed in his goals. This is most likely due to a case of Draco in Leather Pants.
• Signature Scene:
  • Bowser playing piano and singing about Peach quickly became one of the most memorable sights and sounds in the film.
  • The Rainbow Road chase scene is also well remembered for taking a Mario Kart Mythology Gag and turning it into a tense Mad Max-esque chase sequence. The reveal that the Koopa General was a Canon Character All Along, the series' infamous Blue Shell seen in Koopa flesh or the first time, only sealed the deal further.
  • The plumbing commercial that introduces the titular brothers was an instant success before the film even released, not just for the amusing Kitschy Local Commercial vibe but especially for the surprise return of the "Plumber's Rap" from The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!. Not only was it a nostalgia bomb for older fans, it also came as a pleasant surprise to see Nintendo acknowledging the series' Early-Installment Weirdness fondly, something they aren't known to do often.
  • The film's emotional climax, Mario and Luigi's very emotional reunion just before the film's true climax, received universal praise and frequent citations as the best moment in the film for how much detail and character acting it expresses in such a short amount of time.
  • Luigi saving Mario from being incinerated by Bowser’s fire breath by shielding himself and Mario with a manhole cover. A highly satisfying scene for fans of the man in green, practically making up for his lack of screentime.
  • The final battle. Mario and Luigi getting the Super Star and proceeding to curb stomp Bowser and every single soldier he has, turning what started out as a brewing defeat into a victory lap. The remix of the Starman theme is the icing on the cake.
• Signature Song: The song "Peaches", itself, is just as iconic, which is particularly impressive in a movie already filled to the brim with amazingly nostalgic music! Many a viewer have mentioned hearing fellow audience members singing the song as they left theaters, and there are several online music videos (and memes) for the song that rack up millions of views.
• Tainted by the Preview:
  • The very first thing that was known about the film, Illumination Entertainment's mere involvement, was enough to make people wary due to the studio's poor reputation for prioritizing profit over quality films, with their work being So Okay, It's Average at best, and fears arising that they'll turn Toads, Koopas, or Goombas into Minion expies. Thankfully, these concerns dissipated with time, once the trailers displayed some of the best animation that Illumination has ever done, demonstrating a serious effort on the part of the animators to faithfully recreate the world of the Mario games on film — instead of fitting Mario designs into a standard Illumination format, as many had feared.
  • The reveal of the film's All-Star Cast was seen by many as showing a lack of confidence in the film despite it being part of a Cash-Cow Franchise and reignited the fear concerning Illumination's involvement. On their own merits, most of the cast decisions just had mixed reception, but having Chris Pratt as Mario instead of veteran voice actor (and the voice of Mario for a generation) Charles Martinet was seen as especially silly and raised complaints about how voice actors, in general, are shafted in Hollywood (similarly to SCOOB!'s recast). Even noted voice actor Tara Strong commented on this. While Charles Martinet was confirmed to appear in the film, he plays the minor roles of Mario's dad and Giuseppe, so it didn't diminish the impact of this that much.
  • With the previews, Jack Black as Bowser, Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, and Charlie Day as Luigi were able to impress and win people over, but Pratt as Mario was negatively received, with complaints largely centering around how Mario's voice sounds too similar to Chris Pratt's normal speaking voice, with his New York accent being subtle enough that several people didn't notice it (at best, he sounds like Star-Lord doing a Rocket Raccoon impression. At worst, he's reusing his Emmett voice). However, others are at least relieved or even pleased that he has an accent at all. And petitions to get him fired were not uncommon, hoping to have history repeat itself with Sonic's original design from his movie. As months passed and more footage was revealed, some fans became more understanding and noticed that he was improving as Mario, though sentiments about his voice for the character would remain mixed at that point. Fortunately, the in-universe commercial does show Mario using the Martinet-inspired accent at the tip of the hat, and after the movie was released, his performance as Mario was actually positively received by critics and fans overall.
  • While Princess Peach not being a Damsel in Distress was near-unanimously praised from the start, quite a few fans were unhappy with the way that Peach was represented in the film's trailers, with concerns raised that she was undergoing Xenafication at the expense of her personality. To many, a change like this would be short-sighted and needless, since the more recent games have put forth a lot of effort to make her a more capable character without tuning down her sweet and feminine energy at all. This move to make her more capable without toning down her conventional femininity has endeared her to many fans and given her a fun, contrasted dynamic with Daisy, prompting a common criticism of the trailers to be worded specifically to the effect of "They just gave her Daisy's personality". While the film's release would quell these criticisms somewhat, as the marketing had looked over a few scenes where she's kinder and less formal, the Adaptation Personality Change ended up happening as expected and so several criticisms remain nonetheless.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: Fans of the memetic German version of the Super Show plumbers' rap were disappointed to learn that the German dub had rewritten the lyrics used for this movie.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • This was bound to happen for the one that acts as Bowser's hostage that needs to be saved, and Luigi was no exception. After how well the Brooklyn opening does at getting you invested in the brotherly chemistry between Mario and Luigi, the two of them end up separated during the warp to the new world. As a result, the chemistry is lost, and Luigi's time is mostly just spent on him being Out of Focus as Bowser's hostage; leaving him no opportunity to shine like Mario. There's a small attempt at setting up a character arc for him regarding his nature as a Cowardly Lion, but the movie's short runtime means this gets reduced to 2-3 lines and a brief flashback to his childhood. At the very least, Luigi does get to be a key player in the Final Battle, on top of getting some well-earned revenge on his captors once he toughens up.
  • For all the emphasis put on Toad being a member of the Token Trio along with Mario and Peach, he actually gets very little to do during most of the movie. He is the first person Mario meets in the Mushroom Kingdom and gladly brings him to the princess once he learns of Luigi's situation, but once Mario and Peach meet, the only further contributions Toad makes to the plot are being tortured by Kamek to coerce Peach into marrying Bowser (and even there, it's made clear that this would work with any of the Toads in the kingdom, not just this one specifically) and sneaking an Ice Flower into her wedding bouquet for her. Notably, during the entire second act where the Token Trio travels to the Kong Kingdom — from the time they leave to when Peach and Toad return after losing Mario and the Kong Army — Toad could have been completely removed from the group with absolutely zero effect on the story whatsoever.
  • The Goombas. For the most iconic enemies in the Mario series, they barely appear at all in the movie and are effectively replaced by the Koopas as the lowly mooks of Bowser's army.
  • King Boo disappears from the final battle after his cameo and makes no contributions to it. Considering how he’s typically shown to be a powerful villain in his own right, he could have easily presented an obstacle. Although this could possibly be a case of him not truly caring about Bowser.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • Peach has a short backstory scene establishing that she came through the pipe as a baby and was raised by the Toads, but she doesn't remember anything before that. While Mario speculates that she came from the human world like him, they never touch on Peach's origins again in the movie, even when she and everybody else end up in the human world. It's possible this is meant to be setup for a sequel, given the presence of a separate Sequel Hook in the movie, but nevertheless makes it appear Peach will have a separate subplot in the movie that never really happens.
  • A highly common complaint that the movie receives, aside from the runtime, is the plot point of Mario and Luigi getting separated. Their brotherly relationship and chemistry, through Chris Pratt and Charlie Day, has been unanimously praised by all parties. In fact, some have said that the best parts of the story are before they go to the Mushroom Kingdom and the climax. After that, more time is dedicated to showing the world, and the deeper aspects of Luigi and Mario's relationship get downplayed as a result until the very end. It got to the point where, when a follow-up was announced, fans were saying that it would be an Even Better Sequel because Mario and Luigi are spending more time together.
• Ugly Cute: Bowser is surprisingly adorable when he's acting bashful... Even if none of it is genuine and he's just putting on this face just to make Peach want to marry him.
• Unexpected Character: The movie makes some shockingly deep cuts into Super Mario's history for characters, and many of them are one-off or long-forgotten by the time the film released.
  • Out of all the Mario characters to appear in the film, practically nobody expected one of them to be Foreman Spike, whose last appearance was in the Japanese-only game, Mobile Golf, from 2001. In fact, he was technically the first character confirmed to appear in the film, even before Mario himself.
  • As most people weren't expecting elements of the Donkey Kong series to be a large factor in the film, most of its characters qualify:
    • Donkey Kong himself was this for some, or at least him being a top-billed character announced with the main cast reveal, since DK is only really a Mario mainstay when it comes to the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series and the various side games that have little or no story to speak of. (Note that the original arcade games ambiguously star a different DK, although the movie itself appears to take the "modern DK is Donkey Kong Jr." interpretation.)
    • Cranky Kong was completely unexpected since he's a Donkey Kong side character (only being Promoted to Playable in a poorly received spin-off and its most contemporary entry), and he has never appeared in a Mario game, only crossing paths with the plumber thanks to the occasionally canon factoid of Cranky being the original arcade DK (and his Super Smash Bros. cameos).
    • The cameos of Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong (the former getting a line) weren't too shocking with Cranky already announced to appear, but less people were expecting Funky Kong. Granted, Funky's still part of the franchise and did make two appearances in the Mario Kart series and one in Mario Super Sluggers; other Kong cameos fall into The Bus Came Back territory, namely Kiddy Kong^note he was pretty much dropped entirely after Donkey Kong Land III for being a less-liked Kong, Swanky Kong^note a side character who only appeared in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest and Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! before being dropped aside from a few minor cameos, Chunky Kong^note despite being playable in his debut game Donkey Kong 64, he's only made a few sporadic cameos since, and Eddie the Mean Old Yeti on one of Peach's posters^note he's a Canon Foreigner, so this is the first time he's ever been acknowledged outside of the cartoon he's from.
  • The Penguins were unexpected, as they are very minor NPCs who appear in small roles across the few games they are featured in and were never indicated to have a monarch of their own. Not many could expect to see an army of them trying to take on Bowser or that they would be the keepers of the super-star.
  • Few expected to see Lumalee in the film, a minor shopkeeper Luma from Super Mario Galaxy that never had much personality outside of selling Mario 1-Up or life extension mushrooms.
  • While the bros' mother making a comment on their plumbing website didn't raise any eyebrows, the bros' extended family being actually physically shown in the movie was quite the curveball.
  • Considering that the events of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and its sequels are not part of the movie universe continuity, and because they're the incarnations of the brothers themselves, it was unexpected to see Baby Mario and Baby Luigi in a flashback after they were never shown in any promotional material.
  • Baby Peach has solely appeared in spin-offs (only two of those, both nearly two decades old, had actual plots) and Peach's backstory has never really been focused on, meaning that very few were expecting the baby princess to appear.
  • Near the end of the film, King Bob-omb and King Boo unexpectedly show up in order to attend Bowser and Peach's forced wedding. Quite a surprise, given that they were never shown in any of the promotional material for this film, and while Bob-ombs were shown in brief snippets, Boos aren't present in the movie otherwise.
  • Few expected the bat enemy specific to the Super Mario Galaxy series to appear in this movie during the Dark Lands scenes, as they've been largely overshadowed by the Swoops from Super Mario World.
• Viewer Gender Confusion: You'd be forgiven for thinking the Mario Bros.' little cousin is a boy since she dresses like one and doesn't have any spoken lines.
• Viewer Species Confusion: If frequently asked questions on Google searches are any indication, Lumalee, a Sentient Star, has been mistaken for a flame and a ghost on multiple occasions.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: The animation is just fantastic, almost perfectly matching the style of the games while giving everyone a makeover with beautifully realistic textures — resulting in some of, if not, the best animation that Illumination has ever produced. One stand-out example being Donkey Kong's fingerprints.
• Win Back the Crowd:
  • To say that many fans were upset over Chris Pratt voicing Mario would be a massive understatement, with many ripping the casting decision to shreds, accusing the producers of just wanting to draw in sales using a popular actor, and wanting Mario to be recast almost immediately. The trailers for the movie unfortunately didn't help alleviate these concerns, with almost every line that Chris delivered as Mario sounding like Chris Pratt just doing his regular speaking voice with a slight New York accent, often with a bad case of Dull Surprise. And what also didn't help was the French trailer giving Mario a voice that's more akin to the one in the games, due to them not being confined to using a New York accent, causing most audiences to flock to that one, ignore Pratt, and even vow to watch the film in French. In the weeks just before the film's release, however, many fans were starting to warm up to Chris’s performance, noting that he was sounding better with each new trailer; one even went as far as replacing a line with a much better take. Once the film actually released, Chris Pratt's performance as Mario was actually mostly praised, with even the harshest detractors still calling it decent, and many formerly vocal critics admitting it was much better than the trailers made it out to be. In the end, Chris Pratt became much more popular as a new voice for Mario and was celebrated as being another different, but fresh take for the mustachioed red plumber; some even considering him to be one of the best voices for Mario along with Captain Lou Albano, Walker Boone, and of course, Charles Martinet.
  • This also applies to Illumination itself as an animation company. After the success of the first Despicable Me, the company gained a reputation for having a very commercial approach to movie-making, particularly where its Dr. Seuss adaptations were concerned (by means of having more materialistic commercial tie-ins to sell those movies, which ironically went against the anti-materialism messages of the source material), with some initially expecting the film to be approached as a cash-grab. However, the marketing piqued the interests of a number of viewers, and when the finished film was released, the level of love and attention to detail that the studio went with when adapting this material has managed to win over many of their critics.
• The Woobie: Luigi, who ends up in the Dark Lands and as a Distressed Dude due to being in Bowser's captivity for most of the movie, incurring physical abuse from Bowser and nearly being needlessly killed via dunking into lava, only saved at the last minute by his beloved brother, who he has spent a long time away from.
• Woolseyism:
  • The joke about Mario saying destiny is calling only for Luigi to think he's talking about Destiny from high school was altered in several languages to have her name be Fortuna.
  • The Hungarian dub references a few local nursery rhymes and poems. When Bowser tells his underlings his plan to marry Peach, he says "Csing-ling-ling, nászcsengő!" (Ting-ling-ling, wedding bell!), a reference to the poem "Száncsengő" ("Sleigh bell"), which contains the line "Csing-ling-ling, száncsengő".
  • Also in the Hungarian dub, when Mario gets the Cat powerup when facing Donkey Kong, DK references the rhyme "Cirmos cica" by saying "Ott látszik a bajuszodon!" while he is laughing, which translates to "I can see it on your moustache!" This refers to a line in the rhyme about how a cat owner is able to tell that his cat ate the butter via traces left on its face. He then says "Most lesz neked jajj" ("Now you're in trouble"), which is the end of the rhyme.
  • The Latin American Spanish dub, on top of adapting the original mythology gags from the English version, also adds its own ones, some of them related with the dubs from the previous adaptations of the franchise:
    • While Toad keeps his original name in the dub, many characters in the dub nicknames him as "Toad el Honguito" (lit. "Toad the Lil' Mushroom"), "Honguito" being Toad's dub name from The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, as well as being traditionally his Fan Nickname in the region since then, partly due to the many local fans' distaste for the English name.
    • Also, Bowser's line at the beginning of the film when he gets the Super Star "I've finally found it. NOW WHO'S GONNA STOP ME!?!" was translated as "I finally found it, NOW I'M INVINCIBLE!"^{In Spanish}Finalmente lo encontré. ¡Y AHORA NADIE PUEDE DETENERME!, which basically describes the Super Star's main use in the games.
    • When Lumalee says the only release from Bowser's clutches is death, King Penguin's line "Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" was changed to "Oh great! Just another psycho!"^{In Spanish}¡Ay, perfecto, otro psicópata!.
  • The script in the Japanese version of this move was handled by Nintendo, who made changes to cater to the norms of Japanese viewers.

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