The Super Mario Bros. movie divides critics who praise the visuals and defend Chris Pratt

The Super Mario Bros. movie was released for preview screenings on Tuesday, and the critics have now spoken, albeit without much consensus.

The computer-animated family adventure film, inspired by the iconic Nintendo video game characters of the same name, has divided critics, and the film currently has a poor score of 55 percent from critics polled by Rotten tomatoes.

The number drops even further to 50 percent when only the most high-profile critics are selected from countless reviews. Notably, there was an embargo on release-day reviews, which is a common tactic with movies where studios will get bad reviews, though they may have less leverage with a big budget known to moviegoers.

While many critics praise The Super Mario Bros. praised for its kaleidoscopic visuals and strong animation, others called it a flimsy story that didn’t do enough to support the classic character.

Mario fans incessantly complained about Chris Pratt’s casting after it was first announced, as he’s not the first person to come to mind to play an Italian plumber, though he received mostly mild praise from reviewers.

Highs and Lows: The film currently has a rotten score of 54 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, indicating that the film polarized critics

Variety film critic Owen Gleiberman praised the film for its “wholesome, joking, drug-like chameleonic video game buzz”, and disagreed with others who thought the story petty.

He praised Jack Black’s “amazing” performance as the villainous Bowser, writing that the film was a welcome antidote to the clichés that had developed in digital animation over the years, even among Pixar films.

Frank Scheck gave a similarly positive review for it The Hollywood Reporterand he said the film felt like a “labour of love” rather than raising money.

He also praised Black, writing that his voice performance “takes the film to another level”.

However, he was mildly critical of the screenplay – “The plot is as simple as it gets, and character development is clearly not a priority” – although he suggests that the short 90-minute running time would not test the patience of young viewers.

But The protector‘s Peter Bradshaw was disappointed with the film, which he awarded only two stars out of five.

He called The Super Mario Bros. movie “tedious and flat in every way,” and he likened it to the critically acclaimed 1993 live-action adaptation, starring Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo.

Bradshaw thought that mimicking the original game’s 2D gameplay quickly faded his welcome, and he lamented that the film had none of the irreverent humor or irony of the Lego Movies, despite screenwriter Matthew Fogel working on the second film in that series. had worked.

Trippy: Variety film critic Owen Gleiberman praised the film for its “wholesome gag-drugging, chameleonic video game buzz,” and disagreed with others who thought the story petty.

Standout star: Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter praised Jack Black as Bowser, writing that his voice performance “takes the movie to another level”

No thanks: Robbie Collin of The Telegraph would have preferred to see the botched 1993 live-action adaptation, which he says was a “fascinating failure” to say the least

Other critics suggested that the film lacked much humor to appeal to adults, to make it broad enough to appease children.

Robbie Collin’s The Telegraph was disappointed as well, and he gave it only one out of five stars.

Collin also mentioned the 1993 Super Mario Bros. movie, though he said he would have preferred to watch that bombshell, which he said was a “fascinating failure” to say the least.

He was disappointed with the film’s visuals, which did not improve significantly from the video game.

‘Just recreation [the video game visuals] in (surprisingly second-rate) CG while yelling “remember?” is, idiotic and ruthless, all we get,” Collin wrote.

The cover‘s Lex Briscuso published a positive review recommending The Super Mario Bros. Movie “endlessly charming,” while praising its “rich and full” animated worlds.

Briscuso said Pratt was better than expected with his “modernized, somewhat understated version of a stereotypical Brooklyn accent that comes across as natural and innocent, a logical representation of the Mario character.”

For The Atlantic OceanDavid Sims gave the film a positive review, writing that directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic “seem to be focused on recreating the fun of the original rather than undercutting it.”

However, he noted that the “story gives only the loosest nudges from scene to scene”, and wrote that Pratt’s dialogue usually dries up as the film’s action heats up.

Loved it: Lex Briscuso of The Wrap published a positive review recommending The Super Mario Bros. Movie “endlessly charming,” while praising the “rich and full” animated worlds

True to the Game: For The Atlantic, David Sims gave the film a positive review, writing that directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic “seem to be focused on recreating the fun of the original rather than subverting it”

Digging the references: Chicago Sun-Times film critic Richard Roeper gave the film three stars out of four and wrote that he was a fan of the many Easter eggs in the original video game

The Chicago Sun Times film critic Richard Roeper gave the film three stars out of four and wrote that he was a fan of the many Easter eggs in the original video game.

He reserved some praise for the comedic style of Fred Armisen and Seth Rogen, who voiced Cranky Kong and Donkey Kong respectively.

Unlike other critics, he suggested that adult viewers might appreciate some of the trippy visuals, which resembled a mushroom trip.

The movie Super Mario Bros. is currently being widely released.