The Super Mario Bros. Movie Christian Movie Review (2023)

Guidance: Talk Together

This is a bright, energetic family adventure with frequent peril, battle threats, bullying, and fantasy magic. For many families, the main discernment need is less about explicit content and more about talking through courage, identity, and how hope differs from talk of destiny or power.

Why This Guidance Level

This lands in the middle category because the film is still broadly family-friendly, but it includes repeated peril, intimidating threats, bullying language, and fantasy magic that many Christian parents will want to frame for younger children. The bigger issue is not explicit content so much as helping children sort out bravery, identity, and power through a Christ-centered lens.

Faith & Worldview Perspective

The story values family loyalty, perseverance, and sacrificial courage, and those are real points of connection for Christian families. Its world, however, is built on fantasy power, magical objects, and heroic self-assertion rather than prayer, providence, or redemption in Jesus Christ. What may conflict with a biblical view is the way strength and rescue are tied to special power and personal resolve, because Christian hope rests finally in God, not in power-ups or destiny. Parents may want to discuss the difference between brave action and trusting Christ.

Truths Reflected

• Brotherly loyalty and standing by family are treated as good and worth sacrifice.
• Courage grows when characters act to help others rather than only themselves.

Tensions to Discuss

• The fantasy world normalizes magical power as a source of strength and victory, which is different from Christian dependence on God.
• The story leans toward self-belief and heroic destiny language rather than grounding identity and hope in the Lord.

Content & Discernment Markers

Occult & Spiritual Content

• Fantasy magic is part of the movie’s world through magical objects, power-ups, and moments marked by “magical chiming.” This is game-style magic rather than occult practice, but it still presents supernatural power as useful and exciting. Parents may want to discuss how fantasy magic differs from the real spiritual hope Christians have in Jesus Christ.

Sexuality & Relationships

• Romantic material is light. Bowser’s desire to marry Peach drives part of the story, and the coercive tone around that relationship may be worth noting even though the film does not focus on sexual content.

Identity Themes

• Mario and Luigi are mocked as failures after launching their business, including “Brooklyn’s favorite failures” and “the Stupid Mario Brothers.” The film pushes back by showing dignity, persistence, and brotherly loyalty. Parents may want to discuss where our worth comes from when others laugh at us.

Violence & Intensity

• The opening threat is direct: “Open the gates or die,” followed by “Attack!” and battle cries. The action is stylized and animated, but the threat language is stronger than the gentler tone of some family cartoons.
• A dog attack scene turns tense and chaotic. Francis growls, barks viciously, chases the brothers, and they scream and whimper while trying to escape. A “bone snaps” audio cue adds a sharper moment that could unsettle younger children.
• Peril is frequent throughout the adventure, with frightened gasps, whimpering, falls, chases, and villain-driven danger. The movie keeps it colorful and comic, but the pace rarely slows for very sensitive viewers.

Language & Humour

• Language is mostly insults and ridicule rather than profanity. Notable lines include “Stupid Mario Brothers,” “idiot,” “insane,” “dumb company,” and “You’re a joke, and you always will be.” Much of it comes in bullying scenes, so parents may want to discuss how words can wound.
• Humor often comes through slapstick embarrassment, exaggerated accents, and family teasing around the brothers’ commercial and business struggles. The comedy is light, but some jokes are built on humiliation.

Other Content Notes

• The film includes broad slapstick and comic chaos during the plumbing job, street run, and commercial scenes. These moments are playful, but the frantic pace can heighten the sense of disorder for younger viewers.

Notable Moments

• Opening threat: The villain’s entrance establishes the movie’s action tone with direct intimidation and battle language.

  “Open the gates or die.”

• Bullying confrontation: Spike publicly humiliates the brothers and attacks their identity and competence.

  “Well, well, well, if it isn’t Brooklyn’s favorite failures, the Stupid Mario Brothers.”

• Dog attack sequence: A plumbing job turns into a frantic scene with barking, screaming, and panic as the brothers try to escape Francis.

  “That hellhound is gonna escape! No, he won’t.”

• Family ridicule: At a family gathering, the commercial becomes a source of teasing and embarrassment.

  “They give an Oscar for worst actors?”

Discussion Prompts

• Identity under mockery: When Mario and Luigi are called failures and jokes, how should someone respond when people mock them?
  • Biblical guidance: Scripture teaches that our worth is not decided by bullies or public success but by the God who made us. Parents may want to discuss finding identity in Christ instead of in approval.
  • Scripture: Psalm 139:14, Ephesians 2:10, Proverbs 15:1
• Courage and fear: What is the difference between being brave and pretending not to be afraid?
  • Biblical guidance: The Bible does not define courage as self-confidence alone. Christian courage can admit fear and still trust the Lord. Our deepest hope is in Jesus Christ, not in our own strength.
  • Scripture: Joshua 1:9, Psalm 56:3-4, 2 Timothy 1:7
• Power and dependence: Why do stories like this make special power feel like the answer, and what does God say real strength is?
  • Biblical guidance: Fantasy stories often tie victory to power-ups, but Scripture points us to God’s strength and grace. Parents may want to contrast magical power with dependence on Christ.
  • Scripture: 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Philippians 4:13, Ephesians 6:10
• Brotherly loyalty: What good examples of family loyalty do you see between Mario and Luigi, and where do they still need wisdom?
  • Biblical guidance: The film reflects the goodness of loving and protecting family, but love should also be patient, truthful, and wise.
  • Scripture: Proverbs 17:17, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, Romans 12:10