The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)

Hi fellow animation fans, welcome to my review of The Super Mario Bros, Movie.

Synopsis: Hoping to make it big in the plumbing business the Mario brothers, Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) head out to take on a massive job, where a surprise discovery whisks them off to another dimension. Luigi ends up in the Gloomy Forest where he is eventually captured by Bowser (Jack Black) who wants to take over the Mushroom Kingdom, and Mario ends up in in a mushroom forest not far from Mushroom City. It is here that Mario meets Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) and together they decide to team up to save Mario's brother and to keep Bowser from taking over the Mushroom Kingdom.

The Good:

* I found the animation to be excellent, whether it is the bright, flashy Mushroom Kingdom or the dark gloominess of the Dark Forest. The clean animation also has many easter eggs in the background for eagle eyed Mario fans to spot.

* The voiceover work was brilliant, especially that of Jack Black who just brought so much depth to the character of Bowser.

* As a fan of the games I also quite enjoyed some of the obscure references, such as the guards saying "the Princess is in another castle", a line that is used in the first couple of Super Mario videogames as you complete each castle.

* I also found the music to be extremely catchy, which can also be a downside (see below).

* I also actually liked that the story was kept fairly simple, after all this is mainly aimed at a younger audience and to attract new fans. It was also quite amusing for young and old fans.

The Bad:

* I did find it a little difficult to get used to Chris Pratt as Mario, he did eventually grow on me though.

* The songs are catchy and if you watch with children one in particular will drive you crazy as they sing "Peaches, Peaches, Peaches" all afternoon.

* Mario and Luigi's family seemed very unsupportive of their sons which I just didn't feel was right.

           IMDB 7/10                Rotten Tomatoes 59%         My Rating 9/10   

Chris Pratt and Charlie Day are The Super Mario Bros.

Barbie: Skipper and the Big Babysitting Adventure (2023)

Hi fellow animation fans welcome to my review of Barbie: Skipper and the Big Babysitting Adventure.

Synopsis: When her babysitting business runs into an unexpected problem Skipper (Kirsten Day) has to find another job to keep herself busy during the summer holidays. After a weird interview she scores a position at the local Waterpark where she finds her Nanny skills to be extremely useful.

The Good: 

* The bright colorful animation style coupled with a boppy soundtrack will definitely appeal to younger children and hold their attention throughout the movie.

* I found the themes of friendship, hard work, problem solving, forgiveness and helping others, to be really well implemented, being a lot more subtle than most kids' movies, instead of trying to hit them over the head with it.

* I also watched with a friend's daughter who said that it was really fun to see just Skipper because Barbie gets boring, so I found it to be a positive that the producers are trying to cater to fans of Barbie's other family members.

The Bad:

* There are a couple scenes that may frighten younger or more sensitive children.

* Adult Barbie fans aren't really catered too, there are a few funny scenes but it's a mostly by the book children's movie.

         IMDB 5.8/10              Rotten Tomatoes N/A            My Score 6.5/10

Skipper and friends.