The Super Mario Bros. Movie | 2023 | PG | – 1.3.1

Why is “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” rated PG? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “action and mild violence.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes some flirting, an unwelcome marriage proposal, many scenes of adventurous activity resembling video game obstacles and power-ups, threats of violence and death by a monstrous character, bullying and name-calling. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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When trying to save Brooklyn from a water main break that threatens to flood the city, Mario (voiced by Chris Pratt) and Luigi (voiced by Charlie Day) are transported to a magical kingdom where they find themselves separated and must save Princess Peach (voiced by Anya Taylor-Joy) from the evil Bowser and his minions. Also with the voices of Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key, Fred Armisen and Seth Rogen. Directed by Aaron Horvath & Michael Jelenic. [Running Time: 1:32]

The Super Mario Bros. Movie SEX/NUDITY 1

 – A gorilla teases a man about flirting with a woman and tells him that she would never fall for him. A monster professes his love for a princess in a few scenes and sings songs about her; he practices proposing to her with another creature.
► A woman wears an off-the-shoulder dress that reveals cleavage, bare shoulders and back.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie VIOLENCE/GORE 3

 – Many large blobs of lava splat down on frozen ground as a giant rock formation shaped like a monster hovers toward a kingdom; a hatch is opened and small soldiers pour out accompanied by other flying soldiers all carrying spears; a large monster with horns, claws and sharp teeth stomps out of the vessel and demands, “Open the gates or die,” and small creatures exit the gates, pummel the invading forces with snowballs (without effect) and the monster sprays flames on the kingdom melting everything and revealing a glowing cube that contains a precious star.
► Many creatures in cages are lowered toward a lava pit, one man’s cage melts away under his feet and he clings to the cage until he is rescued; he is lifted up, but loses his grip and falls back toward the lava before being scooped up and rescued. A rocket is launched toward a kingdom and a man flies next to it, kicks it in the eye (it has a face painted on the nose of the rocket) and it changes course to chase the man who leads it into a pipe where it explodes and many creatures and people are sucked through a vortex and they crash onto a street where a monster and a man fight and the monster throws the man through a plate glass window, blows flames at him, another man shields the first man holding a manhole cover and the two men leap out of the way to get super strength and overcome the monster, slam it into a giant rock vessel and it explodes, shrinks and is trapped in a glass jar. A monster yells at a crowd of creatures and they cheer him, one creature makes a snide remark and the monster blows flames on it (we then see it as a skeleton with glowing eyes). A man and a gorilla fall into water and the gorilla sinks, unconscious, until the man pulls the gorilla toward the surface as a giant creature with a big mouth filled with sharp teeth chomps down on them and swallows them.
► Many creatures in a kingdom run for shelter as an invading force approaches; many invading guards surround a woman and threaten her, she swings a spear toward a monster and the monster holds a creature in a force field threatening to kill it until the woman agrees to marry the monster. A man agrees to fight a gorilla in order to get help fighting a monster; the gorilla slams the man to the ground and hits him in the face several times; the man gets a power up and shrinks, the gorilla flicks him into a wall and throws a barrel at him, the gorilla punches the man high into the air, the man changes into a cat and scratches the gorilla on the face (we see red scratch marks). Many characters speed in motorized vehicles and along a rainbow roadway; a large vehicle with sharp teeth chases one vehicle and tries to chomp it and the man driving it and other vehicles are thrown when the road breaks away and a woman catches a man as he falls. A man laughs at two other men, mocking them, wads up a napkin and throws it toward one man, then grabs the other and throws him to the floor (no injuries are shown). A dog slams through a bathroom door where two men are inside repairing a leak; the dog lunges at one man and breaks a sink causing water to spray all around the room and the man locks the dog behind the glass shower door; the dog gets out and they fight and the dog sails out of the window where it is grabbed by one man’s plunger. A cat jumps on a man’s face as he runs through city sidewalks and alleys, over and through obstacles. A dog growls at a man when the man steps on his chew bone and breaks it in half. A woman flips a man to the floor and two guards pin him briefly. Large flowers chomp and reach toward characters as they run past in a few scenes. A man has a flashback to when he was a boy and a bully broke a building that he built out of blocks; another boy intervenes and the bully runs away.
► A woman punches a wizard creature, it sprays her with flames and she sprays ice at it freezing creatures in blocks of ice and dousing flames. A man walks through a dark and burned out forest where he is swarmed by bats and is startled and nearly falls into a lava stream; he runs when chased by skeletal creatures with glowing eyes that pop out of the ground like zombies, they chase and snap their beaks at him as they cross a stone bridge over a river of lava and when lighting flashes we see other creatures in the darkness. City streets flood with water when a water main breaks; two men jump into a manhole and find a series of pipes in a dark area and one man disappears through a portal pipe and the other man follows and we see them floating through fluffy clouds; they are separated with one man ending in a dark place and the other in a magical kingdom.
► A monster holds a man in a glowing force field and tells him that he will be forced to watch as his brother is killed. A young girl is shown alone and she is taken on by small creatures and cared for. Many creatures are shown held in cages that hang over a lava pit; one such creature speaks of dark and depressing thoughts like, “Hope is an illusion,” and “The sweet relief of death.” As a creature is lowered into an area in a cage over a lava pit another creature in a cage says, “Fresh meat for the grinder.” A monster says that many creatures will be sacrificed by being lowered into a lava pit during a wedding ceremony as a gift to the bride.
► Guards outside a castle hold spears with axes at the end and two of them are distracted by a character cooking them food; other guards chase a man inside the castle. A man and a gorilla shoot out of the mouth of a giant sea creature riding on a rocket and into the air. A man is sucked through a clear plastic pipe and travels a distance before popping out of another pipe. A woman runs, jumps and flips through a floating obstacle course and lands safely back on the ground; a man tries the course and falls repeatedly, having to start over again. A man eats a mushroom and says, “I hate mushrooms”; we see him eating several more mushrooms and he is shown leaning over a stone wall at one point (presumably vomiting but we do not see or hear anything). A man is taken away in a hot air balloon. A monster slams a keyboard cover on the hands of a creature and it screams. A gorilla roars at a woman and they speed on a vehicle through a town and winding roads; the vehicle deploys a kite and sails to a landing platform.
► A woman talks about being invaded by a monster and refers to the time as the “days of terror.” A woman tells a man, “You’re so small.”

The Super Mario Bros. Movie LANGUAGE 1

 – Name-calling (stupid, worst, nuts, crazy, evil retched, intruder, idiot in overalls, joke, days of terror, show-boating, embarrassing, insane), exclamations (simmer down, ew, mamma mia, you’ve got to be kidding me). | profanity glossary |

The Super Mario Bros. Movie SUBSTANCE USE

 – Several characters eat mushrooms and are transformed into larger, smaller or stronger versions of themselves.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Brothers, feeling small, trying something new, dreams, unrequited love, heroism.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie MESSAGE

 – Working together can make a seemingly intractable situation winnable.