‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ hitting streaming brings a glaring issue with the film to the forefront

The Super Mario Bros. Movie hit streaming today and within a matter of seconds, a pivotal scene from the film’s third act has been dug up for further investigation lest it pulls the wool over our eyes again. 

You probably know the scene in question, or at least had a vague inkling of scrutiny when it occurred on screen. Luigi is finally reunited with Mario just in time to save Brooklyn from crumbling under the heel of Bowser’s rampage. The pair grab hold of the Super Star, are imbued with its power, and knock Bowser around like a rag doll while hopping, skipping, and jumping over everything and anything in sight. 

It’s a fantastic scene, to be sure, one that all but cranks the serotonin up to full blast. The only thing is… how did Luigi learn to fight in sync with Mario after spending the majority of the film locked in a cage while Mario spent hours upon hours training at Peach’s Castle?

At least that’s the question being asked online by one Twitter user.

It’s a reasonable question. The quick and dirty explanation can be chalked up to the Super Star, which grants the beholder the power of near-invincibility. However, for the sake of appeasing the question at hand and venturing into semantics, the magical artifact has not been necessarily known to imbue beholders with fight skills, just temporary invulnerability. So there might actually be merit to the question. 

Couple that with Luigi’s stumbling attempts to keep up with Mario as he climbs and lunges down the streets of Brooklyn to clock in at work during the beginning of the movie and you have yourself a warp pipe-sized plot hole. Okay, maybe a miniature one. 

At the end of the day, however, in a movie where an Italian plumber can go from zero to hero in a matter of minutes with the help of some near-deadly training methods, it’s not completely unreasonable to assume his Italian brother can do the same in a matter of seconds with the help of a magical Super Star. Sure, a little extra screen time from Charlie Day would’ve helped, but what more can you ask for from a film that appealed to virtually every Super Mario Bros. fan and raked in $1.28 billion at the box office in the process?

So there — consider your plot hole plugged. Now, go pet a Toad. The Super Mario Bros. Movie is currently playing in theaters and is also available to stream on VOD. You’re welcome.