The Super Mario Bros. Movie uses seven classic power-ups from the Nintendo video games, which can be ranked from weakest to most powerful. The film became one of the big success stories of 2023, surpassing the $1 billion gross box office benchmark by a wide margin. By the end of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, audiences have been treated to dozens of Easter eggs and references to the classic Super Mario video games, helping the film connect with long-time fans of the games.
The seven classic video game power-ups included in The Super Mario Bros. Movie represent some of the best Easter eggs in the film, playing a big role in its ability to connect with game fans. These power-ups mostly follow the rules set down by the video games they originated in, making some more powerful than others. Based solely on what these power-ups do to The Super Mario Bros. Movie‘s characters in the film, they can be ranked from least to most powerful.
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7 Mini Mushroom — Makes One Smaller
First appearance in franchise: Mario Party 4 (2002)
The Mini Mushroom is a fun part of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, but it’s the weakest of the power-ups used in the film. The Mini Mushroom makes whoever eats it minuscule, making it difficult to fight an opponent. There don’t seem to be any effects besides the change in size, so while it’s helpful in escaping from a tight spot, there’s no real power derived from it. It’s cool that the Mini Mushroom is included as one of The Super Mario Bros. Movie‘s many Easter eggs, but as far as power-ups go, it leaves plenty to be desired.
6 Super Leaf — Provides A Tanooki Suit
First appearance in franchise: Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988)
The Super Leaf power-up is attained by Mario below Bowser’s floating island, providing him with a Tanooki Suit. The Tanooki suit turns Mario into a raccoon with a tail that spins fast enough to let him fly. This power-up is solid because of the flight ability, but it doesn’t seem to give Mario any other powers, landing it the next-to-last ranking. Mario gets the Tanooki Suit at a convenient time in the movie because it helps him free Luigi and distract the Bomber Bill aimed at the Mushroom Kingdom, but it’s not as strong as most of the other power-ups.
5 Ice Flower — Provides Ice Powers
First appearance in franchise: Super Mario-kun (volume 5) (1992)
The Ice Flower, which is used by Peach against Bowser and his minions in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, is one of the more useful power-ups seen in the movie. While the ice powers it provides aren’t strictly outlined in the movie, it evidently allows the user to freeze their opponents and any objects around them. Its downfall is that the ice attacks can be countered with fire, which is especially detrimental to Peach in The Super Mario Bros. Movie because Bowser’s strongest ability is his fire-breathing. Even so, this is a solid power-up, worthy of its mid-tier ranking.
4 Fire Flower — Provides Fire Powers
First appearance in franchise: Super Mario Bros. (1985)
The Fire Flower is similar to the Ice Flower in every way except that it shoots fire instead of ice, but that makes it stronger because the Fire Flower can melt attacks from an Ice Flower. In The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Donkey Kong uses one against Bowser’s koopa army, making quick work of the hapless koopas. This scene shows how powerful the Fire Flower is, even though Donkey Kong ends up getting hit by a green shell, losing his powers. That being said, The Super Mario Bros. Movie still has several other power-ups that are stronger.
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3 Super Bell — Provides A Cat Suit
First appearance in franchise: Super Mario 3D World (2013)
The Super Bell power-up is used by Mario during his fight with Donkey Kong in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, providing him with the Cat Suit that helps him win the duel and secure the Kong Army’s loyalty. The Cat Suit Mario gets from the Super Bell makes him extremely fast and agile, and it gives him razor-sharp claws on his hands. It also seems to provide some extra strength, allowing him to defeat Donkey Kong easily. This power-up’s high ranking is not just due to the strength of the abilities it provides, but also the quantity of them.
2 Super Mushroom — Provides Speed, Strength, & Increased Size
First appearance in franchise: Super Mario Bros. (1985)
The Super Mushroom is one of the best power-ups in The Super Mario Bros. Movie because, like the Super Bell, it provides a number of different useful abilities. The Super Mushroom makes the user stronger, faster, and significantly larger, allowing for incredible acrobatics and increased effectiveness in combat. It seems to provide more speed and strength than the Super Bell, and when pairing that with the substantial increase in size the Super Mushroom delivers, it’s clearly the more powerful of the two.
Mario first uses the Super Mushroom when running Peach’s obstacle course in the Mushroom Kingdom, and the effects are immediately evident. He uses one to even greater effect when he and Donkey Kong infiltrate Bowser’s attempted wedding to Peach near the end of The Super Mario Bros. Movie. The ease with which he defeats Bowser’s minions in that scene is the best proof of how effective the Super Mushroom makes the character who eats it. That being said, there is still one power-up that is even stronger than the Super Mushroom.
1 Super Star — Provides Temporary Invincibility, Speed, & Strength
First appearance in franchise: Super Mario Bros. (1985)
The Super Star is easily the strongest power-up in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, providing the user with temporary invincibility and ultra-enhanced speed and strength. Anyone actively using a Super Star is virtually unstoppable, as Mario and Luigi prove when they defeat Bowser and his cronies in Brooklyn. The Super Star’s only shortcoming is that it only lasts a given amount of time. Luckily, that time frame seems to be more than enough for the user to defeat basically any opponent.
In The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Bowser seems completely unstoppable until Mario and Luigi grab the Super Star. However, once they get their hands on the star, they take Bowser down without batting an eyelid, proving the power-up’s strength beyond any doubt. With that in mind, it’s lucky for Mario and Luigi that Bowser never decided to use the Super Star himself. Bowser probably could have destroyed Brooklyn completely if he had used the star, which only proves further that this is the strongest power-up in The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
- Release Date
- April 5, 2023
- Director
- Aaron Horvath , Michael Jelenic
- Cast
- Chris Pratt , Charlie Day , Jack Black , Anya Taylor-Joy , Keegan Michael Key , Seth Rogen
- Runtime
- 92 Minutes
- Studio
- Universal Pictures, Illumination, Nintendo
