For most 6 year olds, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a yes at video-game volume. It scores 29 on the ScoutScore, in the Mild tier, and nearly all of it is cartoon combat: a gladiatorial fight with Donkey Kong, a kart chase modeled on the games, a forced wedding with prisoners threatened over lava. The one scene that breaks from slapstick is a one-sided beatdown late in Brooklyn, where the tone turns genuinely rough for about a minute before the finale resets it.
A ScoutScore is a living number. We re-check movies against the source and raise or lower it when we find something the first pass missed, so a score you see today can differ from one you saw last month.
Leaning yes for kids who know the games. Kamek torturing Toad and the wedding sacrifice are the two darker beats, and the late beatdown of Mario is more intense than anything before it, though brief.
The target. The references land, the kart chase and arena fight are pure fun, and the one rough scene passes quickly into the triumphant ending.
Easy, and they will catch the game references the adults miss.
Nostalgia more than a scare. Little to manage.
| 4 year old | DEPENDS | Leaning yes for kids who know the games. |
| 5 year old | DEPENDS | Leaning yes for kids who know the games. |
| 6 year old | LIKELY FINE | The target. |
| 7 year old | LIKELY FINE | The target. |
| 8 year old | LIKELY FINE | The target. |
| 9 year old | LIKELY FINE | Easy, and they will catch the game references the adults miss. |
| 10 year old | LIKELY FINE | Easy, and they will catch the game references the adults miss. |
| 11 year old | LIKELY FINE | Easy, and they will catch the game references the adults miss. |
| 12 year old | LIKELY FINE | Nostalgia more than a scare. |
| 13 year old | LIKELY FINE | Nostalgia more than a scare. |
| 1:05:30 | Heads up | Kamek tortures Toad to coerce Peach |
| 1:08:57 | Caution | Wedding ceremony and prisoners lowered toward lava |
| 1:16:27 | Caution | Bowser beats Mario down in Brooklyn |
This guide tells you before. The app tells you during.
Every scene above is timed. The FilmScout app listens to the movie and taps you 30 seconds before each one, so you can skip it, mute it, or talk it through. Free to start on iPhone.
Download for iPhoneBowser's cruelty is played for laughs until the Brooklyn beatdown turns it real for one long minute. Most 6 year olds handle the kart chases and the arena fight fine; be ready to explain why the tone suddenly changes.
Flagged mostly for violence and action.
| Scary and dark | 25% |
| Violence and action | 70% |
| Themes | none flagged |
| Sexual content | none flagged |
| Substances | none flagged |
| Language | 5% |
| All flagged content | 100% |
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