Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, The Super Mario Bros. Movie follows Brooklyn plumbers Mario (Chris Pratt) and his brother Luigi (Charlie Day) who are transported down a mysterious pipe while working on a water main and wander into a magical new world. But when the brothers are separated, Mario embarks on an epic quest to find Luigi. With the assistance of a Mushroom Kingdom resident Toad (Keegan-Michael Key) and some training from the strong-willed ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom, Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy), Mario taps into a multitude of powers in order to save his brother and confront the tyrannical King of the Koopas, Bowser (Jack Black).
In a current era of rising video game adaptations in film and television our next adaptation to step up to the plate is one about one of the most famous and culturally impactful video game franchises of all time, the Super Mario franchise by Nintendo. Ever since its start in 1985 this series has had over 49 installments and has been adapted differently across different media, from beloved animated shows to the first not-so-beloved film adaptation from 1993. Needless to say, it’s very popular so there was definitely a lot of concern when this adaptation was first announced by Illumination, an animation studio infamously known for giving us the annoying minions as well as several animated films that never quite reach the quality of its rivals like Disney, Pixar, and Dreamworks. But it seems Nintendo really wanted to make sure this adaptation was done right, so they ended up investing a lot of time and effort into managing this film’s production to make it perfect for the general public and of course, all the Mario fans out there.
The question is did all the effort pay off or go to waste? I think it did pay off because The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a super fun time! It is a great family adventure packed full of inventive action for everyone and flowing nostalgia for die-hard fans including myself. From start to finish I had a big smile permanently on my face and everyone in my nearly jam-packed audience also had a great time. This film does have some faults and places it could have improved but I was never bored by anything that was happening on the big screen.
The first and foremost praise I need to give goes to the absolutely flawless animation. I haven’t always been the biggest fan of the animation in Illumination’s past works as nothing felt unique or stood out, apart from maybe The Lorax. But this is easily the best animation the studio has delivered in years, bringing the world of the Mario games to life with gorgeous colors, phenomenal cinematography, fluid motions, and just all-around capturing the essence and beauty of the games that made them so special. It all looks, moves, and sounds like the world of Mario right down to the smallest detail. I can see this film easily getting award recognition for visuals alone.
The voice cast was surprisingly awesome across the board. I’m usually concerned with these popular celebrity voice ensembles but it’s clear Nintendo did pick the right people to play these characters, doing them justice while also making the roles their own.
Now unlike everyone else on the internet, I was actually going to give Chris Pratt the chance to prove himself as the voice of Mario, and from the moment he appears in the film I loved him. He’s actually damn good, never sounding off our out-of-place remotely once. I’m really glad they chose to do the Brooklyn accent for him like in the animated adaptations because if he were to go with the stereotypical Italian accent for the whole film it would have set people off. They do pull this very meta joke right in the beginning that I think was made in response to the criticism he received early on and I thought it was great. Mario has a bit of an underdog story going on throughout the film that I thought was done well even if it’s basic.
Charlie Day proves himself to be an excellent Luigi, capturing the cowardly and timid nature of Mario’s younger brother that gives the film some heart. But much like the games he is left mostly in Mario’s shadow throughout the film and isn’t as utilized compared to everyone else. It is a shame cause he does have some legitimately good scenes on his own including a horror-based scene meant as a tribute to his ghostly adventures in Luigi’s Mansion. Honestly, the scene wanted me to have a whole Luigi’s Mansion movie because of how well it was done.
Easily one of my favorite characters though in this film is Princess Peach voiced perfectly by Anya Taylor Joy. This isn’t your damsel in distress sort of Peach. This is your badass warrior princess Peach which I welcomed with open arms. After years of being mocked and joked about just how much of a pain in the ass she is to save from Bowser, it seems Nintendo decided that now was time for a change and I’ve got to tell you I enjoyed every moment of her on screen.
My next favorite of the ensemble is of course my most anticipated character of the whole film, Bowser voiced by Jack Black. This man absolutely rocked as Bowser, giving the iconic villain an outstanding and surprisingly intimidating performance while also adding his own comedic charm to the role, making it his own. He works perfectly as the villain for this adventure and manages to steal the spotlight every time he comes on screen. His motivations are even more hilarious in the film as it’s based on one of the many absurd motivations he had in the games, and Jack absolutely runs with it in the best way possible.
Keegan Michael Key was also really enjoyable as Toad, being the comedic sidekick to Mario on the grand adventure, and he sounds completely like Toad from the games. This is the polar opposite of Seth Rogen voicing Donkey Kong, who just sounds exactly like Seth Rogen’s voice as Donkey Kong yet it still works! Seth manages to deliver some truly gut-busting deliveries as Mario’s iconic rival, having some great scenes on his own and together with Chris Pratt’s Mario. It’s a humorous pairing that was one of the big highlights of the film, whether they are both in action or getting on each other’s nerves.
Other voices were great too although I felt that the only one who felt really out of place was Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong. For some reason, he just did not fit right at all for this character compared to everyone else.
This film has overall some good heartfelt moments and good humor delivered by a majority of the characters, as well as some very clever inside jokes poking at various elements of the games that fans will definitely get a kick out of, but they may not entirely click with everyone else. One of the most common criticisms I’ve seen from some people about this film is that the story is very simplistic and yes they are right about that, but to be honest I don’t see that as a bad thing for this film in particular.
When you look at the source material, Mario’s story across all the games is bare-bones simplistic. It is by no means a deeply layered or thematic story compared to games like The Last of Us, God of War, or even Halo for that matter. The only thing that is complex and intricate about the Mario games is the world around these simple characters going on simple adventures. There’s nothing wrong with being simple just as long as you manage to create something fun and engaging, which I felt this film succeeded in doing. Also, this simplicity does allow further opportunities to explore the creativity behind the Mushroom Kingdom and the many other worlds that Mario has gone to in his games, some of which are directly hinted at in this film.
Now could this film have brought in certain themes and lessons that kids could take to heart like what the Sonic films did? Yes, it could have absolutely done that but at the same time, I don’t think it necessarily needed to have it. Sometimes adventure films can just be fun escapism without the need to force any moral lesson or realistic themes on the viewers. While I do prefer films that offer that kind of stuff I am also open to just sitting back and enjoying the simple things, provided that it is at least well crafted and not boring.
And if we are going to be real honest, this film’s story can be considered god-tier in comparison to the 1993 disaster that many of us wish never happened. I know some people ironically love that film but I personally can’t stand it so please respect my opinion on that.
The action this film delivers is straight-up Mario goodness, creatively and fluidly utilizing the arsenal of power-ups, creatures, vehicles, platforms, obstacles, elements, and environments from the various games. If there was anything they could remotely add in to make the action both fun and nostalgic they sure went for it, not holding back like some video game adaptations have done, usually due to the limitations of live action. With animation they can practically get away with anything and make it look damn good on the big screen.
But for those game fans who worry that this film uses up all their eggs in the basket fear not, because this film still manages to leave out enough to be utilized creatively in potential future installments, of which this film hints at, specifically with its post-credit scenes. Yes, you read that right there are post-credit scenes for this film. Two to be exact.
Now another major element I want to discuss is the music. Brian Tyler composes an absolute banger of a score, consisting of fantastic orchestral renditions of music from Mario, all of which fit the epic world on display and really get you into the adventure. It’s easily one of my favorite scores of this year and I for one am definitely going to be listening to it on repeat for a while.
Now while the score is perfection there is a batch of lyrical songs that are included too. Some of these include nostalgic throwbacks like the Mario rap and even the infamous Donkey Kong rap, both of which are done shockingly well considering how cheesy the original songs are. There’s even an original song for Bowser done by Jack Black himself which was absolutely hilarious and I am desperate to see BTS footage of him doing that scene in the voice booth.
But then there are also some out of nowhere and out of place pop culture songs that rear their heads in some parts of this film and I feel they were completely unnecessary. Some were short and didn’t bother me too much but others overstayed their welcome and I feel that this was one of the few times Illumination got away with some of their old tricks again when Nintendo wasn’t looking.
Now before I give my closing thoughts on the film I do want to address one of the biggest things this film has that many have spoken of: the Easter Eggs. Not since Ready Player One have I watched a film filled with so many subtle and non-subtle easter eggs in it that include references to the Mario games and even other Nintendo properties. With April being the month of Easter this film might as well be The Easter Bunny for how many easter eggs it manages to churn out. This is in no way a negative towards the film, I’m just shocked at how much they were able to include in almost every frame and there’s probably even more that I didn’t even catch. If New Rockstars was going to make a video for all the easter eggs in this film their video would be as long as the bloody Snyder Cut, except it would actually be more engaging. Or better yet I could see this film getting the same treatment as The Shining by having an analytical documentary made of it that picks out all the easter eggs and somehow end up creating a crazy conspiracy theory as a result.
Jokes aside, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a mostly solid adaption of the source material and one that is good enough for families and fans. It has its flaws but it is fun. It is simple yet still delivers what it set out to do. Not everyone may be into it but I still recommend giving it a go whenever possible. I’m going to give The Super Mario Bros. Movie an A- = 93.
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