WesternAnimation The Mid Mario Movie
...would be a more accurate title for this. It wasn't super, and it didn't earn the Bros. in the title. Luigi's barely in this. What, he just gets stuffed into a cage for most of the movie and nearly dunked into lava while Mario, Peach, and Toad go on fun adventures?
There are two ways the movie could have been fixed:
1. Mario and Luigi's family go into the pipe with them, and get captured by Bowser, but Luigi is not separated from Mario 2. Luigi escapes Bowser himself and regroups with Mario, Peach, and Toad later on
But no, what we have is this 90-minute commercial.
If you want something better, consider checking out Detective Pikachu and the Sonic movies. Hell, even the 1993 Mario movie.
WesternAnimation It's as Mario as a Mario movie can get
How does one make a movie based on a video game series that has a lot of characters, a lot of worlds, but barely any plot?
In a way, there's a lot to work with, but in another way, there's barely anything to work with. The NPCs in The Legend of Zelda all have backstories, so a lot could be done with those alone! But even the more verbose Mario platformers provide only hints of backstory for characters like Captain Toad, and the games themselves are basically "Mario and Luigi go to different worlds until they reach the end."
Well, that's what the movie's about. It's basically Mario with references to things from all over the series put in there. Which, strangely enough, is very different from what the movie industry normally does. The Sonic the Hedgehog movies were entirely the result of corporate decisions ("Shove the character in the real world, focus on the humans, make it retro instead of modern to capture parent nostalgia, and follow the formulas!"). The Super Mario Bros. Movie on the other hand, was co-developed by Nintendo and Illumination, with both companies having input.
So we get our celebrity voices, which I feel somehow fit perfectly in context despite all the laughter of the initial reveal of who the actors were. And we get our oodles of references, but they're not all stuck in the past, and instead encapsulate the entire breadth of the series. What we don't have, which many people feared, was fart jokes and an attempt to insert Minions-style humor into the movie.
The "story" is a basic, fast and video-gamey (in the older sense rather than the more modern, slower-paced sense) as it gets. Mario and Luigi quit their job working for Foreman Spike of Wrecking Crew (1983) and become plumbers. When Brooklyn floods, they try and fix the problem, only to get pulled into another world, and separated. Luigi ends up captured by Bowser, while Mario meets Toad, who tells him to go meet the Princess, to which Mario instantly agrees. He also doesn't question why he must prove himself in battle against Donkey Kong to win the help of the Kong army to fight Bowser's forces. And he takes pretty quickly to driving a go-kart along Rainbow Road.
Some have criticized the movie for feeling like a series of video game levels with the barest of plot to connect them. That's true. But then, this is a "turn off your brain" movie. The point is to watch fun things happen, laugh at the jokes, and spot the references.
And there are certainly references. Instead of only being retro (though there's a lot of that, even reaching into the obscure and long forgotten), the references also include the use of a Luma from Super Mario Galaxy (2007), and a song played at a rock concert is taken directly from Bowser's Fury (2021), a game that was in development during the movie's development! The orchestral soundtrack mixes in Mario themes from every decade in with the usual epic-style movie music one would expect. But one thing that feels really out of place, is the pop songs. They are from the 1980s and 1970s. And according to what I've heard, it was Nintendo, not Illumination, that insisted on keeping them while Illumination merely intended them as temporary placeholder songs! And it was Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Mario, who insisted on putting in a joke about Mario hating mushrooms, the most stock generic joke in existence - haha, he hates eating the thing that makes him powerful. Most people blamed Illumination for these two decisions, but surprisingly, it wasn't them.
In the end, when Hollywood typically thinks that the way to adapt a franchise for the big screen is to force it into a standard formula and make it generic, the two most praised video game adaptations, The Super Mario Bros. Movie and The Last Of Us are the ones that followed the games most closely and only changed what needed to be changed to make a story work. Will Hollywood learn from this?
WesternAnimation A meh film but a stunning tribute to Mario.
I don't know if I've ever seen such a drastic flip-flop from intense bad will to heavy good will for any film release cycle before. And now, after seeing it...the naysayers and praise both make strong arguments.
Let's start with the bad. The cast just doesn't click for me. For a game series defined by iconic voice actors, chucking them in the bin for the film is a tasteless move, and the replacements mostly fail to feel right. The Mario Bros. having American accents is...a choice in line with older versions of the canon that I can't get behind, and Peach may be the first Anya Taylor-Joy role I can't adore. She's just too deep-voiced for the character, who should epitomize hyperfeminine grace while still being badass. That doesn't come through here. For such a cartoony franchise, the characters vocally don't feel as spirited as the games where they fully meshed.
The plot isn't fantastic, either, though that's not something to really hope for in a Mario film. It's just that the structure doesn't really compare closely to a real game's arc or beats, and some of the script edges into "Whedonesque" ironic quippiness because Mario starts the film as a foreigner to the Mushroom Kingdom. And a few details and names jar with the games.
The soundtrack includes several jarring pop songs that really don't fit in.
But I'm saying these things because I love Mario so much. And this film was absolutely made for me in all other regards.
The animation is gorgeous, bumping past Odyssey in realism to often very pretty and inventive effect. The character proportions felt off on a few players, but the movie is otherwise very pretty. And the love for the games is everywhere. The visuals, the plot beats, the universe all derives from the franchise's long history, and everywhere you listen in the score, there's a recognizable leitmotif from the long catalogue of fantastic music. Almost everything you'd want to be included or referenced is, in the best possible format, and it's a treat as a longtime player to catch everything. This may come to some slight screenwriting detriment (if you somehow had no familiarity with this franchise, the princess's name being Peach would come far too late in the script) but again, this movie is for the fans and it's a delight. Some of the jokes land really really well, too, and a few voices really work. Jack Black (no surprise) as Bowser is probably the strongest.
This isn't quite the film it should have been. It's a little too "studio" and follows some of the worst trends of modern film and animation. But it's a stunning visual product with lots of love and care put in to represent the most iconic game franchise properly.
WesternAnimation A love letter to Mario fans
Let's get one thing clear right away. If you don't know who Mario and Luigi are, if the terms "koopa", "goomba", "bob-omb", and "yoshi" are just meaningless gibberish to your ears, and if you're wondering why the poster has a giant spiky-shelled red-haired dragon-turtle-thing on it, then The Super Mario Bros. Movie is not the movie for you. Sure, you can watch it and enjoy it as a generic animated adventure film, but don't be surprised if you get lost on the whys and the wherefores, as the movie does very little to explain all of the oddities of its fantasy landscape.
For everyone else, however, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is an unabashed love letter to fans of Nintendo's pipe-crawling plumber mascot. Much of the appeal of the movie is finally seeing the games' fantastical worlds interpreted on the big screen, and spotting the various references, in-jokes, and Easter Eggs all over the place. True to the games, the movie has a very straightforward and uncomplicated plot, but it makes up for that in the sheer unadulterated joy of Mario's adventure — the movie's biggest strength is how it faithfully captures the emotional rollercoaster of playing a Mario game, from the faltering beginnings of learning the rules of the realm to the unbridled delight of triumph as good defeats evil. The only weak point of the story is that the 90-minute runtime is a little too fast; a few scenes would have benefitted from an extra minute or two to let the characters breathe for a moment.
Production-wise, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is polished to a delightful gleam. The voice cast ranges from decent to great, with Jack Black's Bowser easily stealing the show with his blend of Large Ham villainy and surprising menace. Visually, this is Illumination's most gorgeous film yet, with intricate details and lush lighting that beautifully captures the otherworldly delight of the Mushroom kingdom. The soundtrack, especially, is sure to tickle the ears of Mario fans, filled with audio cues to the series' extensive music library, and it's telling that the only times the music disappoints is when it switches to the obligatory (and horribly overused) '80s pop songs. Okay, "Thunderstruck" was used well, but that was it.
Bottom line — Mario fans are sure to enjoy this movie, as it's a celebration of the series for the fans, by the fans. But in the same vein, it's not surprising if non-fans don't "get it", as the movie is not a good starting point for them... though I'm sure Nintendo will gladly sell them some video games so they can learn what all the hubbub is about.
WesternAnimation Goodfellas meets Flash Gordon meets He-Man.
Holy freaking Iwata this was amazing. I didn’t come in with high hopes: the Chris Pratt thing and I’m really not a Illumination fan besides the first Despicable Me. But this was great, got the energy and fun of the games right and yes liked it better than Sonic and Detective Pikachu.
Loved all the Brooklyn Italian stuff at the start (the Punch Out references), loved the Mushroom Kingdom, Jack Black’s Bowser was fantastic, the Donkey Kong land stuff was hype (Diddy and co cameos), Luigi’s arc was moving and the Fury Road Mario Kart bit was chef’s kiss. I thought girl boss Peach would be too much since I unironically find her lightheaded personality in the games endearing (they’re all silly characters) but they hit a nice balance between sweet and badass, actually reminded me of Daisy which is a shame Daisy isn’t in the film even as a cameo.
I really appreciated how edgy and violent it got at times like a lot of 80s kids movie. Hell there were similarities between this and 1993 film. Like others I do hope this leads to a Smash Bros film Zelda is the most logically choice to do next but a Metroid movie would be great.
WesternAnimation Bring on the Super Smash Bros. Cinematic Universe!
After over 2 decades of being told that videogames don't make for solid cinema I think between this, Detective Pikachu and the Sonic the Hedgehog films we can safely put that belief to bed.
Highlights include a very Laurel & Hardy-esque scene with a dog, Bowser's surprising talent at piano-playing/song-writing, cross-dressing Kamek and the entire Mario Kart sequence.
Special mention goes to how the writers handled Peach. She's upgraded to action gal, but plenty on emphasis is placed on her kind heart to avoid the usual "toxic masculinity with ovaries" vibe that tends to affect such characters. While Bowser does take her prisoner, he doesn't do it to spite Mario. She's her own character despite this being Mario's movie.
If there is a flaw, it's that the film is in too big a hurry to get to the action sequences when a few minutes of breathing room here and there would have been fine.
WesternAnimation Fairly good, but only for a video game movie
It's long been believed that video game movies, as a rule, are not very good. The 2023 Super Mario Bros. movie, however, proves to be more entertaining, albeit not necessarily better written than mot others.
The plot is as simple as a Mario game generally is- Bowser invades the Mushroom Kingdom in order to marry Princess Peach, and Mario, who inadvertently finds his way there from his home in Brooklyn, must stop him. It's not terrible, but there have been Mario games with more complex and novel plots, so it's disappointing in comparison to those.
Of course, you'll probably have to have at least some familiarity with the games to get the most out of the movie. The references aren't terribly obscure, but it helps if you know what a spiked blue shell or a poison mushroom does.
Now for the characters.
Mario starting off as something of a loser and having to work his way up to being a hero may seem clichéd, but it's a refreshing after him being a living legend in most of his game. Unfortunately, Luigi doesn't get to do much until the climax, but perhaps they're saving him for a sequel.
It's nice that Princess Peach is more than just a standard Damsel in Distress, but while trying to give her a backstory was a fascinating idea, it didn't really go anywhere.
Bowser is surprisingly dark and threatening compared to his video game incarnation(albeit while still being Laughably Evil). Not only is he obsessed with making Peach his bride, but he also easily talks about killing people- and tries to follow through.
Donkey Kong is a bit of a bog-standard "rival turned friend," and it would have been nice to see more about his relationship with his father Cranky.
While the characters are decent enough, most of them don't develop all that much over the course of the film, likely due to how short and action-packed the film is. The film, like many action movies, seems to be compelled to have an action scene of some sort every so often to keep audience interest, so there isn't all that much time to develop the setting or characters.
In terms of visuals, the film is quite well done, and the sound effects and soundtrack call back to the games (which, again, long-time fans will likely appreciate more).
All in all, the SMB movie is decently entertaining as long as you don't set your standards too high.