Review: The Super Mario Bros. Movie

 It's-a me, a successful video game movie!

Nintendos and Illuminations 'The Super Mario Bros. Movie' is a big success. As of the time of writing, it has just passed the 1 billion dollar mark at the box office and it doesn't look like it's slowing down any time soon. It has a real chance of becoming the highest-grossing animated feature of all time. Where the movie hasn´t been doing so hot is with the critics. Wherever you look there's a great divide between critic and audience reviews. The former rate this movie from 'meh' to 'bad' while audiences tend to give the flick an excellent rating.

Now that I've finally watched the movie myself, I can see why the critics don't like this movie very much. I can't say I think these problems make it a bad film though. 

Let's dive into Mario's 2nd Hollywood adventure and let me tell you why.

Bowser, King of the Koopas, has finally found the Super Star he's been seeking for years. His plan? Asking Peach to marry him with the Super Stars as a contingency. If she refuses he will use it to destroy the Mushroom Kingdom. Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, brothers Mario and Luigi have started their own plumbing business, to the disapproval of their father, but are struggling to get clients. When a big water leak causes blocks of the city to flood, Mario convinces Luigi to head down into the sewer and fix the problem themselves.

While down there, they get sucked into a warp pipe with Luigi ending up getting captured by Bowser´s minions while Mario ends up in the Mushroom Kingdom. Seeing beating Bowser as his only option to free his brother, Mario accompanies Princess Peach while they set out to the Jungle Kingdom to convince them to lend them their army to fight against Bowser.

The story is why all those critics rate the film so poorly. It's short, predictable and never goes deeper than the absolute surface elements. From the opening, you immediately know where it is all going. A down-on-their-luck guy from the real world falling into a magical one and becoming a hero has been told a thousand times. The biggest 'subversion' here is that instead of Peach, Luigi is the damsel in distress. That's as deep as that stuff goes.

I would've certainly liked to have a more creative, less predictable plot but what annoyed me the most about the story is how superficial it all is. We get some neat details about the backstory of the Mario characters, like a look at Mario and Luigi's extended family and Peach's origin story, but none of it is worked out. This means that when they address plot points such as Mario's relationship with his dad, it rings hollow.

The same goes for the characterizations. Mario is your typical ´humble but determined hero that feels a bit out of place in his world´. Princess Peach, while not ty typical damsel in distress, is your typical ´tough girl who means business' type. I think you get the point by now. It´s disappointing that giving all these iconic characters basic and by-the-numbers characterizations is a big waste.

The only standout characters are the psychotic Luma, a cute star that acts like an innocent child who spouts a dark and twisted view of life, and Bowser. Jack Black is a perfect fit for a Bowser that makes him comedic, like he has been portrayed for years now, without compromising on the threat that he poses in one believable and fun-to-watch package.

Speaking of the voice cast: it's a lot better than expected. When the cast was first announced during the September 2021 Nintendo Direct it was met with widespread ridicule. It read like your typical out-of-touch Hollywood decision. Casting big-name actors for notoriety's sake and not because they are actually good voice actors or fit the role. Only Jack Black managed to come out unscathed because they found Black to be a good fit for Bowser. Rightfully so, as you have read.

Thankfully the cast doesn´t hold the film back. Chris Pratt as Mario isn´t a great performance but it´s not a bad one either. The same goes for most of the rest of the cast, Jack Black exempted. What some of the cast did do well is the chemistry between characters. Both in writing and performance, the bond between the brothers is strong. So strong that I wished the two were on screen together for longer. Definitely, a place where the narrative did something great.

I felt that there was only one real miscast. Fred Armisen's Cranky Kong sounds way too young and far from cranky. I'm not too happy with Seth Rogen's Donkey Kong either but not on a performance basis. Seth Rogen fits the personality they gave DK in the film, more of a dimwitted 'look at my big muscles' type with a good heart beneath his vanity, it's just that I dislike said personality.

That is quite a few paragraphs on the movie's story which clearly, is the film's worst aspect. Why then do I still think the movie is good? Because I think all the other elements aren't bad at all and the sheer fun this movie is makes up for it shortcomings. After all, film is about more than the story. To take a recent example, Avatar: The Way of Water's story is, from what I've heard, more or less just the first one again. Yet, it was still praised for a variety of other reasons such as its visuals. 

While the adventure of Mario is far from imaginative the visuals are exceptional. The designs of the characters, world, items etc. adhere closely to their original designs while adding lots of detail. The overalls of the titular brothers are unmistakenly made out of denim, the water looks like real water and the movement and facial animations are fluid and realistic. The world is just beautifully realized with its vivid colour pallet, attention to detail and imaginative set pieces.

Speaking of set pieces I quite enjoyed the action sequences in the movie. Mario doesn't do as much platforming as you might think he'd do but what is here is nonetheless fun and enjoyable. The fight with DK especially, while predictable narratively, is a visual treat filled with jokes and activities based around the power-ups and mechanics of the games.

Speaking of jokes, let's tackle that real quick. One of the reasons I wasn't happy with Illumination as the animation studio was the humor. I could very easily see them rely on pop-culture jokes and references and low-brow humour for the laughs both dating the film and making it a cringe-fest. Luckily neither happened. I can't recall any pop-culture references beyond the plethora of Nintendo-focused ones nor any toilet humour. All the jokes are either rooted in the world or are just timeless and the film is better for it.

Illumination has done an excellent job in translating The Mushroom Kingdom and beyond into film. Recognizable set pieces such as Peach´s Castle have been faithfully recreated while lots of details have been added to expand the world beyond what we´ve seen in the games.

For instance, there´s now an entire Toad village below the Castle with tons of warp pipes across it so the Toads can get from point A to point B lickety-split. They´ve even mapped the village out in such a way that technically speaking, the absence of the Toad village in the games has an explanation. You just couldn´t see them from atop the giant hill the castle is situated on.

Even when it deviates, such as all the changes made to the Jungle Kingdom and the Kongs, it still keeps itself to the spirit and atmosphere of the games. It´s this faithful adaptation that makes this film such a joy for a fan like myself. It truly feels like a Mario adventure on the big screen and not Hollywood's take.

Not to mention the treasure trove of references and easter eggs this film sports. Just in the opening 10 minute or so we have Mario and Luigi's dad using The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Mario-inspired design of Talon as its basis. We have Pauline in her Super Mario Odyssey design (sans fancy hat) pop in as the Mayor of New York City referencing her role as the Mayor of New Donk City in that game. We have Luigi using the GameCube startup as his ringtone and, of course, Charles Martine's voice cameos as, amongst others, a character based on the original 'Jumpman' design from the arcade Donkey Kong. And that is only the opening. And I didn't even mention everything I remember.

You could spend hours combing the movie for the hundreds of little Mario and Nintendo references and easter eggs there are so many. Perhaps too many when you consider that a lot of enjoyment fans are getting from the movie is this stuff and perhaps this time could've been spent better on the story itself but I digress. There are a lot of easter eggs and they are fun to discover. Didn't see any Pikmin though. With how fond Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto is of them I really thought there would at least be one Pikmin hidden somewhere. Perhaps I simply just missed it.

It would be a crime to conclude this review without mentioning the soundtrack. Brian Tyler provided the original score for the movie and what a score he put forward. Tyler got to play around with hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of Mario sound effects, tracks and more from the plumber's 35-year history and I can only imagine the glee he must have felt when that vault opened up to him. He blends these tunes and songs wonderfully into an orchestral fest for the ears.

The only songs I'm not that fond of are the additional tracks. The pop song tracks. They don't fit the movie and are pretty uninspired picks to boot. How many films have had 'I Need a Hero' lately? Yeah. A lot. I also have to say that I don't get the hype around Bowser's solo song "Peaches". In the context of the movie it works but outside of that? I feel it doesn't.

Conclusion

The Super Mario Bros. Movie from Illumination is not a perfect film. It drops the ball in what is arguably the most important aspect of a movie: the story. Its uninspired and by-the-numbers plot and basic characterizations for all the iconic Mario characters are nothing to write home about. However, there's more to a film than story and this movie has more than enough good things to keep you more than entertained. From the animations to the music, to the fun set pieces and the plethora of Nintendo easter eggs, there's a lot to enjoy. This movie will pull you in regardless of its shortcomings.

In the end, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is an entertaining 90 minutes that resonates with both (older) fans and kids and that's what it's all about.