The Super Mario Bros. Movie Review!

Alright! Today I'm reviewing The Super Mario Bros. Movie, based on the superbly popular Super Mario Bros. video game from Nintendo, and the first film adaptation of the titular brothers since 1993's infamous live-action disaster. The film sees Italian-American plumbers Mario and Luigi get sucked into a mysterious green pipe while trying to stop a major sewer disaster, transporting them to the magical Mushroom Kingdom. Now separated from Luigi, Mario needs to unite the people of the land to defeat the villainous Bowser before his marriage to Princess Peach... or before he destroys the world, whichever comes first. 

There were a number of things that could have gone wrong with this movie, all of which are best exemplified by the fact that Minions show up during the title sequence. Nintendo gave none other than Illumination the keys to the Mushroom Kingdom, likely on the basis that heavily marketed cheaper movies with disproportionately large box office returns is the name of their game. However, Illumination's good movies are few and far between - just last year they unleashed Minions: The Rise of Gru on the world. However, I rather like the Sing movies, and thus the bar, while low, was still a tripping hazard.

To the relief of Mario fans everywhere, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is more Sing than Hop. Yes, it bears trademarks faults that are rampant at Illumination: Breakneck pacing causes emotional beats to be rushed, sidekicks ingrain themselves into the story with little to no purpose, and the entire movie is a clichéd adventure whose grounds have already been covered by better films. However, like Sing, The Super Mario Bros. Movie just works. There's not an original thought to be had regarding storytelling and emotional beats, but it just works. It's so unabashedly earnest and obviously crafted with tons of love and respect for the games that one can't help but admire it. 

Given that my biggest exposure to the Mario franchise is playing Mario Kart with small cousins, I cannot claim to have any biased emotional attachment to the franchise that would otherwise hamper or cushion my judgment of the film. With that being said, I can say without question that this is a movie made for Mario fans. While I didn't catch, well, any of them, I am sure that to some this would appear like easter eggs disguised as a movie: the movie, to which the closest possible comparison is The LEGO Batman Movie. While Mario was nowhere near as funny, inventive, or emotional as that film was, the care with which it was made is apparent in every aspect.

Despite my limited knowledge of the games, I am indescribably appreciative that this animated movie appears to be wholeheartedly faithful to the source material. Characters appear exactly as they appear in the game, perfect cinematic representations for all. While the sequences wherein gameplay is adapted stick out like a sore thumb and disrupt the logical flow of the movie, I appreciate that they are included and are often exhilarating action setpieces. Additionally, the voice cast all do a superb job, blending the iconic in-game voices with their own for a distinctly cinematic feel. I'd specifically like to praise Chris Pratt as Mario, who brought lots of heart and humor to the blue collar hero. The only one who seemed like a celebrity doing their regular voice was Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, and even then it barely matters as Princess Peach has a far less iconic voice than Mario, Luigi, Bowser, or Toad, and Taylor-Joy still did a superb job bringing the Princess to life. 

Also worthy of praise is the gorgeous animation that the movie utilizes. While Illumination has never been the bearer of bad animation, Mario easily surpasses all of their previous efforts on a technical level. It’s not the overly photo-realistic style that Disney has beaten to death for the past decade, nor is it a Spider-Verse-type that tries to emulate comic books or gouache paintings. Instead, it combines cartoony characters and designs into a beautiful and vibrantly colorful world that appears photorealistic, but not to the point where it’s distracting. I particularly enjoyed a scene where Mario and Donkey Kong swim in dark water as colorful debris sparkles below them, illuminating the water and their wet bodies in several different rainbow colors. It’s not even a scene that seemed trying too hard to be beautiful  - it just happened to be that naturally pretty, a trait the entire movie carries. 

However, the thing I enjoyed above all else was the epic fantasy feel of the movie. Like Narnia, Gregor the Overlander, Beyonder, The Owl House, and Amphibia before it, Mario and Luigi get sucked into a magical fantasy world with different cultures, kingdoms, and rules that they have to learn in order to survive. I always admire large-scale fantasy, especially when it’s not part of an established cinematic franchise, and the lore presented here reminded me of a rainbow colored Lord of the Rings where Sauron wants to marry Arwen. It’s a tried and true recipe for the hero’s journey and it works just as well here as it did all those times before. It’s mildly comforting, even, to see such a simple and childlike movie done so earnestly and without a hint of mockery for the tropes and old-fashioned values it portrays. 

A good way to sum up my thoughts on The Super Mario Bros. Movie is through its music choices. While it contains tons of references for fans, the general audience hears three very generic music choices in “Holding Out for a Hero,” “Take On Me,” and “Mr. Blue Sky” (“Hero” was used in Shazam! and Tetris just this past month!). However, their use in this film worked. Now, don’t get me wrong, when you hear the first few notes it’s an instant eye roll, but by the end of the scene you don’t particularly care about originality - It was just so fun to watch that disappointed thoughts of clichés are drowned out by the sheer spectacle of the film. I found this most true for “Take On Me” playing as they enter the Jungle Kingdom, a choice that fulfilled my je ne sais quoi need for a world you can see yourself living in, a must-have for fantasy stories. 

Ultimately, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a good time for most. Basic knowledge of the game is required to understand the purpose of gameplay scenes, but luckily Mario is one of the most iconic video games of all time. It’s not the greatest animated film ever made, nor is it as bad as you’d expect from the company that made The Secret Life of Pets. It’s a fine, fun movie made for fans of the game and small children with enough jokes to keep parents entertained, filled with a hilariously existential blue thing and one of the best female role models in recent memory. It might not be the superb Puss in Boots-level movie fans were hoping for, but they probably won’t walk away disappointed either. 

Overall, I give The Super Mario Bros. Movie a 7/10. "Cute and beautifully vibrant, The Super Mario Bros. Movie works wonderfully despite being creatively bankrupt."

Further research has revealed that the glowing luminescent star of existential dread is named "Lumalee"