There’s a pivotal factor to note with The Super Mario Bros. Movie. While it may have been made with the involvement of Nintendo, the animation studio behind it is Illumination. They’ve been known for their good yet passive animated movies like Despicable Me, Minions, Sing, and The Secret of Life of Pets.
This high-valued video game property is not going to break the Illumination mold. It sticks to the studio’s penchant for sloppy writing amid lukewarm slapstick gags. The result is an animated film that meanders around the Nintendo store more than it does plays with any cool stuff occupying this franchise.
The Brothers and Business
The film starts strong with the characters but seems to forget about them once the fantasy begins. Mario (Chris Pratt) aims to create a plumbing business with his loyal brother Luigi (Charlie Day). While they have the determination, there’s some doubt in Mario’s mind that this dream will become a reality.
With some handyman competition and a critical family, Mario has a lot to prove. All he needs is one big job to place his business on the map. Of course, falling down a pipe into a fantasy world of mushrooms and turtles probably wasn’t on his bingo card of possibilities.
The Fast and the Fantastical
The story simplifies and complicates simultaneously when getting to the familiar Mario World setting. It simplifies by making Mario’s goal to defeat the evil Bowser (Jack Black) and his goals of conquering kingdoms and marrying Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy). It complicates by adding far too many characters amid its fast-paced sequences.
Strangely, the film gets so crowded when it’s filled that it either doesn’t have much personality or limited ones. Peach has an origin story, but it does little with the possibility of making her a fish out of water. Bowser plays out like a standard villain who feels almost biologically compelled to match his motivations from the games.
A character with the possibility of being more attractive is Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen). He’s set up to have daddy problems that might make him connect easily with Mario. Sadly, this aspect is so low-key that Kong feels less like a defined player and more like Seth Rogen, complete with his recognizable chortle.
The Levels Are Up
Okay, but is there anything good in The Super Mario Bros. Movie? Aside from being better than the 1993 movie, the animation has a nice look. The many fantasy worlds that Mario and Luigi visit are colorful, lived-in, and have atmospheres that create perfect tones.
A highlight of the film is Bowser’s Badlands. It’s dark and frightening, with a castle surrounded by lava and zombie Koompas roaming the land. The little time that the movie spends there works so well at becoming a horror movie that parents might not want to bring their youngest of kin.
Rarely is there a moment to appreciate much of the allure of these worlds. The film can barely go five minutes without a frenetic chase or platforming sequence. There’s no time to be as amazed as Mario by the Mushroom Kingdom; not when there are pipes for him to fly through and scream in shock and frustration.
A Feature-Length Commercial
While The Super Mario Bros. Movie might not have much in common with 1993’s Mario movie, it shares a similar DNA to their other film, The Wizard. In that movie, Nintendo pushed as much of their products into the foreground, short of placing price tags on them. This animated movie is not much different.
When a film like this has so many references to Mario games and Nintendo products, it becomes frustrating that it never does anything with them. Most of the jokes present seems to rely on how likely the audience is familiar with Nintendo products. If you remember the Gamecube start-up music, hopefully, you’ll be tickled that the music is Mario’s ringtone.
Surprisingly, this film came from the people behind Teen Titans Go To The Movies. That film felt like the filmmakers could parody and satire whatever they wanted. With this Mario movie, it feels like they’ve been let into a museum with big “DON’T TOUCH” signs around everything.
Superficial Mario Bros
There’s never a moment in the movie where it ever finds a groove. The artificiality is present in the lack of chemistry between all the characters. Any meaningful exchange between Mario and Donkey Kong feels sidelined by the Mario Kart sequence.
About halfway through the film, it became clear this whole picture was little more than a Where’s Waldo-style game than a narrative. So many referential boxes are checked off as though the film is on a quota for pleasing fans by citing their trivia. But is that really all there is to a Mario movie?
A good movie might give fans what they want, but a great movie will give fans something they never knew they wanted. This is not a great movie. It’s giving the fans what they want more in the form of a laundry list than a stellar motion picture.
Conclusion: The Super Mario Bros. Movie
It’s sad to report that The Super Mario Bros. Movie never reaches the flagpole of being anything more than a corporate product. It’s a marriage of Illumination’s penchant for messy animated movies and Nintendo’s desire to advertise its brand. While it’s a success for their bottom line, it’s a wasted opportunity to do something more with Mario than this surface-level love letter addressed specifically to the fans.
Did you see The Super Mario Bros. Movie? How does it compare to 1993’s Super Mario Bros movie? Is it faithful to the games or not? Let us know in the comments below.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie is currently playing in theaters everywhere.
