The Super Mario Bros. Movie Review

As a young and spry 5-year-old, I was introduced to the likes of Mario and Luigi through The New Super Mario Bros Wii, the first video game I ever received. Video games have been an influential part of my life ever since, which aptly illustrates just the reason I am very weary of most video game movies. While this film is a far cry from the horrific 1993 Mario film, I wouldn’t call this a creative venture. It is Illumination’s most soulless film to date - as if the information of the games was fed into a computer and spit out onto the screen. It’s a hollow film with a willful ignorance for creativity and fun, begging you to “Remember how much fun this used to be? Please like it again.”

The film starts with brothers Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) trying to build their new plumbing business in Brooklyn. Keen-eyed viewers will notice small references to other Nintendo works that don’t feel too in-your-face. The discretion of these first references gives false hope for the journey that we are about to embark on. Mario and Luigi somehow stumble upon a network of tunnels under the city and are transported to the Mushroom Kingdom, where Bowser (Jack Black) has found the Super Star and is planning a final strike on Peach’s (Anya Taylor-Joy) kingdom. Not only does he want to destroy her kingdom, he also wants her hand in marriage, which is expressed through "Peaches", the mediocre and somewhat catchy song that he sings about his love. Given the talent of Jack Black, Peaches feels underwhelming in comparison to the song he could have written. Luigi is sent to Bowser’s land, which takes him out of frame for two-thirds of the film. Mario and Peach recruit Donkey Kong (Seth Rogan) and eventually, defeat Bowser. This is not a spoiler if you have ever seen a movie before or know of Mario.

Critique of the film is drowned out by fans saying that this film doesn’t need the script or plot to be a strength, which can be argued by the well-crafted settings and the rainbow road chase’s direction. In response, I would ask why the franchise that has inspired generations can get away with scraping the bottom of creativity. This film does not take a single risk. It is 92 minutes of references glued together to form a movie. The voice acting is also subpar, which does not help the film. Chris Pratt sounded like he did all of his lines in one afternoon. Charlie Day has a great voice for voice acting but wasn’t in two-thirds of the film. The only character I had no issues with was Donkey Kong. Seth Rogan sounded like he was having a fun time and was excited to be a part of this. The music also lacks the iconic jazz feel of the Mario games, sacrificing it for huge theatric classical music.

With the craze of franchises, Super Mario Bros. will probably see at least one sequel. That sequel will probably spawn the same critics vs fans garbage that this spawned. The Nintendo IP will grow after the major box office success, possibly spawning a Donkey Kong, or Legend of Zelda film. At this year’s Oscars, Guillermo Del Toro pushed the idea that animation is film. This is not the film that he was talking about when he said that. This film looks at Mario as a product to be referenced, not a stepping stone to explore new ideas.