The Super Mario Bros. Movie: Spoiler-free Review
I've always been a fan of the Mario games. I remember one of the first games I played was the 1988 Super Mario Bros. 2 on the Gameboy Advanced my parents got me. Of course, I played as Peach. My next game was Super Mario Sunshine, then Super Mario Galaxy, then Mario Party 8, then, and then, and then... You get the point. So I am very good friends with the story of one famous plumber and a damsel in distress. So imagine my surprise when Mario and Luigi in The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) are actually from the human world, and are isekai'd into the Mushroom Kingdom. Isekai is a subgenre of fantasy in which a character is suddenly transported from their world into a new or unfamiliar one. Writer Matthew Fogel uses this trope to explain why Mario and Luigi are some of the only known human characters in the Mario World. This is an interesting concept, and I found myself feeling conflicted about the choice, though I was intrigued. Ultimately, poor pacing and forced jokes makes the film hard to take seriously, and the best parts of the movie are the gaming easter eggs.
Mario is voiced by Chris Pratt, whose casting brought many memes about how the animation industry has been guilty of hiring live action stars rather than trained voice actors recently. And I would agree, some of these stars struggle to create a "voice" for the characters, and rather talk as themselves. I will say, however, Pratt's performance was not distracting in the way I thought it would be, and he made an impressive Mario. I think I would be even more impressed if the movie let us hear his iconic yelps, rather than slowing it down and bringing glaring attention to them every. time. it. happened. I know that it would, because it worked well for the other characters, like Peach (voiced by Anya Taylor-Joy) and Luigi (voiced by Charlie Day). I especially enjoyed Jack Black as Bowser, bringing a pitiful, misunderstood version of the character we only see in fanon. I overall enjoyed the personalities given to our characters, and the voice actors did well to keep the charm of their game counter-parts as well as integrate these new personality types we haven't seen before.
A big controversy has been Peach's upgrade from damsel in distress to being a capable and fierce princess warrior. However, I challenge that she was only ever a damsel. Peach has done well to show she can hold her own in the games while under Bowser's capture, and if I was able to play her as a protagonist for one of the games from 1988...is it really a new concept to have her act like a protagonist? i found her character to feel natural in the part, and my qualms with this movie have nothing to do with these role changes for the characters.
My biggest bone to pick is with the pacing of this movie. Even with co-directors, Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, no one caught that the movie just moved way too quickly. This movie is only an hour and thirty-two minutes, just longer than the length of a tv-film special. Adventure can usually be partitioned into three main sections before the final showdown. We get those sections, but they happen so quickly, and are so easily resolved to a point where I felt bored. This is a combination issue of the story and the direction. Nothing about the plot was new or interesting, and flying through it just had me wanting it to end. It was for the most part predictable, up until the finale where the story took a turn I had not expected. This, however, could not make up for the overall poor story writing and even worse speed of everything. Even considering this is a family film, it is insulting how shallow Fogel's plot is considering a Mario movie has been demanded for decades. Slowing down to develop the characters a bit slower is okay; going so quickly is just going to enable the younger generation's attention deficiency, which feels like the only explanation for this choice. "Gotta keep it short and to the point for the kids," is not a solid argument when deciding to create movies.
The humor was also very safe. Every joke was forced, pathetically begging to be laughed at. Like oh my god, I know Hollywood writers can do better than this. The only time the movie managed some to slip some air through my nostrils was when it threw out a Gladiator (2000) reference. You'll know when you see it, and honestly it only made me react due to its randomness. The parts that made me smile most were the silent easter eggs sprinkled throughout the backgrounds. At some point, I found myself instead of paying attention, looking past the subjects to find any references I could. These were always fun, and amusing to notice, and I appreciated the wide array of allusions.
What really helped the movie's case was the superb animation. While I was not the biggest fan of the art style, I have to give credit where credit is due, and Illumination Studios Paris did an amazing job of making crisp, vibrant animation that really brought the Mario World to life. I specifically liked the detail in the fibers and textures of the clothing. I'm glad theres one thing here I can actually praise.
Finally is the soundtrack. I enjoyed the music composed by Brian Tyler for the movie. It honored the original themes and tunes known well from the games, while still clearly being new and produced in its own way. Some of the original songs are cringey, but in an amusing way that I can excuse because truly it fit with the style and vibe (I promise, I can I have fun!). The rest of the soundtrack, however, had all the...classics. This was a clear attempt to placate the parents of kids who requested to see the movie in theaters when they themselves know nothing of the franchise. Really, do we need a soundtrack that has "Holding Out for a Hero" by Bonnie Tyler, "Take On Me" by A-ha, and AC/DC's "Thunderstruck"? That was rhetorical. Again, we can try a little harder I think.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie was highly anticipated, and I think the show-runners severely missed the mark. Though Horvath and Jelenic worked hard to create this movie, and tried to do right by the franchise, I think they instead got sucked into the hole of trying to make everyone happy. Considering the resources they had available, I think they could have made a more engaging film, which is really what it needed. As a long time fan, I'm disappointed but not necessarily surprised given the history of game-to-film adaptations. This was a tall order, and it was likely not all parties could be appeased, but I cannot imagine more than the 4-year-olds in my theater really felt this movie was memorable. All I request is: Hollywood, please stay away from The Legend of Zelda.
