“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” Review
Mario and Luigi (voiced by Chris Pratt and Charlie Day) are two plumbers who go on an incredible journey to save the Mushroom Kingdom in “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.”
As someone who grew up with and continues to love the “Super Mario Bros.” games, I think that the imaginative world of this universe could be translated into an entertaining animated film. While it’s certainly sure to be entertaining at the moment, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” disappoints by not being memorable enough to warrant a second viewing.
Based on the hit Nintendo games, Mario and Luigi (voiced by Chris Pratt and Charlie Day) are two Italian-American plumbers living in Brooklyn (respect) when they stumble across an incredible green pipe which teleports them to the Mushroom Kingdom. After being separated, Luigi finds himself captured and at the mercy of Bowser (voiced by Jack Black) who seeks to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom and marry its ruler Princess Peach (voiced by Anya Taylor-Joy). With a common enemy, Mario, Peach and their allies unite for an epic battle of good and evil which may or may not involve eating mushrooms, racing carts and bouncing on Koopas.
As far as faithful adaptations go, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” certainly has the visual style of the games down. There’s lots of bright colors and certain action sequences are laid out to resemble a level from one of the games. This is a film that is in no way ashamed of its roots and is far more willing to accept the crazy logic of its world, unlike the disastrous 1993 adaptation of “Super Mario Bros.”
With the voice cast, most of them do a fine job. Chris Pratt and Charlie Day have a wonderful brotherly chemistry as the titular plumbers. While Pratt’s casting did spark some backlash, it was completely unwarranted. As unlikely action heroes, Mario and Luigi are fun enough with Pratt bringing plenty of charm while Charlie Day is a likable coward who needs to find courage.
Jack Black’s performance as Bowser is perfect with the right combination of intimidation and humor. There’s so much personality shining through Black’s acting and his musical sequence, because of course Jack Black has a musical moment, is still stuck in my head.
However, while the main actors and the visuals are interesting enough, the same can not be said for the story. Keep in mind, the original games don’t have an exceptionally compelling plot so I wasn't expecting anything that deep. But I was expecting something a bit more substantive.
The problem with “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” is that the world isn’t explored deeply enough and so we don’t get a sense of what these characters are fighting for. It feels like every scene in this film was trimmed down in order to make the film a speedy hour-and-a-half. The entire story feels rushed and doesn’t have the desired staying power. There’s certainly fun to be had with the film and I had some good laughs and liked the references to the games. But suppose that the games never existed or that you’d never played a “Mario Bros.” game. Would this film stand well on its own? I doubt it.
So, if you’re going to see a film based on a game that 's in theaters right now, I’d prefer it if you saw “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.” However, if you love these characters and have a strong nostalgic attachment to them, you’ll be momentarily impressed with “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.” I just can’t see very many people wanting to immediately relieve the experience of seeing it in the cinemas.
