Hello and welcome to the Otaku Mind. Today we’re doing a review of the Super Mario Bros. movie. Yeah, sorry I got it out so late. I was holding off on watching it for some friends who also wanted to see it, so we decided to go as a group to watch it. With the two Sonic movies being a big hit how would Mario fare in the world of cinema? The last time Nintendo tried this it was a disaster that we shall not speak of. Despite past experience, people were still excited for the movie. It was being done by Illumination and when the first trailer dropped everyone was amazed at just how beautiful the movie looked. When it finally came out their was a division between critics and fans. Critics didn’t like it while fans liked it. So who’s right and who’s wrong? Not my job to answer. I’m going to give my thoughts on movie and let’s you guys decide for yourself.
Story
So the story is pretty simple and straightforward. Bowser, King of the Koopas voiced by Jack Black has just captured the power star and plans to use it to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom and make Princess Peach marry him. Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, Mario voiced by Chris Pratt, and his brother, Luigi, voiced by Charlie Day get sucked into their world while trying to fix a plumbing problem. The two brothers get separated with Luigi landing in the badlands while Mario lands in the Mushroom Kingdom. Once there, he meets Toad voiced by Keegan-Michael Key who introduces him to Princess Peach voiced by Anya Taylor-Joy and together the three head off on a journey to get an army to defeat Bowser and his koopa army. It’s simple and a straightforward plot which is what many critics were complaining about. To which I ask, what were you expecting? This isn’t Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, or Harry Potter. It’s a story about two plumbers rescuing a princess from an evil turtle. Not every movie needs to be deep or have a hidden message that only you can find. They can just be fun to watch and that’s it. As I said in my review of the Sonic movie you don’t need an epic or complicated story to make a good movie. Just have relatable characters to get invested in, a fun setting, and balance out the action, comedy, and drama and you’ll be fine. This movie wasn’t meant to be the next epic in the cinema. It was just meant to be a fun movie celebrating one of the most iconic videogame characters of all time and they succeeded in my opinion.
Characters
All right, let’s get to the characters. First up is Mario. He’s courageous, funny, nice, and never seems to give up. In the movie we see that he and Luigi quit their jobs as construction workers to make it on their own. Mario is often looked down on by others because he’s short and his dad doesn’t seem all that proud of them. A lot of people were giving Chris Pratt crap for voicing Mario but his voice is actually good here. I had no problem with and he has some good lines. Many people forget that Nintendo is very protective of its characters. They’re not just going to let anybody walk in there and voice them. Even when their characters are parodied in other shows like The Simpsons, Futurama, Family Guy, Robot Chicken, etc. these characters are voiced pretty well. So if Chris Pratt got their nod of approval then he should have ours. Next up is Luigi, the loyal little brother. He gives out the little brother energy who is always getting bullied and is low on confidence but he has his big brother there who has his back and will protect him. Despite not having many moments in the movie as I was hoping he has one really great moment in the final battle which captures the true essence of Luigi. Charlie Day does a great job voicing Luigi, getting his character down to a T and he is easily the second-best voice actor in the movie. Princess Peach is courageous, strong, cool, and comforting. When Mario is worried about Luigi she’s there to comfort him and let him know that everything is going to be okay and she even trains him. Instead of making her the damsel in distress she’s actually a pretty badass princess who’s not to fight. They give her a good backstory where she came to this world just Mario and Luigi when she was a child, so we’re not sure if she’s from Earth or somewhere else. I also like how she and Mario start off as just friends. They flirt a little bit but it’s nothing romantic as of yet which I like. It only makes want to see where their relationship goes in the second movie. Anya stirred the pot by saying Peach was a woke character, but she’s not. Peach has always been a badass princess. If you read the Mario comics you would know this. When Bowser first attacked she was the first person to take him on and when she gets captured by him she escapes all by herself. Even Nintendo admits that this is what they originally wanted Peach to be like in the games. Also, even if she wasn’t a badass princess originally, this new interpretation of her is still great. I mean, we’ve had different interpretations of superheroes over the years so why not videogame characters?
Our villain Bowser is also great. He strikes the perfect balance between being intimidating and scary to goofy and silly. In front of his army he’s scary and demands respect, but when he’s in front of Peach he becomes a big softy who wants to be loved by her by any means necessary. You can tell Jack Black is having the time of his life voicing this character and he gives us the best song of the movie. Now that I think about it, Jack Black may just be one of my favorite actors. Doesn’t matter what he’s in he always seems to be giving it his best and having fun with his role. I respect that. Outside these characters, everyone else has minor roles. Toad joins Mario and Peach on their quest where he’s pretty funny and has some good lines and moments. He’s voiced by Key so if you’re a fan of Key and Peele you know just how funny this guy can be. We also get DK voiced by Seth Rogen who was also getting flack but he fits the role and does a good job. His rivalry with Mario in the second half of the movie was good and he has his own little story. He’s a show-off who just like Mario wants his dad’s approval. We get some koopas with some personality, there’s some penguins who lost to Bowser at the start of the movie, but the best side character is this Luma locked in Bowser’s dungeon who is morbid throughout the whole movie. Every time he talks is so unsettling and funny. What makes this character even funnier is the fact that he can easily escape at any time but doesn’t. Meaning, he is there by choice. He longs for the release of death and to hear this cute little creature say such dark stuff makes me laugh.
Comedy, Easter Eggs, and Action
As far as comedy goes this movie has a good number of them. The Luma as I mentioned earlier is funny. The penguins fighting Bowser was funny. Bowser has a good number of funny moments. There’s his song, his interactions with Peach, and him practicing his marriage proposal on Kamek were funny. Mario, Peach, and Luigi have some funny moments as well but I think Bowser and the Luma get the most laughs out of everyone. There a ton of Easter Eggs sprinkled throughout this movie. Just the music alone puts a smile on my face. Speaking of music, this soundtrack is really awesome. They made great music choices. The only song that seemed out of place was Take on Me (if you don’t know what that song is smack yourself). I feel like this is one of those movies you need to watch multiple times in order to find all the Easter Eggs. Pauline is the mayor of Brooklyn, we get a cameo appearance from Jumpman, King Bob-omb, King Boo, Diddy Kong, Yoshi(s), and many more. The actions are good. Mario’s fight against DK was funny, the battle on Rainbow Road was great and paid homage to Mad Max. The final fight between Bowser and the Mario Bros. made me smile as we finally got the chance to see the brothers in action. It felt right and it was earned.
Is there room for a sequel
Yes. There’s definitely going to be a sequel. Yoshi will definitely be in it. I’m hoping they add Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings. I think they would be great as villains. Bowser has been captured so they need someone to take lead the army and who better than this group of unruly children who are just as diabolical as Bowser? People are also crying out for Wario and Waluigi to be in the sequel as well which I’m all for. I wonder if they’ll come from Brooklyn as well? Charlie Day has said Danny Devito would be perfect to voice Wario and I agree. I’ve heard some people cry out K.Rool but I don’t think so. Save him for a Donkey Kong movie or a spin-off TV show.
Which is Better: Sonic or Mario
Overall, I think the Mario movie was better, but I still liked the Sonic movies and I feel like we shouldn’t be comparing them. Instead, we should be looking at what these movies accomplished. For the longest time, movies based on video games were crap, but these movies showed everyone that put in the right hands and given proper care videogame movies can work. Sonic set the standards and Mario raised the bar. It’s the opposite of what they did in the 80s and 90s. It raises hope that other video games can be adapted into successful movies.
Final Score
My final score for the Super Mario Bros. Movie is an 8/10 with a must watch stamp of approval. It’s a great movie that lives up to the hype and is worth checking out. Even if you don’t play video games you’ve at least heard of Mario and need to check it out. What did you guys think of the movie? Let me know in the comments below. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.