Let me start by saying that I unironically love the old 1993 Super Mario Bros film, so I haven't felt the "need" for a Mario movie as keenly as some. Also, while I played some Mario games as a wee lad, that was a long time ago and I've haven't really played much since then (I've barely touched the Mario Karts, Mario Parties, and Smash games), so my affection for the character is not as great as some.Because of this, and also because I'm a jaded and joyless old man, I wasn't originally particularly interested in this movie. But I heard good things, so I decided I wanted to catch it while it was still in the local cinemas. I'm glad I did.
The movie avoids most of the many traps that the majority of adaptations seem to suffer from. First and foremost, it doesn't look down on the source material. It's sad that I need to say this, but I feel that so many film adaptations in the last few decades have been made by people who don't really care about the source material and don't bother to try to respect or stay true to it. So I was genuinely surprised to find that this movie really feels like they straight-up brought the games to life.
Part of that is the art style; it's bright, colourful, fun, and consistent with how Mario and his gang have been portrayed for decades. But it's not just the art style that captures the feel of "Mario": the movie just straight up shows worlds that work the way they do in the games. Floating blocks, moving platforms, mushroom people, winged turtles; everything is just there. The movie feels no need to explain anything, and doesn't even dwell too long on characters reacting to the more fantastical elements, which I think was the best way to approach it.
Of course some concessions have been made. Perhaps most immediately noticeable is that the titular brothers have traded the exaggeratedly stereotypical Italian accents they have sometimes sported in the past for more natural-sounding Brooklyn accents. Which I don't have a problem with; actually I'm pretty sure I would have gotten annoyed eventually with the older over-the-top accents if they had stuck with them. The movie does acknowledge the originals, for what that's worth, so it's not like it ignored their existance. And Mario does say his "Mamma Mia!" catchphrase a lot. So I feel it's a fair compromise.
Another change is Princess Peach's traditional role as a damsel in distress. She is shown here as being extremely cool and capable. I'm glad she wasn't there just to be rescued; I don't think anyone wanted to see her like that. I would argue though that they went a bit too far in the opposite direction: Mario almost didn't have anything to do for much of the movie, which is a bad look for the one who's name is on the poster. Also, as is usually the case when a character gets this treatment, she didn't actually have the chance to go through any character development as she was basically too perfect right from the start.
Of course supporting characters don't really need character development, though it's nice when they get it. What's a bit more of an issue is that Mario himself didn't really get any character development either. Oh, the movie kind of pretended that he did, but I didn't really feel like he changed at all over the course of the movie. At the start there was a thing that he wanted, and by the end he got it, but he was still the same person he had been at the start. It didn't ruin the movie, but I feel it was a missed opportunity.
Luigi might actually be the only character who we saw grow. I quite liked how Luigi was written, I think they got him "right" in a way that a most fan creations I've seen don't. But I didn't like how little screen-time he got: he really is pushed to the background for most of the film and doesn't really contribute much overall. It's called "The Super Mario Bros", Luigi deserved better!
I did like how well Bowser was established as a genuine threat. I thought he was quite scary - you know, within the context of the movie. However I didn't really like the way he was written, his motivations and so on, though I guess technically he's not inconsistent with how we've seen him in the original games?
Of course the voice acting was a part of what made the characters feel right. All the cast worked quite well in their roles. Peach might have been the least "traditional" sounding one, but overall her voice worked with her character. I think Jack Black was the only one who's voice I actually recognized, and I only remembered it was him when he was singing. Even knowing who it was, he sounded good as Bowser, so it didn't take me out of things.
Oh, and speaking of singing, I did enjoy some of the "period-appropriate" (read: nostalgic) muscial choices.
For me this movie was a 7/10. Not as deep or emotional as some animated features, but it was a lot of fun, and I think it will be satisfying for Mario fans.
At the start of the movie we see Mario step up to a much bigger guy without any hesitation. Throughout the entire movie he takes pretty much all obstacles head-on, no matter what. Peach compliments him on the fact that he never gives up.
Then, for a few seconds near the end, he gives up. Then he shakes it off, and once again steps up to a much bigger guy.
Don't get me wrong, I get it: sometimes you're chugging along full steam, then suddenly you just hit that point where you feel like you can't go on, like you've got nothing left. I understand it. But it doesn't work well in a movie. In movies, things have to be set up, or else they feel contrived. The moment when Mario almost gives up felt like it came out of nowhere. It might not be unrealistic, but it was not consistent with how the character had been established up to that point.
And when he gets over it and gets back in the fight, all he's done is returned to where he was at the start of the movie. There was no growth, no change in character. Mario ends the movie the same as he started, only now he has the thing he initially wanted: respect. Which is fine, but it's not as compelling as a character arc in which a character actually changes. Luigi overcoming his fear in order to save his brother and fight alongside him, for example.
I really liked the scene with Luigi being chased by the skeletons. I found it surprisingly intense for a kids movie, at least these days.
I didn't like that they wrote Bowser as being in love with Peach. I guess I would have preferred if he was trying to kidnap her, or even marry her, as a power-play. A way to help him bring the Mushroom Kingdom under his control; a political marriage/hostage situation. I guess it worked from a story perspective, allowing Bowser to hate Mario in a personal way despite them not actually meeting up face-to-face until the climax. But I still didn't like it, it felt off to me, and it's not how I usually think of Bowser.
On a related note, I didn't like Peach's reaction when Bowser proposed to her. I understand that she hates him, but the way she said "eww"... I dunno, I guess it felt more like she was disgusted by the idea of someone who looked like him? I just found it unpleasant is all. I would have prefered a strongly worded refusal that exhibited defiance, not disgust. Anyway, I just didn't like the whole marriage sub-plot.
Seeing as this is a kids movie based on a VERY old videogame, I was ready to go with things and not worry about questioning stuff like the floating blocks and random powerups or whatever. But at the end of the day the film did have some rather forced contrivances, a few of which I think were maybe a bit much. I don't want to get too carried away nitpicking, but I will mention a few questions I was left with.
First of all, I don't understand that one turtle suddenly turning into a blue shell. What was that? Was it a suicide attack - is the turtle dead now? Could they all do that at any time? That part was a bit weird and took me out of things a bit.
Was the super-star a one-time-use thing? Is it gone forever now?
Bowser's information network seemed to know everything that was going on. Does he have spies among the Mushrooms and Apes? Don't turtles stand out? Does he have locals who are traitors, or are his spies using magic/power-ups to stay hidden/blend into the population?
So the effect of the shrinking mushroom wears off after a single hit? Does that mean Bowser can just slap himself in the face once, or maybe run headfirst into something, and poof: he's back?
Was Peach beating the obstacle course without any powerups? Mario implied that he couldn't jump that high naturally, so in this world humans can't just jump super high? And yet Peach could? There's this crazy obstacle course in the castle, and there's fields full of flowers that let you throw fireballs etc, yet we don't see any Penguin or Mushroom people with any real combat ability? I dunno, I'm having some difficulty resolving how this world works in my head. No big deal, just saying is all.
Peach seems surprised at the idea of turtles that aren't evil. OK, I mean, yes, in games you have X enemy type who is evil etc. But that's... something that's a little harder to get away with these days. I can accept it in an adaptation of an older property, but I do prefer more nuanced approaches to "good vs evil" nowadays. Anyway, it wasn't a big deal for me, just thought it was worth mentioning.
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