The Super Mario Bros Movie Review: Let'sa go or Mama Mia

The Super Mario Bros Movie Review: Let'sa go or Mama Mia

(Let'sa go reviewing)

Ah Mario, the iconic portly plumber has been a staple in video gaming pop culture for nearly 40 years and is one of the longest running gaming mascots with the likes of Game and Watch, Zelda & Link and even the Blue Blur of Sonic the Hedgehog and has shown it through so many games of colourful characters including his younger but taller brother Luigi, The royal Princess Peach, and the King of the Koopas, Bowser. Now with most big studios in the modern day, there is always an attempt at bringing Video games to the big screen or through serialized tv series, and the bros have seen an attempt in the past at around the 10th anniversary of the series and the results were.... rough, especially from the madness that went into making it and all the behind the scenes mess to get it made.

(I wanna know who designed this as it is supposed to be a Koopa... I think)

This has caused Nintendo themselves to not really delve too much in giving their IPS to movie studios for a long time with the only instance of other media outlets was through Saturday Morning Cartoons. But now nearly 30 years after the live action attempt, Mario and co. have been brought back to the big screen once again but in animated form this time from a collaboration with Illumination, the studio behind the Despicable Me, Minions and Sing series, to bring a new take at the beloved IP. But is it a Wahoo or a Mama Mia result, well thankfully I can say that it is is more in the area of a Wahoo kind of direction.

(This review will not have any major spoilers, some minor ones, but they are more from the beginning of the movie so no need to be spoiled)

For the review I am going to break it down to a few specific points of discussion to help find what you may want to know: Story/ Narrative, Character and Cast, Presentation, Writing and Humour, Music and score, Respect to the material, criticisms and Final thoughts. Now let's get into it

The Story of brothers, mushrooms, Princesses and Giant turtles

(Gather Round it is Story Time)

So as many people know with these Mario Games is that they are not always the most elaborate of plots. Most times is is boiled down to you travelling and platforming across all different terrains alone or with friends to help rescue the Princess, some other royal being or the Mushroom Kingdom from the Evil Bowser/ the Koopalings or whoever has created a dastardly plan in this world. For this film the plot is as follows.

"Mario and Luigi (Chris Pratt and Charlie Day), two brothers from Brooklyn, have set up their own Plumbing service to make a name for themselves in the world. When a burst pipework's erupts underground in the sewers, they go to fix it and end up getting sucked into a giant green warp pipe that gets them separated and transported to the world of the Mushroom Kingdom. With the aid of an adventurous mushroom Toad (Keegan Michael Key), and the Princess of the Kingdom, Peach (Anya Taylor Joy), they will train and help Mario on a journey to rescue his brother Luigi from the clutches of the evil Bowser (Jack Black) and save the Mushroom kingdom and become a hero in the process"

Now while that does sound very simplistic and a lot similar to the narrative told from the games, sometimes simplicity is a very enjoyable thing and complicating things can cause quite a headache and having it fit to a mold of a Mario story that is easy to follow is more then enough. Would I have liked a bit more to it for a film, sure, but I am sure that if the film is successful and they create more films that they will add more to a narrative to make a story stronger but all in all I enjoyed it for what is presented as an origins to the brothers and the world created by Nintendo.

Story score out of 10: 6.5-7

Lets meet the characters

(some of our main characters)

Now besides the choice from the studio was a little mixed at the start but people were fine with the decision, the one decision that has been a subject of debate from the very beginning since they were announced was the casting choices for the characters. As mentioned in the story section was some of the casting list but here is the full list:

Chris Pratt as Mario

Charlie Day as Luigi

Anya Taylor Joy as Princess Peach

Jack Black as Bowser

Keegan Michael Key as Toad

Seth Rogan as Donkey Kong

Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong

Sebastian Maniscalco as Foreman Spike

Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek

Khary Payton as King Penguin

Eric Bauza as Toad General

Charles Marinet as multiple roles

Juliet Jelenic as Lumalee

So as you can see a lot of the complaints from this from some other voice actors in the industry and some audiences was from the lack of voice actors getting some chance to give their take on the characters, Martinet that has voiced the main bros since the early 90s not playing them again for the movie, and even John Leguizamo, who played Luigi in the 1993 film has criticized the lack of representation for the film (although he was asking of more Latin characters in the film which is understandable but was expecting more characters with an Italian representation). While I was taken aback at first when they announced it, I grew to think it was a good choice for the characters and will delve into them now.

(The main Mustached Hero)

Let's start with the one everyone had a dividing opinion on and that was Chris Pratt as Mario. Now Pratt has done his fair share of voice roles in animation, specifically known as Emmet in the Lego Movies and as Barley in Pixar's Onward and will be voicing the lazy orange cat Garfield in a new animated film out next year. When it was announced that he was taking the role of the favourite plumber, there was a lot of critique and was still divisive when the first trailer dropped as it sounded like he was just doing his normal voice, despite saying that he has given a bit of a unique tone to the character (but again, sometimes trailers could use some audio pieces that doesn't fit right). According to the films directors, Arron Horvath and Michael Jelenic (Directors of Teen Titans Go to the Movies), the decision to cast Pratt was that Mario was seen as a Blue collar worker and Pratt in the past has played blue collar workers in Lego movie and Parks and Rec, so that choice does make sense for his casting to me anyway.

When I watched this movie and listened to his performance throughout I think that it really fit the character and helps to make it distinct between all the performances from the past so I know which is which. It does have the case that they do delve into the question of why he doesn't talk with much of an Italian accent but it is addressed in their very first scene that makes sense in a little bit of a meta Joke (and we will get into the humour and writing in the next section) and there is that element of going for an approach for the voice that Lou Albano did for the character in the Super show, with that bit of a Brooklyn accent tinge in there as well and it works. 

Before we turn to the other Bro, let me talk on Martinet. He has been the voice of Mario in the games since the early 90s and people were sad he was not casted in the film as the main lead. To me personally if it had been Martinet in the role for the entire film, yes it would keep it to the source material of the games, but I feel the voice would get a bit graining overtime when Mario in the games doesn't say much apart from short sentences and quips like 'Wahoo' and 'Let'sa Go' so I get that I understand the change difference. He does have some other roles in this film, including a quick and cute easter egg cameo at the beginning as a customer in the diner where the Bros are introduced where he does the voice and the iconic jump (while also dressed in the same style and colour palette as his jump-man introduction from the original Donkey Kong arcade game from the 80s). He also voices a member or 2 of Mario and Luigi's family and does show an array of voices and I think his addition to it, albeit small is very enjoyable.

(he's tall, he's Green, He's Luigi)

Now let's get to talking of the taller and younger brother, Luigi, played by Charlie Day. This casting was met with more minor skepticism but was more well received from the beginning. While Mario is more of a everyman who will never give up, Luigi is more of the anxious and frightened younger brother that has been trying his best to prove that he is brave (but still very scared with everything that is presented to him in the Mushroom Kingdom). Day gives it his all and really showed a great love for the character. Granted he doesn't get much to do in this film around the middle part but I am sure that he will be a more prominent role in an inevitable Sequel (or even hopefully a really cool and spooky Luigi's Mansion film that Day has expressed interest in and would be all for)

(she ain't no damsel in Distress)

Now we have our female lead and the ruler of the Kingdom, Princess Peach, played by Anya Taylor Joy. Her casting announcement had some mixed reactions to it (as was most of the cast) but when I first saw the casting I felt it was a really great choice for the role (given her sense of playing Royal characters in Emma and a bit with the Queen's Gambit). Now the character of Peach is often seen as the damsel in distress and would be the one captured by Bowser most of the time but it seems to be more of the role reversal and a call back to the Mario comics of the 90s where she has proven she can be a badass and she is shown to be quite the hero in this film from some scenes presented to us. Now I have seen a lot of critics and commentators online complaining that the character is too much of a "Girl Boss" and complaining about it a lot in the recent years, which I just seem to find very annoying, given that we had plenty of strong female heroes in the past (Ripley from Alien, Sarah Connor from Terminator, Leia from Star Wars etc.) and everyone enjoyed them, so why is it now that people now have a problem with this? I enjoyed her character in this, we get a little context if how she ended up in this world but not much (that I am sure will be explored in future films) and she does prove her worth in the film in many scenes and look forward to seeing more.

(You do not want to be on this Koopa's bad side)

Now with every hero there is a villain and we have to talk about the one that is the highlight of the film, Bowser, played by Jack Black. When he was announced as voicing the character, everyone agreed that they had made a great choice in the role and that he will bring such charisma and charm to the role of the Koopa King and he did not disappoint. Every scene he is in brings with it such charm and character, where he can be shown to be funny and sympathetic to other point intimidating and menacing and it works well. It also helps that Black even helped to write and create a song for the movie that has become so popular in the last few weeks (and will not lie is such a catchy and simple song that I enjoy it very much). He works well with all the other characters that he shares the screen with and I do hope that if there is more films in this franchise that there is more of Jack Blacks Bowser to go with it.

(The Mushroom boy that I would main in any Mario Kart)

Now the Mushroom Kingdom is of course made up of civilians that are simply mushroom people and we focus on one of these characters of Toad, played by Keegan Michael Key. Usually any role that Key plays will usually have a form of a comedic role to it and Toad does have some hints of some good comedy chops in there in the film. His design is one that is seen throughout most Mario games and is more akin to the version found in Captain Toad Treasure Tracker (a very fun puzzle game I would recommend) and is one that steps up to the challenge and goes on the journey with Mario and Peach to stop Bowser. Now Toad as well feels a little underutilized in the film but does have a bit of a presence in the film and is willing to defend the kingdom in his honour for the Princess and would like to see more of him as it goes on (it was also talked that Key had also improvised a song for the character but I could not seem to find that track, unless it will appear as a deleted scene or in a follow up).

(DK... DONKEY KONG)

Now we cannot have a Mario movie without an appearance of the game character that helped bring him to the forefront of gaming and that is where the introduction of the Great Ape himself Donkey Kong comes into play, where he is voiced by Seth Rogen. This one was seen as the most weirdest choice and the one most found the funniest (some hilarious edits and videos were made following the announcement). Now when you think of Donkey Kong is that there is never any game where he properly speaks, besides just some simple make out words from some games and the short lived Donkey Kong Country animated series, so having to give him a voice would make a bit of sense for this. Seth Rogen doesn't do any accents or does a different voice but his own and honestly I think it fits the character well and is not too distracting at all (even with the signature laugh Rogen is known for) and can honestly see him lead a DK Country spin off film (which has been rumoured to be in development).

As for some of the other well known characters in this film, we have Dk's father and ruler of the Kong kingdom, Cranky who is played by Fred Armisen, who has a bit of a role in the film but just mainly for 2 scenes mainly, his voice feels a little off for the character and was expecting a little more of a crankier old man voice but I guess it wasn't too over staying its welcome. We also have Sebastian Maniscalco who plays Foreman Spike, Mario and Luigi's old grouchy boss from their job before the plumbing service start up. He is not a major character only showing up at the beginning and near the end but the design is good and his voice does fit the character well (and is nice to see an old obscure character from the series early days). for Kamek, Kevin Michael Richardson does a great job of portraying the Wizard Koopa and works well against the character of Bowser as a sort of wingman to him and can give some funny scenes with him. Khary Payton and Eric Bauza have very small roles as a Penguin King and the toad general in the film but is just a goofy thing to hear a very serious voice from something that would be seen as small and adorable. 

(this character is a mood)

And the last character I want to talk about is one that is introduced in the last trailer for the film and one of the funniest characters and that is with Lumalee, a small star like creature, voiced by one of the directors children, who is small and adorable but all they speak is some dark and grim stuff and just has the sense of wanting the sweet release of death and just hearing a child say this should not be funny but the way it is done with timing and everything just makes it that more funnier.

All in all the characters in the film while seen as a bit weird at the start with the announcement, turned out some great performances that I wouldn't mind hearing again in more movies, or even a little in the games here and there.

Characters and Voices: 8 - 8.5

Time for a bit of presentation

(Let's look at how this world is presented)

Now with story and character out the way, let us get to the main part of the piece, the presentation and there is one thing that needs to be said and that this movie has amazing animation and is so very pretty. Illumination is a studio that while they may not be the most highest spending when it comes to their movies with their usual price point be around $75 million but this one has gotten a bit of a higher budget and it is showing fully here. The film has the mix of a real world and fantasy world with the real world focus of Brooklyn brought to life with vibrancy and interesting aesthetics of simple designs. Then transitioning to the world of the Mushroom Kingdom of many varieties of bright and dark colours from the colour greenery forests of the Mushroom Kingdom, to the dark and creepy trees of the Darklands, to the menacing fiery face of Bowser's floating fortress, to lush jungle aesthetics of the Kong Kingdom to the bright and magical Rainbow road, Illumination really stepped it up with all that there is to offer with the world of the Mario universe and with the aid of Nintendo, it has made that great leap from video games to high definition form of the Big screen

This is also seen with the designs of the characters themselves that may have gotten just some little updated looks to fit more of the film style while retaining the style and look that keeps them familiar and recognizable, with blending of different designs from the games to create the versions that are present here and not too uncanny and off putting (like the original design for Sonic in his movies). This helps as well that the animation with the characters, especially the human ones are more animated like humans then as opposed to cartoon characters so the likes of seeing all goofy gags and effects happening is something that helps make it feel more to the games vibe. Overall Nintendo helped shape Illumination to create a very vibrant colourful and world that feels very close and respectful to the Mario world of the games they are adapted from.

Presentation Score: 10

The Writing and Humour of the tale

(Gotta get the writing done for a movie)

Now for this one was probably the bit I was most worried about (mainly on the comedy side), but I have to say that the writing for the film is not too overly complicated and is often easy to follow along with and it is not too offensive and really delves into the concept of the narrative of the world of Mario Bros and honestly works fine to me and could be a lot messier of trying to get the ideal part right. 

Now to the humour side of things. the jokes and comedy part I was most worried about as knowing from this studio with jokes they will rely a lot on the aesthetic of the humour of noises the body makes or someone says a funny word, they repeat it and laugh at it or something similar to it (really the low childish humour). But honestly they didn't do any of that in this one and actually had some jokes in this or gags that I actually did find funny. As I mentioned the funniest character is the morally oppressed Luma character that is hoping for the sweet release of Death and I was laughing at all their jokes and when the film ended I was talking with my friends while watching the credits and agreed that the character was a mood that we feel related too in the jokey sense. I was surprised from the humour of this film and how many jokes did make me chuckle a bit when I was having low expectations for the comedy. So overall, some decent writing and Decent Jokes that maybe would've like a little more of but it can be worked on in follow ups.

Writing and humour: 7.5

Now to talk on Music

(Mario games just got that really great music)

Now for another part of the movie that was really strong and excellent was the music and score for the movie. This films score was done by composer Brian Taylor who has done scores for other pieces including Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag, 2017's Power Rangers movies, most of the Fast and Furious movies and the acclaimed series of Yellowstone. But it wasn't just Taylor on his own as he has collaborated with the Mario music composer legend Koji Kondo, to help bring the music tracks of the 40 years of Mario games to the grand scale of the film adaptation and the way that it has been reworked and brought to the big screen is so beautiful and is so far one of my favourite film scores of this year. Hearing some of the songs from the series from the original trilogy, Mario 64 to the beautiful orchestral music of Galaxy was near emotional and I love that they gave so much care and love to the score. This is even said for the original song that was created for the movie that was written and performed by Jack Black of the love ballad from Bowser to the princess and it is so simple but so catchy and has become a popular song in the last few weeks this has been released and is super catchy and works the character well.

There is one part of the music and score that really just does not work and that is for some reason the use of licensed tracks. All of them just feel like they are really unnecessary when they could've easily replaced them with music from the mario games or other series connected to the Mario characters cause while yes the songs used in the film are good songs, they just don't fit right in a movie about Mario and am probably thinking this was a choice made by Illumination (Although one of them does have a bit of a connection to the Mario series as it was the number 1 song on the charts when the original Mario Bros released(. But besides that it is very minimal compared to all of the music from Taylor and Kondo that really excels it.

Music and Score: 9-9.5

Respecting the source material

(this clip alone is a huge callback to the original Super show with the music and its faithful)

If there is one other thing that may people agree on is that it is definitely seen as a great love letter to the long running Mario Bros series and I personally agree too. Throughout the 90 minute Runtime there is so many references and subtle easter eggs over the plumbes history that it may need another rewatch or a few to find every easter egg and reference, even the trailers and the few tv spots we got were just full of references and easter eggs to certain worlds in the different games, powerups, characters and even call backs to obscure pieces like the image above playing the Mario Bros Super Show rap theme and even getting the original voice actress for Princess Peach/ Toadstool from the show to voice the customer in the ad (and even provide an actual website that screams the 90s or early 2000s or even websites I made back in the early stages of college) or even to references to other Nintendo Properties such as Punch Out, Kid Icarus, Star Fox and maybe more hidden as details in the film. Either Way Nintendo really went all in with the references and recreations and Illumination for making them happen and I hope with whatever other property that Nintendo will adapt next for a film or even a show that it is faithful and loving as this one.

Respecting Source Material: 10

The negatives of the film

(just a few bits to remove or learn for a possible follow up)

Now it is not all perfect as every film does have some issues (even films that have perfect 10/10 has it's small issues) and there is a small handful of issues that I will list here:

-Music: The composed score of Taylor and Koji Kondo is one that I will think to keep that as it is excellent, the only part of the music and score I would leave out for the next time or even with this is the Licensed tracks and more replace them with music from the games reworked from the composers to really exemplify the scenes better with the music.

-Pacing: this relates a bit to the runtime for the movie too as there are scenes even seen from some of the trailers and tv spots where we see hints of some of the worlds from the games like Bomb omb battlefield from Mario 64 (I think it is), Tosterina from Odyssey or even the Yoshi island are only really briefly seen for a few seconds before it moves along to the next section. I feel that if they gave just a little bit more time in these areas like even to the length of a minute so we can see the work and effort that went into the piece and worldbuilding created it would be great. This leads to the likes of the Runtime where 92 minutes is a nice rounded time, I think even adding an extra 5-10 mins to around a 100 minute movie so we can see some of that world and help a little with the pacing.

-Characters: Most case I feel one or 2 of the characters get a little underused in the overall narrative, a little bit with Luigi and Toad, but I think that it is fine enough as it is for the film and I am sure if there is a sequel that they will get a bit more screen time and presence and more of them is good with me. Also hopefully we can learn a bit more of some characters background like expanding further with Peach's backstory (that we get a bit of in the film) and even more known characters from the series but I am sure follow ups will build on that.

-Story: This is more for a follow up then with this film as I think a simple story to start is good and introducing the world and characters to newcomers and long time fans, but if it goes for the simplistic route for a story in follow ups, it will feel a little too repetitive and hopefully we build more of bigger and better stories overtime (not to say this films story was bad as it was Great and very enjoyable)

Final Thoughts and Conclusions

(a fun time to be had)

Overall ever since it was announced, I was excited, had a little skepticism and then when I got to see it for the first time, I had a lot of fun at the movie and I will say that Illumination and Nintendo did a great job of bringing the Mario Bros to the big screen and gave them a film that they felt like a love letter to the games and for the fans. Sure some others may not agree with my opinions on it (and some other critics seems to think the film was offensive and Illuminations worst film or their only bad film they made and to that 2nd statement, there is much worse films from the studio then this one). To me this would be in my top 3 Illumination movies and in the Top 1 of this year for me (I am sure there will be plenty more films over this year but it is one that could still stick in the top 10 by the years end). 

But if you are looking for something to check out for a fun adventure and something for the whole family, you will not go wrong with the Super Mario Bros Movie and I will be excited to see more films from Nintendo made in the future or a follow up with the Bros.

Story: 7

Character and Cast: 8

Presentation: 10

Music: 9.5

Writing and Humour: 7.5

Respect of source Material: 10

Total Score: 52/60 or 85%