The Super Mario Bros. Movie
There are times where “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” works exactly as you’d like it to, times where you wish it’d stick closer to the gameplay, and times where it takes left turns from its source so weirdly you’re like, “Ok, I think I’m in.” The first and third times are further between than you’d like in a 92-minute movie, but I can appreciate the filmmakers at least trying to tell a narrative story here, even if it doesn’t work as well as they think it will. After all, you have to get two Italian plumbers to the Mushroom Kingdom somehow.
My parents bought me a Nintendo after we moved to Georgia in 1988, no doubt trying to soften the blow of the move. Nintendo has, honestly, been my primary mode of video game entertainment in my life; until Meredith and I bought an XBox in 2016, an Atari was the only other brand gaming system I had outside of Nintendo. The Super Mario Bros. games were always the most addictive, because they were adventure games with imaginative worlds and a simple hero’s quest attached to them. Over the years, the mythology of the world has expanded with each new gaming system, and even Mario Kart challenges you in unexpected ways with how the world works. There’s over 35 years of stories to take from for the big screen- the question is how much you want to take, and how much you want to make it your own. The filmmakers kind of have a good balance here, but I don’t know how well it works.
A film like this operates best for life-long Mario Bros. fans, those whom will appreciate the details from various games and media screenwriter Matthew Fogel and directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic put into the movie. The film centers on Bowser’s attempts to get the super star- which makes him invincible- and take over the Mushroom Kingdom, whether that’s through force or other forms of persuasion. In Brooklyn, Mario and Luigi are hopeful plumbers who are struggling to get their business up-and-running, and when they find a mysterious pipe underneath the city, they are thrust into the Mushroom Kingdom, where- hopefully- they can help Princess Peach and her Toads defeat Bowser.
The biggest miscalculation this film makes is separating Mario (voiced by Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) for much of the film. With that setup for their dynamic, this should be as much about the two of them growing together than it is bringing the world of the video game that many of my generation take as foundational pop culture entertainment to life. It works fine the way it is, in part because we get a fun story with Mario, Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) and Toad (Keegan-Michael Key) as Mario learns the rules of this world, and Luigi’s dilemma gives me one of my favorite weird “I’m cool with this” characters in the film when he’s Bowser’s captive, but one of the things the games did so well as they evolved was make teamwork between the players so integral to completing the game. Yes, you can finish them as an individual, but playing these games with another person- whether it’s taking turns on worlds or messing with each other in the newer iterations of the game- is part of the fun. Here, when characters feel like they’re working together, it’s awesome to watch.
One place where the film wins me over completely is in its animation, whether it’s bringing the Mushroom Kingdom to life, emulating the gameplay visually, or the character animation, I am on board with this film visually. I wish the film’s narrative had worked in more visual storytelling akin to how the game operates, but that makes the set pieces where that does take place- an early training montage, the obligatory Mario Kart sequence, and moments in the finale- feel truly special when they come up. The film’s other big highlights? Jack Black’s Bowser, which is arguably the most well-rounded character in the film, and Seth Rogan as Donkey Kong. Of course the (traditional) villains are the most interesting characters; it doesn’t help that we don’t get much feeling from Pratt and Day in their performances in the main characters.
If I were 11, I have no doubt I would have eaten this film up. As a 45-year-old, I enjoy this film, even if I don’t love everything it does. Personally, what I enjoyed about the film is enough to say, I liked it, even if I feel as though it could have been more. That’s enough for me.
