The Super Mario Bros. Movie Review

 

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a animated video game movie based on the Mario franchise. It's produced by Nintendo, Illumination, and Universal Pictures and distributed by Universal Pictures. The Super Mario Bros. Movie is written by Matthew Fogel and directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic.

The story is two plumbers who are also brothers named Mario and Luigi are your typical blue collar guys, that is until things change for them. They enter a world they've never seen before, soon Mario meets up with Princess Peach who wants his help in stopping Bowser from conquering all of the kingdoms. Mario will quickly have to go from zero to hero if he wants to put a stop to this powerful foe.

Initial Reaction

The reason why I wanted to see this was because of the trailers. They really made the movie seem like it was going to be a bright and fun adventure, and I also played some of the Mario games, mainly the Mario and Sonic Olympic games, so I was excited to see what looked like a more accurate Mario movie, than the live-action movie from the 90's.

Cons

Didn't hate anything about this one. Just move on.

Middle Ground

If there was one mixed bag I had with the movie, it was the voice cast. Now Chris Pratt, Charlie Day, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key, and Anya Taylor-Joy as Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Toad, and Princess Peach were are really good. I liked their performances. Then we have Fred Armisen as King Cranky Kong, he's got a good voice but, it just didn't fit this character. It sounded way too young for a character who's supposed to be very old. Then we have Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, who was the worst out of the bunch. Say what you will about Pratt's Mario voice, but at least he tried to sound different, Rogen didn't. All you heard was Seth Rogen, not anything close to or what you think Donkey Kong would sound like. Now while the overall story is pretty good, there was a slight thing I couldn't get out of my head, and that was Luigi being held captive. I get they wanted a reason for Mario going on this adventure, and changing things up a bit but, we really missed out on some good moments we could've had with Mario and Luigi. Not to mention, they also missed out on those two butting heads regarding the mission to stop Bowser, what with Mario being the hero and Luigi clearly being the scared one, which could've lead to a big dramatic moment. Like I said, it's still a good story, it's just there was indeed a missed opportunity.

Pros

One positive and the biggest thing going for this movie was the animation. This is, without a doubt, Illumination's most visually stunning movie yet. I was in awe. Now the humor isn't anything award winning, but it still had something going for it. Me and the nearly packed audience I saw it with had a good time. Especially Bowser's little love song. Speaking of music, mush like the animation, it's perfect. The composer [Brian Tyler] did a wonderful job. He had a perfect mixed of his own original work, which matched the movie's adventurous and whimsical tone,while at the same exact time throwing in the game's iconic music. Then there's the action. I don't want to give too much away, but it was very entertaining. Especially when they incorporated some actual side scrolling. Which brings me to my final praise being the easter eggs. Now this probably would've make or break the overall movie, but they actually made it work. It didn't just feel like winks and nods about the games, it felt more like a celebration.

While this isn't a perfect movie by any stretch, I still had a great time. I was smiling from ear to ear enjoying what was on the screen. And whether your a family man, a fan, or both, I think this is one worth checking out.

My final rating is, Good.

That's all for now, come back on Monday, Apr 10th, for part four of my Road to Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny with my review of, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Until then, enjoy the rest of day and on Sunday, have a Happy Easter.