The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)
For decades, cinematic video game adaptations stood as an ugly duckling of the film industry. Despite having base properties that had established fan bases, set narratives, and even pre-built iconography, the film industry struggled to find a path forward to please fans when they traveled to the big screen. Many terrible films came as a result of this with one of the largest flops being 1993's Super Mario Bros.. A disaster both financially and critically, the film quickly became an easy example as being one of the worst video game adaptations ever put to film. This trend continued until finally, things started to turn things around in 2020 with Sonic the Hedgehog. Largely saved by audience backlash to the initial trailer which forced the studio to change its visual design to make characters more closely resemble the characters from the classic video game, audiences reacted positively. Quickly, it became clear that the recipe for success in this genre was to stay more faithful to the source material with resources dedicated to bringing that vision to life rather than trying to change or morph the original property. This success continued with HBO's The Last of Us which became regarded as the best video game adaptation to date.
This logic seemed promising enough that Nintendo decided to try its hand at adapting its signature character to the big screen one more time with The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Teaming up with Illumination, the studio behind multiple major modern animated properties such as Despicable Me, Sing, Trolls, and The Secret Life of Pets, The Super Mario Bros. Movie has all the technical ability to continue the hot streak of video game adaptations but quickly falls flat with bland storytelling that speaks to the double edged sword that is Illumination as an animation studio.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie is the Illumination style done at its absolute worst. Illumination has never been a studio to disappoint when it comes to visuals. From the genuinely breathtaking city shots that open The Secret Life of Pets to the style and energy brought to the performances of Sing 2, Illumination has possibly had the strongest visual animation of any western animation studio when one considers both ambition and execution. The Super Mario Bros. Movie takes full advantage of this with one of the most captivating and breathtaking showcases of The Mushroom Kingdom and its surrounding areas to date. The film is vibrant in color and is a standout in using texture and lighting. The cinematography is often gorgeous with basic filmmaking itself lending to evoking emotion and weight. Technically, The Super Mario Bros. Movie might just be one of the best animated films in recent memory.
Illumination has always been more concerned with outside appearance than inward worth with The Super Mario Bros. Movie being unable to escape this same toxic mentality. While the film paints a beautiful setting and is able to bring every piece of Mario iconography to life, the film fails to find much worth doing once audiences are in seats. The story is sluggish and dull with the plot revolving around Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) getting sucked into a green pipe in Brooklyn and ending up in the more traditional Mario world. This happens at the same time as Bowser (Jack Black) gains hold of the Super Star and begins to make his way to invade the Mushroom Kingdom leaving Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) scrambling for support. While Luigi is quickly captured by Bowser, Mario joins forces with Peach to travel to the Jungle Kingdom to try and gain the support of Cranky Kong (Fred Armisen).
While this journey is filled with plenty of references and easter eggs, it is hard to say any of this drama is that compelling with nearly every narrative beat playing out in the most basic and bland of ways. Much of the runtime feels dedicated to filler and the film never is able to find the gravitas or energy that it clearly wants to hold. While one might be quick to ignore this as being unavoidable for cinema meant for younger audiences, every year dozens of films prove that they can be created for younger demographics while also maintaining a strong storytelling base causing this excuse to seem childish and ignorant.
Even when the film is meant to simply have fun, there are complications with the biggest being the cast. While the casting of Chris Pratt as Mario has become a meme, no amount of jokes can prepare one for just how awful Pratt is in this role. From an inconsistent accent to forced moments of emotion, Pratt is unnatural and incapable of bringing this classic character to life. Individuals like Anya Taylor-Joy , Charlie Day, and Seth Rogen are far more passable, but it is hard to say that any of these talents get used to their full potentials with Rogen especially feeling completely wasted as Donkey Kong. Fred Armisen and Sebastian Maniscalco are more painful additions to the cast. The only performances to actually stand out as notably strong are Keegan-Michael Key who stands tall as a shockingly strong voice for Toad and Juliet Jelenic who steals the show as Lumalee to a point where it almost feels distracting considering how bland the rest of the cast is. For such a big film with such iconic characters and, on paper, such a powerful ensemble, there are no excuses for how phoned in and dull the majority of performances are within the film.
For Mario fans who want to see a basic Mario plot put onto the big screen with plenty of easter eggs, The Super Mario Bros. Movie might be a completely rewarding experience. For those who also want compelling drama and funny comedy, the experience will be far more lacking. The Super Mario Bros. Movie might be a technical achievement, but the film is severely lacking and one can only hope for more depth and thought to be given to the inevitable sequel projects.
This logic seemed promising enough that Nintendo decided to try its hand at adapting its signature character to the big screen one more time with The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Teaming up with Illumination, the studio behind multiple major modern animated properties such as Despicable Me, Sing, Trolls, and The Secret Life of Pets, The Super Mario Bros. Movie has all the technical ability to continue the hot streak of video game adaptations but quickly falls flat with bland storytelling that speaks to the double edged sword that is Illumination as an animation studio.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie is the Illumination style done at its absolute worst. Illumination has never been a studio to disappoint when it comes to visuals. From the genuinely breathtaking city shots that open The Secret Life of Pets to the style and energy brought to the performances of Sing 2, Illumination has possibly had the strongest visual animation of any western animation studio when one considers both ambition and execution. The Super Mario Bros. Movie takes full advantage of this with one of the most captivating and breathtaking showcases of The Mushroom Kingdom and its surrounding areas to date. The film is vibrant in color and is a standout in using texture and lighting. The cinematography is often gorgeous with basic filmmaking itself lending to evoking emotion and weight. Technically, The Super Mario Bros. Movie might just be one of the best animated films in recent memory.
Illumination has always been more concerned with outside appearance than inward worth with The Super Mario Bros. Movie being unable to escape this same toxic mentality. While the film paints a beautiful setting and is able to bring every piece of Mario iconography to life, the film fails to find much worth doing once audiences are in seats. The story is sluggish and dull with the plot revolving around Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) getting sucked into a green pipe in Brooklyn and ending up in the more traditional Mario world. This happens at the same time as Bowser (Jack Black) gains hold of the Super Star and begins to make his way to invade the Mushroom Kingdom leaving Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) scrambling for support. While Luigi is quickly captured by Bowser, Mario joins forces with Peach to travel to the Jungle Kingdom to try and gain the support of Cranky Kong (Fred Armisen).
While this journey is filled with plenty of references and easter eggs, it is hard to say any of this drama is that compelling with nearly every narrative beat playing out in the most basic and bland of ways. Much of the runtime feels dedicated to filler and the film never is able to find the gravitas or energy that it clearly wants to hold. While one might be quick to ignore this as being unavoidable for cinema meant for younger audiences, every year dozens of films prove that they can be created for younger demographics while also maintaining a strong storytelling base causing this excuse to seem childish and ignorant.
Even when the film is meant to simply have fun, there are complications with the biggest being the cast. While the casting of Chris Pratt as Mario has become a meme, no amount of jokes can prepare one for just how awful Pratt is in this role. From an inconsistent accent to forced moments of emotion, Pratt is unnatural and incapable of bringing this classic character to life. Individuals like Anya Taylor-Joy , Charlie Day, and Seth Rogen are far more passable, but it is hard to say that any of these talents get used to their full potentials with Rogen especially feeling completely wasted as Donkey Kong. Fred Armisen and Sebastian Maniscalco are more painful additions to the cast. The only performances to actually stand out as notably strong are Keegan-Michael Key who stands tall as a shockingly strong voice for Toad and Juliet Jelenic who steals the show as Lumalee to a point where it almost feels distracting considering how bland the rest of the cast is. For such a big film with such iconic characters and, on paper, such a powerful ensemble, there are no excuses for how phoned in and dull the majority of performances are within the film.
For Mario fans who want to see a basic Mario plot put onto the big screen with plenty of easter eggs, The Super Mario Bros. Movie might be a completely rewarding experience. For those who also want compelling drama and funny comedy, the experience will be far more lacking. The Super Mario Bros. Movie might be a technical achievement, but the film is severely lacking and one can only hope for more depth and thought to be given to the inevitable sequel projects.