Film review: ‘THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE’ by Nick Gardener from ‘Built For Speed’
For someone like myself who is absolutely mystified by the appeal of computer games, it’s easy to overlook their cultural and economic impact. They are massively popular and increasingly infiltrating other media with adaptations like TV series The Last Of Us lauded by critics. Computer games are also big business with returns on new releases rivalling and often exceeding those of blockbuster movies.
It seems, therefore, that movie adaptations of video games are here to stay but does their popularity and economic clout justify another movie version (this time computer animated) of Super Mario Bros., a game that was so disastrously brought to the big screen in a live action version in 1993. For those who find both video games and most contemporary action-oriented animated films headache-inducing, the answer will probably be ‘no’ but others, particularly the intended youngster audience, will undoubtedly revel in this film’s manic sugar rush action, quirky characters and retina burning hyper-colour fantasy world.
For those unfamiliar with the Super Mario Bros. world, the film centres on brothers, Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) two bumbling Brooklyn plumbers who for some reason call themselves Super Mario Bros. Here, their fledgling business is faltering badly as they end up inadvertently causing destruction at each job they attend. Ridiculed by their family, the brothers see an opportunity to redeem themselves when a New York street is flooded by a water main. Exploring the subterranean origins of the flood, they find a magical portal that propels them into a strange world inhabited by mushroom people but ruled by, who else but a benevolent, pretty, blonde human, Princess Peach (Anja Taylor-Joy). When the mushroom world comes under attack from the enormous demonic fire breathing turtle, Bowser (Jack Black) who has designs on the princess, Mario and Luigi must shake off their self-doubt to try and save her kingdom.
One of the big questions for any filmmaker adapting a video game is how much of the game they keep in the film. Given that games are interactive and often revolve around characters collecting power tokens and destroying other creatures, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of scope for a complex and compelling narrative. While admittedly adapted from a board game, the recent Dungeons and Dragons film cleverly worked around the source’s limitations by using the fantasy world scenario as a jumping off point and introducing game elements only when they fitted the plot. The Super Mario Bros Movie doesn’t bridge the gap between game and movie quite as smoothly. To remind audiences of the original product, it contains a lengthy sequence in which Mario undergoes a training regime which essentially replicates the game as he bounces around an obstacle course trying to ‘power up’ via the illuminated tokens. The fact that he’s in a weird fantasy world with talking mushrooms gives the film a little more poetic licence to shoehorn in some odd elements like this but it feels a little forced.
Elsewhere, the action is pretty vigorous with some mass battles and a bruising confrontation between Mario and video game alumnus Donkey Kong. These will probably delight the tweens but may prove a bit too bone-crunching and intense for littlies. On a technical level, the Super Mario Bros. Movie is as impressive as most computer animated films of recent years. The animation, which boasts clear, vivid imagery and elaborately conceived worlds, almost rivals the Pixar films. The voice cast also do a fine job bringing lively humour, pathos and cuteness or in Jack Black’s case a little menace to their characters.
Despite a Gen X baiting soundtrack that includes Beastie Boys and Aha, most adults will probably find their attention drifting about halfway through this film but younger audiences should find it a fun ride.
Nick’s rating: ***
Genre: Drama/ Action/ Adventure/ Animation.
Classification: G.
Director(s): Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic.
Release date: 5th Apr 2023..
Running time: 92 mins.
Reviewer: Nick Gardener can be heard on “Built For Speed” every Friday night from 8-10pm on 88.3 Southern FM.