The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)

Title: The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Year: 2023
Genre: Action | Animation | Comedy |
Runtime: 92 min
Director: Aaron Horvath & Michael Jelenic
Starring: Chris Pratt, Charlie Day, Jack Black

7.4/10

A Brooklyn plumber named Mario travels through the Mushroom Kingdom with a princess named Peach and an anthropomorphic mushroom named Toad to find Mario’s brother, Luigi, and to save the world from a ruthless fire-breathing Koopa named Bowser.

A WET DREAM ON A THIN STORY

Directing a film like The Super Mario Bros. Movie proofs that there is some incredible hype, heavy load and immensely pressure on the two duo who created the imaginative universe, through Illumination and Nintendo.

These characters are bigger than the movie, bigger than the games. These icons for decades have proved to be more relentless than any video-game character. Mario and Luigi is iconic characters and the whole world of Mushroom kingdom, the relationship to Peach and the fragile trust to Bowser. It’s a legend and a lore that has built up since the 1980s and it proves that the directors have done everything than could to honor that. That they wanted to cherish this with care and profound with this IP.

And it’s a little overwhelming. If they fuck up, they’re screwed. But they didn’t. It’s the most successful film of the year. The most popular animated film for a long time and it will become an even bigger success. The film is an origin story. It tells the story of the ordinary plumbers Mario and Luigi, working and ending up in Mushroom Kingdom and then save the magic world.

No one dies, that’s for sure. No one is sad, not really. It’s an implemented story that tick every box by Nintendo, to tell a decent overdue story. Although it’s beautiful animated, well-crafted and hilarious for children of a certain age, it never shows complexity or delve deep in these characters. It’s a straightforward plot, a simple one. And maybe we shouldn’t expect more. Maybe this is good enough for us, as then we can get sequels and built up.

There’s tone of easter egg picking in the background. You might notice a sound or a visible egg in the background, like when they choose the car, they press A to confirm. These details make the worlds believable but sadly the story doesn’t incorporate that enough to make it sensible. Most of the trailers do suggest spoilers. The voice acting of Mario by Chris Pratt is decent. Luigi by Charlie Day is an improvement to his brother, but we don’t get that much of a screentime. There’s a lot of things going on but not that much for the brother’s personality. But that’s okay, it’s an origin film. The other films will be better. Bowser by Jack Black stood out the most, who was the most charismatic in this film, with the singing, the dancing, and the world-dominating narcissism.

However, it’s a wet dream for everyone craving for a real-life Mario world and to just breath in. Even if there is a thin storyline, it has lived up to the hype and delivered on its promise.