My Thoughts of "The Super Mario Bros. Movie"

Note:

I originally wrote this on Sunday December 11, 2022, I posted it to DeviantART on Wednesday April 12, 2023. Yes, I already started writing this review months in advance before the movie came out, I'm weird like that. I didn't write anything about the movie itself, I just wrote the part about Illumination, and how it's one of the least respected animation studios in Hollywood, of the five big ones (Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar, DreamWorks, Sony Pictures Animation, and Illumination of course), and how everyone doubts their movies and thinks they're going to suck before they even see them. You'll see that part when you see it, but that was the part that I wrote in advance. 

Something I didn't really emphasize in the review of this movie is how much of a surprise it was. Not it terms of the quality or the critical reception. The quality was surprising for me because of how good it was, but the critical reception was the most predictable thing about this movie and its release. Anyone could see from a mile away that the critics were not going to like this movie. They're against it from the start because it's an Illumination movie, and most critics hate Illumination movies, and are more likely to give one a bad review 👎. It's the complete inverse of how critics perceive and review Pixar movies. Most critics love Pixar movies, even the ones that are bad or aren't very good, and are more likely to give one a good review 👍. 

Plus, it's a video game movie, which was another strike, another reason for the critics to immediately dismiss this movie, and go into it expecting to hate it, or even wanting to hate it. Critics are more likely to dislike video game movies, and give them bad reviews. The only video game related media that critics have actually given praise to and immediately embraced are the Castlevania series on Netflix, the Arcane series also on Netflix, and The Last of Us series on Max (formally known as HBO Max). Those are only video game adaptations that critics have actually like, and they're all streaming series. Those shows fit into the little prestige bubble of what critics will accept as good entertainment or "art." Critics are a bit snobbish, pretentious, close-minded, and can be quite hypocritical sometimes. 

Anyway, the actual surprising thing about the movie and its release was much money 💵 it made. It grossed over $1.36 billion 💵 at the worldwide box office. I'm sure people were expecting it to make money 💵, but not that much money 💵 🤑. It was a bona fide box office juggernaut. It had the biggest worldwide opening weekend of any animated film, it became the highest grossing video game movie of all time, and it was the highest grossing movie of 2023, right up until Barbie took its place. I'm still kind of sour about that 😒. Mainly because I think Barbie is quite an overrated and I have no interest in watching it, and I find its accession into pop culture to quite strange. Like, I feel people are elevating that movie to an incredibly high status that I personally don't feel is deserved. Yeah, sure I understand people like that movie, but greatest movie of 2023, or one of the greatest movies ever made, or even one of the greatest toy movies of all times? I don't think so. It seems people have hyped up that movie far beyond what is actually deserved. I doubt that it's a movie that fully lives up to the hype. 

And before you accuse me of sexism, I don't just feel this way about Barbie, I feel very much the same way about Oppenheimer. I feel like that movie's pretty overrated too, and I also have no interest in watching it. I also feel that people have elevated that movie to higher status in pop culture than it actually deserves. Simply because it was a Christopher Nolan movie, and it wasn't a superhero movie. What's interesting about the critical reception to Oppenheimer is that a lot of the people who hated TENET seemed to like Oppenheimer. Like, a lot of them were saying that Oppenheimer was Nolan's return to form, and that he proved that he can still make good movies that have wide appeal, and aren't just confusing and convoluted for the sake of being confusing and convoluted like TENET. Like, TENET was viewed by a lot of critics as being nothing more than a Chris Nolan vanity project, whereas they viewed Oppenheimer as a "real movie." 

But, I didn't watch Oppenheimer because I was genuinely wasn't interested in it. The trailers didn't hook me, and I'm not interested enough in the real life Robert Oppenheimer to watch a 3 hour movie about his life story. The actual interesting part of his life, his involvement in the Manhattan Project isn't really the main part of the movie as Nolan chose to focus on his congressional hearing where he was being accused of being a communist ☭, and he had to clear his name, or defend himself in front of Congress. And he just decided to cut between these two points in Oppenheimer's life, and the congressional hearing stuff takes more precedent over the Manhattan Project stuff. And he decided to have the congressional hearing stuff be in black and white, and the Manhattan Project stuff in color for some reason. It's a really pretentious stylistic choice than I'm a fan of. 

I just think that Christopher Nolan is one of the most overrated directors in Hollywood. Him, Quentin Tarantino, and Denis Villeneuve, they're most overrated and overhyped directors working in Hollywood today. I don't understand what people see in these guys and their work. I mean, I understand, like I get why a lot of people like those men ♂︎. and their work, I just don't like it. I feel people have elevated them to statuses that aren't fully deserved just they're only directors that people know by name and recognize and actually have a vision, and there are hardly anyone else like them that match the status of directors like Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, and Francis Ford Coppola, who are all aging, and either retired like Coppola and Lucas are, or are likely approaching retirement like Spielberg and Scorsese. And if Spielberg and Scorsese don't retire, like Scorsese says he won't anytime soon, then they'll just die working like a lot of people in their generation. So, people have chosen Nolan, Tarantino, and Villeneuve to fill that void that those older directors are leaving as they age out of the industry so-to-speak, when they are no longer around. And I just don't think they'll cut it. I'm sorry. This of course also stems from people clinging onto the Auteur Theory, which is quite problematic in its own right.

But, back to Oppenheimer. The other big thing that killed my interest for that movie, what little I might've had, was the whole Barbenheimer meme, or phenomenon if you want to call it that. I'd probably just call it a meme since that's really all it was, but you can choose either term. Whatever floats your boat. Barbenheimer is probably one of the dumbest movie-related memes to come out in the past couple of years. For those lucky enough to have not heard of Barbenheimer, basically it refers to a phenomenon in-which people went to see Barbie and Oppenheimer back-to-back, either on the same day or a day apart, in a sort of double feature. The way people used to watch movies back in my grandma's day. All because Barbie and Oppenheimer just happened to be released the same day, Friday July 21, 2023. 

Like, people took these two movies, and were like, "Oh hey, these movies come out the same day. Isn't that funny and weird?" and they just crafted a meme out of that. People even made t-shirts for it. And people were sort of encouraged or conditioned to see both of these movies back to back. Like, it was considered a badge of honor if you participated in Barbenheimer. You were seen as "one of the cool kids," you were in on the joke, you were in the "it" crowd. And this is largely how both of these movies rose to the level of prominence that they did. Barbie likely wouldn't have become the highest grossing movie of 2023 and become this pop culture landmark that it is it weren't for Barbenheimer.  

Barbenheimer was such a huge and unexpected success that Paramount and Lionsgate tried to sort of replicate it prematurely with their fall releases, Saw X and PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie. They called it Saw Patrol. It didn't really catch on, or have the same level of impact on pop culture that Barbenheimer did. Likely because people could see that it was forced and manufactured, and not at all organic or grassroots like Barbenheimer was. But, the main thing that bothers me about Barbenheimer besides the sheer stupidity of it, and how inescapable it was back in the late summer of 2023, is the amount who said that it "saved cinema," or proved the viability of the theater going experience. The fact that people can say that Barbenheimer saved cinema with a straight face kind of shows how far we've truly fallen. 

Worst of all Godzilla, a franchise that I love, is getting the same treatment as Barbie and Oppenheimer, with the latest Japanese Godzilla film 🇯🇵, Godzilla: Minus One, which just happened to get a wide theatrical release in North America. People have been propping that movie up as "the savior of cinema" or as an example of what Hollywood should be doing with their IP movies, since so many established franchises this year had releases that underwhelmed at the box office and received critical beatings. Minus One has become just as overhyped as both Barbie and Oppenheimer, and has killed my desire to watch it. I refuse to watch Minus One, no matter how good people say it is. It probably isn't even that good in the first place.

But, enough talking. I've already given enough hot takes that make me unpopular with certain people. I should be saving this kind of talk for my 2023 New Years' Eve Recap. But you know what? I like to form my own opinions on film. I don't just go along with the popular opinion just to fit in. If I happen to like a movie that everyone hates, or if I hate a movie that everyone loves, then so be it. The same goes for video games, anime, and cartoons. And this movie, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is sort of an example of that. 

A lot of critics hate it, and dismiss it as another terrible video game movie, or as just more Illumination trash, but I still love it. And I still wished it held onto the title of highest grossing movie of 2023, instead of being bumped down to second place by Barbie. What I can say, I like underdogs, and while The Super Mario Bros. Movie is sort of the underdog in this situation. Sure, it's a big budget studio movie that made over a billion dollars 💵, but is still widely dismissed and disliked for simply being a video game movie and an Illumination movie, for not living up to whatever expectations Mario and Nintendo fans had for this movie. 

— 

 

(This is the poster for The Super Mario Bros. Movie, the second attempt at a Mario movie. This time, it's animated.) 

 

Well, I just got through watching The Super Mario Bros. Movie, the latest Mario movie made by the animation studio, Illumination. Illumination doesn't command as much respect as Pixar, or DreamWorks, or even Blue Sky Studios, which sadly no longer exists, but they're still good at what they do. The animation in their movies, even if people don't like them, has always been top notch, starting from the Despicable Me movies to the The Secret Life of Pets movies to the Sing movies to the Dr. Seuss adaptations to the Minions movies, to now, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, the animation in these movies have always looked good. I've never understood anyone who said that Illumination movies have bad animation, they don't.

But, of course, Illumination didn't make this movie by themselves, they did have the help and involvement of Nintendo, the company that created and owns the entire Super Mario franchise. They were really adamant about making sure that this movie didn't turn out like the 1993 live action Super Mario Bros. movie with Bob Hoskins, John Leguizamo, and Dennis Hopper. In fact, Nintendo was more involved in the making of this movie than Toho was in any of the MonsterVerse Godzilla movies.

I haven't seen the 1993 Super Mario Bros. movie, but a lot of people did hate it, and still hate it, seeing it as a bastardization of the Super Mario brand. It's similar to how the 1998 Godzilla, the 2017 live action Ghost in the Shell movie, Dragonball: Evolution, The Last Airbender, the 2005 live action Æon Flux movie, the Netflix live action Death Note series, and the Netflix live action Cowboy Bebop series are all viewed. I'm sure the 1993 movie isn't as bad as a lot of people have made out to be all these years. I'm still willing to check it out, even after seeing this new movie.

Speaking of which, this movie has been getting some pretty negative reviews from critics and even some Nintendo fans. The movie has a 57% on Rotten Tomatoes 🍅, which is a review aggregate website that I've never really taken all that seriously or put much stake in. People wave around Rotten Tomato 🍅 scores, especially critic scores, like they mean something or that they're an indicator of quality when they really aren't. This is definitely another instance where I definitely disagree with the critics because I think this movie was pretty damn good. I find it sort of baffling that there are some Nintendo and Mario fans saying that this movie is disappointing or it's "wasted potential." It has everything you could ever want in a Mario movie. It has all the references and easter eggs, it's respectful and faithful to the source material, and it has good animation, and good voice acting.

Obviously, the major stand out in terms of voice acting is Jack Black, who voices Bowser. Jack Black of course has been in a lot of animated movies over the course of his career, most notably, the Kung Fu Panda 🐼 movies. But, this was the first time that Jack Black voiced a character in an animated movie, where he completely disappeared in a role. Even with Po in Kung Fu Panda 🐼, you could still tell it was him. He didn't really transform his voice, like he does here. Most of the time, you can't even really tell it's him, except for a few instances, such as when he sings the "Peaches 🍑" song 🎵. What you didn't think that they would hire Jack Black, and NOT utilize his musical talents 🎵? The "Peaches 🍑" song is definitely a major standout scene in this movie and is the one part of the movie that everyone's talking about. Even more than the Kart race scene 🏎️, which spectacular BTW, definitely the best action scene in this movie.

If the Oscars gave out Best Supporting Actor awards for voice acting, then I would say that Jack Black would deserve to be a contender because he was excellent in this movie. Speaking of the Oscars though, I do think that this movie should be nominated for Best Animated Picture, and it probably will, even if the critics aren't exactly singing its praise. I definitely don't think it deserves a Razzie award, I would be really upset if this movie was nominated for a Razzie award because it isn't that bad. In fact, it's not bad at all, it's actually pretty good 👍.

Anyway though, back to the voice acting. Even the people that weren't all the crazy about being in the voice cast did good jobs like Chris Pratt and Seth Rogen. I was admittedly one of the people who was skeptical of Chris Pratt's casting as Mario, and doubted his ability to voice the character because he didn't completely replicate the voice from the games. Well, it turns he does, and he does a pretty good job at it. I'm sure there's some that wish he would've done that voice through the whole movie, but I do think the regular Italian-American 🇮🇹🇺🇸 voice he sticks with for most of the movie works just fine. He does embody the character pretty well, and I don't mind him being the cinematic Mario, at least for now. It is kind of ironic that mushrooms 🍄 are this version of Mario's least favorite food since mushrooms 🍄 are all over the Super Mario franchise, and they're the main means that Mario and all the characters get power-ups.

While Seth Rogen isn't as good in the role as Donkey Kong as Chris Pratt is in the role of Mario, he isn't bad by any means. Watching him and Mario bicker and banter each other was pretty entertaining, it sort of make wish that there was a Donkey Kong Country movie on the horizon. I don't know if there is or not, I wouldn't mind having Seth Rogen coming back to voice the character again in a full solo Donkey Kong movie. Speaking of which, there is a brief cameo from Pauline in this movie. I didn't expect to see her, but it definitely was cool to see her. She was the mayor of New Donk City in Super Mario Odyssey, and she's the mayor of New York City in this movie. I sort of like how that's become a part of the character now that she's a mayor.

Anya-Taylor Joy and Keegan Michael Key are both good as Princess Peach and Toad respectively. I'm surprised that this movie didn't stir up more controversy by having Luigi be the one that's captured and held captive by Bowser, and Princess Peach is the one who helps Mario, and is more of a warrior princess than a damsel in distress. But then again, I don't really follow the anti-SJW community anymore, so I don't know, maybe it did cause some outrage for the anti-SJWs who hate anything that could even slightly be construed as "woke" 🙄.

Most Nintendo fans, from what I can tell, are fine with this approach to Princess Peach, mostly because they are tired of seeing her always get captured all the time, and needing to be rescued by Mario. Having her actually be an active participant in the adventure, and kick some ass is nice change of pace that is definitely welcomed by the majority of Nintendo fans, regardless of what some vocal minority might say. And this movie is pretty much apolitical, like it isn't trying to make any sort of statement with any of this. It's purely just meant to entertain, and it does a pretty good job at that. Plus, Princess Peach has been a playable character several times throughout the franchise's history. Granted, she's never had her own game (as far as I know), but she has been a playable character, particularly in the Mario Kart 🏎️ games and the Mario Party 🎉 games.

Fred Armisen is pretty good as both Magikoopa and Cranky Kong. Some people didn't like his voice performance as Cranky Kong, but I thought it was pretty good, and his voice as Magikoopa is just brilliant. And lastly, Charlie Day is awesome as Luigi. He's one voice actor in this movie that no one has had any sort of complaints about, besides Jack Black as Bowser. He really embodies that character, and really sells the vulnerability that character has. You definitely want him to be rescued by his brother.

As I said before, the Kart racing scene 🏎️ is the best action sequence in the whole movie, but the Banzai Bill chase where Bowser launches a Banzai Bill at Princess Peach's castle, and Mario gets it to chase him throughout the Mushroom Kingdom 🍄 is pretty good. It's one of the most creative chase scenes I've seen in a movie in a while. And of course, the chase ultimately ends up creating a rift between the Mushroom Kingdom 🍄 and the regular human world that Mario and Luigi both come from when Mario tricks the Banzai Bill into flying into the green pipe, and it explodes, causing Bowser and his flying volcano ship 🌋 to get sent to the human world, along with plenty of the good guy characters. So, the real climax of the movie takes place in the regular human world, in Brooklyn, New York, and it's a pretty awesome fight between Mario and Bowser that sees both Mario and Luigi officially become the "Super Mario Bros.."

The movie has a lot of the iconic Mario music 🎵, all of the recognizable themes that fans have come to know and love ❤️. A lot of it has been remixed and rescored by composer, Brian Tyler, but some of themes are played in their original forms. Brian Tyler definitely did a good job on the score. But in addition to the classic Mario music 🎵, the movie has other songs 🎵 as well. A lot of them are from the 80s like "Holding Out for a Hero," "Take on Me," "Thunderstruck," and "Mr. Blue Sky," which is a 70s song, but you get the idea. I didn't expect to hear any licensed songs, other than the Nintendo music, but they were still welcome additions.

Lastly, as I said before this movie is full of references to the games. There's references to the oldest of the old games in the franchise, from the original Jump Man game that introduced both Mario and Donkey Kong, to the newer games like Super Mario Odyssey, which I am currently playing; it's a good game BTW. There's even a reference to Baby Luigi and Baby Mario, though those versions of those characters haven't really been in their own games. They're usually only in the Yoshi games, or in the Mario Kart 🏎️ games. But, it was cool to have a reference to the baby versions of Mario and Luigi. No reference to Super Mario Sunshine ☀️ however unfortunately 😞, but maybe we'll get one in the sequel.

Speaking of which, despite the incredibly negative reviews from critics, and some buzzkill Nintendo fans, I do think that this movie will get a sequel because it is making money 💵, lots of it 🤑. That's really all that matters at the end of the day of these studios. Even if a movie is getting dismal reviews from critics, it won't matter, so long as it's making money 💵. They'll green light a sequel as soon as a movie of theirs is a commercial hit. Well, unless it's the 1998 Godzilla movie that is. And you can tell the filmmakers were confident that they'd be able to make more since the movie has an after credits scene that does tease a sequel.

Basically, we go back to the underground sewer system where Mario and Luigi stumbled upon the green pipe that transported them to the Mushroom Kingdom 🍄, and we see a Yoshi egg that begins to hatch before it cuts to black, and we hear the famous "Yoshi" line from Yoshi himself. I got to say, this after credits scene did remind me a lot of the ending of the 1998 Godzilla, where we see that Godzilla egg hatch in the bombed out ruins of Madison Square Garden, and out pops the last surviving Baby Godzilla, which grows up to be Godzilla Jr. (or Zilla Jr., if you prefer) in the animated series, Godzilla: The Series.

There was meant to be an actual direct sequel to the 1998 Godzilla movie, where Godzilla Jr. (AKA Zilla Jr.) hatched from his egg, grew up, went to Australia 🇦🇺, and had babies of his own (since the Godzilla species in the 1998 movie reproduces asexually, meaning Godzilla can have babies even if he's a male ). But, that sequel never ended up happening since the 1998 movie was received so poorly by fans of the series, despite making buck at the box office 💵. Still, I think a good tagline for that sequel, if it were made, would've been: "This time, he's going down under." Since you know, it takes place in Australia 🇦🇺 😉.

So, the second one is definitely going to involve Yoshi somehow. I do hope we get see Princess Daisy in the second one, since she was no where to be seen in this movie, and they're likely saving her for a sequel. If not her, then maybe Princess Rosalina, the newer princess that was introduced in Super Mario Galaxy. Unless of course, you count Princess Tiara from the Hat Kingdom in Super Mario Odyssey.

 

(This is the logo for Rayman, a video game platforming franchise created and owned by Ubisoft. The most popular entry in the franchise would have to be Rayman 2: The Great Escape, which was highly successful and highly influential in the gaming industry. The last solo Rayman to be released was Rayman Legends, which was back in 2013, and was a return to a series' roots of being a 2D side-scrolling game just like its predecessor, Rayman Origins. Fans of Rayman have complained about Ubisoft neglecting this series, the series that arguably put them on the map, and that they haven't made any new games for it, in favor of focusing on Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and the Tony Clancy's series. They've even focused more on the spin-off series, Raving Rabbids. The Rayman character did make a comeback in the second DLC expansion for Mario+Rabbids Sparks of Hope, and managed to satiate Rayman fans' appetite for now. I've never played Rayman game. The only experience I have with this series is the spin-off racing game, Rayman Arena, or Rayman M as it's known outside of North America. But, even then, it wasn't even the original version of that game. It was the demake made for the PS1 called Rayman Rush. And I didn't even play it myself. I just watched my older sisters play it. But, I do like the Rayman character, I think he's cool, and I like Rayman world, and I would definitely see a movie based on these games if one was ever made.)

 

But yeah, I really enjoyed this movie, and I thought it did do justice to the Super Mario franchise, and I hope we get more in the future. I certainly liked it way more than the Sonic the Hedgehog movie, that has to count for something. Speaking of which, I do hope that this movie opens the door for other video game adaptations like a Rayman movie, I think that would be really cool to see. Rayman is a video game character that's kind of been forgotten about, including by the developer/publisher that created him, and hasn't had a new game in 10 years.

So, if Rayman can't have a life in video games, then maybe he can have a life in movies. It might even be under Universal and Illumination, since Nintendo recently collaborated with Ubisoft to make those Mario+Rabbids games, the second one of which is supposed to feature Rayman as a DLC character. If you're into animation, and you were skeptical of this movie, or at least, the casting of Chris Pratt as Mario, then I would recommend giving it a watch because it is far better than you were probably expecting. It's only 88 minutes long, so you won't be there for very long, and the credits go by so fast that you won't be waiting for a long time to see the after credit scene. It's definitely way shorter than John Wick Chapter 4, that's for sure. So, I would say it's well worth your time 😉.