Super Mario Movie

2023 - 4 - 5

Post cover — Image courtesy of "The Guardian"

The Super Mario Bros Movie review – wackily eccentric gamer guys ... (The Guardian)

The second film adaptation of the phenomenally successful video game is a disappointment to rival the first.

They find themselves transported into an undreamt-of Oz-type otherworld through the New York sewers; in the Mushroom Kingdom Mario must gallantly rescue Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) from the evil fire-breathing turtle Bowser (Jack Black), who has captured Luigi and intends to make Peach his bride. [Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/mar/28/dungeons-dragons-honor-among-thieves-review-passable-playful-adventure) and [The Last of Us](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/jan/16/the-last-of-us-review-one-of-the-finest-tv-shows-you-will-see-this-year). This movie revives the ancient and surreal quest undertaken by Mario (voiced by Chris Pratt) and his brother Luigi (Charlie Day), Brooklyn plumbers who only do the silly and borderline-offensive cod Italian voice for their cheesy TV ad.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie review: 'Lazy and for fans only' (BBC News)

Nintendo's iconic Italian plumber hero has already inspired one flop movie – and this sluggish new animation is no better. In fact, it might be worse, ...

As slick and corporate as The Super Mario Bros Movie is, it has a first-draft laziness that's rare in big-screen animation. The Super Mario Bros. But poor Luigi is captured by the monstrous Bowser (Jack Black), who has a name which suggests that he's a dog, and a physique which suggests that he's a dragon, but who is actually the leader of a race of turtles called Koopas. For instance, a flashback shows us that Princess Peach is a human who wandered into the Mushroom Kingdom from another planet – maybe even the same planet as Mario. The trouble starts when Mario is suddenly surrounded by floating bricks, giant gold coins, "Power Up" cubes, and burbling electronic sound effects, which only make sense in the context of a video game. Mario and Peach are supposed to be rushing to defend her realm from Bowser's invading army, but these pointless sequences remind us that no one is in any hurry to get anywhere. What's worse is that the film doesn't just have quick references to these games, it has long sequences lifted from them. As long as you don't worry about it, and embrace the psychedelic randomness, you can accept it as silly, what's-not-to-like science-fiction. Mario (Chris Pratt, who, as well as starring in Guardians of The Galaxy and Jurassic World, voiced the hero in The Lego Movie) and his nervous younger brother Luigi (Charlie Day) are established as good-hearted, bushy-moustached young guys who are trying to build their own independent plumbing business. Unfortunately, The Super Mario Bros Movie is not one of those films. By a remarkable coincidence, the brothers arrive on this surreal planet (or, possibly, in this surreal universe) just after Bowser has just got hold of a glowing star which will enable him to conquer Mushroom Kingdom. True, 1993's Super Mario Bros, with Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo, was a notorious flop, but The Lego Movie was tied to a line of plastic construction sets, and that was wonderful.

Movie Review: The Super Mario Bros. Movie - A Fun Ride That ... (Nintendo Life)

So what exactly is the story? Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) are going about setting up a plumbing business in Brooklyn, New York, but the going is ...

We imagine that future sequels (which seem near-certain) will be given the chance to sit with their characters for a little, thus removing the need to sideline some for the benefit of others. This clear love for the source material carries through into Brian Tyler's superb score — undoubtedly the star of the show (which is saying something when you consider the fact that there is a literal star in this one). The Mario movie is safe, sometimes to its detriment, but this means that you are never going to be left scratching your head just because you don't know the intricacies of Nintendo's history. Directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic have ensured that the Mushroom Kingdom is absolutely jam-packed full of references to just about every Mario game available, and Illumination's signature squishy animation does a good job of presenting all of this in a colourful, pleasing way. Starting with the obvious, this film is a dream for anyone who has ever wanted to see the world of Mario brought to life with higher fidelity. Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) are going about setting up a plumbing business in Brooklyn, New York, but the going is tough.

Review: 'The Super Mario Bros. Movie' is okey-dokey (Associated Press)

April is the cruelest month, breeding lilacs out of the dead land, mixing memory and desire, stirring dull roots with spring rain.

And “The Super Mario Bros. That’s because as nice as it is to look at “The Super Mario Bros. “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” a Universal Pictures release, is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association for action and mild violence. But it is an hour and a half’s worth of superlative marketing that will whet your appetite for more Mario back home on the couch. [“The Super Mario Bros. There Mario (Chris Pratt, passable despite the outcry) and Luigi (Charlie Day) are struggling to get their plumbing business off the ground. If part of the appeal of playing “Super Mario Bros.” and its many offshoots has always been to be immersed in such a sunny imaginary world — plus the bouncy earworm compositions of composer Koji Kondo — the movie has successfully mirrored that mushroom-stomping pleasure. Directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic and their animators have rendered the Mario universe with cartoony splendor, matching the game’s ingenious simplicity with a more robust and equally delightful day-glo palate. That there is a swell of enthusiasm for a Mario Bros. With Sonic the Hedgehog already two movies in, Mario is playing catch up. Hoskins called the experience “a f——— nightmare.”

Review: Is The Super Mario Bros. Movie really super? (1 News)

The new animated film could be the one to break the so-called video game curse.

The Sonic movies were just good enough and with Detective Pikachu I think a live action Pokémon film is going to do well regardless of quality. There's moments of greatness like the first-person sequence from Doom or the bit in The Angry Birds Movie where the flightless birds use a giant slingshot to destroy buildings occupied by pigs. There's nothing particularly groundbreaking about the animation style, it's just that the Mushroom Kingdom is so beautifully brought to the big screen that every single shot in the film is extrodinarily vibrant and detailed. The rest of the casting was almost unanimously beloved upon announcement and their performances in the film are every bit as good as you'd expect. He's not doing the classic Mario voice but a sort of Italian-American Brooklyn accent which worked for me. In this new animated film, plumber Mario and his brother Luigi are separated when they're mysteriously transported to the Mushroom Kingdom.

Box Office: 'Super Mario Bros.' Aims for $125 Million Opening ... (Variety)

"Super Mario Bros." is primed to be the second $100 million-plus opener of the year.

“Air” recounts the true story of the Nike shoe salesman who pursues NBA rookie Michael Jordan for a deal to wear their shoes. Elsewhere, “Air” is hoping to serve as counter-programming by catering to a different kind of enthusiast — sneaker-heads. It’s not clear how long the film is playing on the big screen before it’ll stream on Prime Video — or what kind of ticket sales it’ll need to count as a win for Amazon. Movie” as “sheer animated fun,” writing that “second time’s the charm for Mario on film.” So, despite the brand’s ubiquity — Nintendo has reportedly sold more than 413 million copies of the game and grossed more than $30 billion since 1985 — the upcoming “Mario” movie wasn’t a guaranteed win for Universal, Illumination, and Mario’s creator Shigeru Miyamoto. It’ll be the second 2023 release, following Disney’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” ($106 million) to open above $100 million.