THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE

Mario, Luigi, Peach and the gang are back for a second crack at Hollywood. But can it improve upon 1993’s much maligned Super Mario Bros.?

Lets-a-go!

The Super Mario Bros. Movie, brought to us by Illumination (the studio behind the Despicable Me franchise), introduces us to Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) as two struggling Brooklyn plumbers, who get sucked through a warp pipe into the Mushroom Kingdom.

Once they have arrived in this strange new world, they are immediately pulled into a war, and must help Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) defend the kingdom against a Koopa hoard led by the evil Koopa King Bowser (Jack Black).

In terms of plot, that is pretty much it. It is Paper Mario thin. But this never felt like a problem, because everything else that is happening is just a huge amount of fun! And, let’s face it, when it comes to a Super Mario Bros. movie, plot isn’t really why we’re here, is it?

As my friend, Chase, said after we’d left the film, it felt very much like the writers had come up with a list of set pieces that needed to be included, and the plot was secondary to this. Which was the correct way to approach the film.

The audience wants to see a karting sequence, so they put that in.

The audience wants to see a sequence which feels like a old school level (complete with old school obstacles), so they put that in

The audience wants to see Baby Mario, so they put that in.

etc. etc.

Naturally when the inevitable sequel comes around they will need to switch this up and focus more on a story, but for an introduction to the world of Mario, and to the style of the film, this set piece to set piece approach, for the most part, works.

Thats not to say that everything hits the mark, the opening ten in Brooklyn didn’t engage me, Toads inclusion (Mamma Mia!) was entirely superfluous, and the lack of backstory to some key characters is a potential banana peel for future instalments, but more often that not the decision made by those in charge makes sense.

One real win for the film is what they do with the character of Peach. In the majority of Mario games - not all but the majority - Peach is very much a damsel in distress, with very little characterisation outside of that. She gets kidnapped, and Mario needs to go and rescue her.

Here though, Mario is a Cheep Cheep out of water, having to adjust to his new surroundings, and the role he needs to take in it, meaning Peach in someways becomes his mentor. The power dynamics set up in the games are switched and Peach is given some agency. She is a fighter. Faster, stronger and more intelligent than Mario and Bowser put together, and Anya Taylor-Joys performance conveys this confidence and faith that Peach has in herself as the ruler of the Kingdom

Overall, it was great to see the film makers make such a progressive change to the character and her story.

The voice cast, to a person, do excellent work throughout. Whilst Chris Pratt's casting received a lot of backlash at the time, his interpretation of Mario is fine. It doesn’t set the world on fire, but he does exactly what he is needed to do and if you didn’t know it was him going in, I’m not sure you’d guess that it was.

Jack Black is a natural choice as Bowser, but the real surprise for me came with Seth Rogans Donkey Kong. This was the casting before seeing the film that I was unsure about, but his arrogant, yet goofy, DK is excellent. The “Seth Rogan Laugh” shouldn’t work on Donkey Kong but, for reasons I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to fathom, it really does.

For fans of the gaming series there are easter eggs upon easter eggs to find - The Donkey Konga Bongos a personal favourite - meaning that finding all of them will ensure that the inevitable rewatches will still hold value for all ages.

It is also a family film that manages to get the humour right for all ages and, impressively, doesn’t rely on the “One for the kids, one for the adults” joke formula. Instead, everyone here will be laughing at the same thing. It’s slapstick and sillier elements appealing to everyone, regardless of age.

Brian Taylors score helps the film zip along, like a blue shell towards the finish line, taking Mario music from across the generations, and it’s many incarnations, and reworking them to a Hollywood movie score that manages to feel both nostalgic and fresh, They are recognisable to fans of the games, but also work as a soundtrack in 2023

Attention will now inevitably turn to the future, and the plans for another cinematic universe in the making, but for now The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a surprisingly fun video game to film adaption, which ensures that it is no longer “game over!” for our favourite moustachioed plumbers on the silver screen.

Wahoo!