Mario Levels Up!
Maybe the best video game movie ever!
The Super Mario Bros Movie is a pure sugar rush, like watching an exciting Saturday morning cartoon with a fresh bowl of Lucky Charms. I cannot think of any other film which has so perfectly captured the thrill of playing a video game. The Mario movie is a near-perfect celebration of a franchise which has entertained generations of gamers for years. It’s an easy crowd-pleaser with a capable story, likeable characters, and at a breezy hour-and-a-half, it doesn’t overstay its welcome.
The original Super Mario Bros never had much of a plot: defeat Bowser and save Princess Peach. The later entries have, more or less, followed this formula. The film succeeds in tying together the many elements of the games into a coherent story. It opens in New York City. Mario and Luigi are down on their luck, trying to start a new business as plumbers, only to get sucked down a pipe in the sewers into another world. Luigi falls into the clutches of Bowser in the Dark Lands, while Mario lands in the Mushroom Kingdom. He is led by Toad to Princess Peach, who needs his help in her fight to defeat Bowser before he takes over the Kingdom.
The Mario movie is richly animated. Illumination outdid themselves in re-creating the environments from the games down to a T. Mario’s repeated failures through the training course encapsulates the frustrations of trying to beat a Mario level. While a comedy, it is also a popcorn action flick, with a fight between Mario and Donkey Kong right out of Super Smash Bros. All the power-ups from the games are here, from the mushrooms that make you big, to the flame flower, and even the Tanooki Suit from Super Mario Bros 3! My favorite scene was the Mario Kart race on Rainbow Road. It captured the thrills of Mario Kart, with all the crazy loops, wacky items, and insane crashes. The Mario movie doesn’t bother to explain to the fantastic to the uninitiated. That’s because it would waste too much time and fail to make any logical sense. The filmmakers understood that Mario is a fantasy world. The point is to enjoy the spectacle, not rationalize it. The music is spot-on as well, with all the themes by Koji Kondo making an appearance.
I was a fan of the characterization too, as these heroes had long-been one note in the games. Now they feel more human. Mario is relatable enough, and his relationship with Luigi is touching. Peach is a damsel-in-distress no longer, taking charge alongside the boys, which echoes her more adventurous side in Super Mario Bros 2. Toad and Donkey Kong are also quite funny, but it’s Bowser who steals the show. He can be manically over-the-top in one scene and pining sensitively over Peach in another. I was almost more invested in him than I was in Mario. The song “Peaches” is Jack Black at his best.
The film is also surprisingly wholesome and sincere. No gross out humor, no swearing, no adult innuendos, no heavy-handed politics, no disdain for the source material, and aside from the 80s pop songs, no grating pop culture references. It proudly wears its heart on its sleeve, just like the games which have made Nintendo so beloved.
Yeah, yeah, I know that the critics were mixed on the film. The reception is slightly more negative than that of Detective Pikachu or the Sonic the Hedgehog movies. I found this a little surprising, as the Mario movie is at least as good as those outings, if not far better. The only difference I can see is that those films were live-action and tried to appeal to non-gamer audiences. Detective Pikachu had Justice Smith as the human trainer, while the Sonic films were set on Earth and had James Mardsen as Sonic’s human companion. The Mario movie opens in New York City, but it mostly takes place in the Mushroom Kingdom. Gamers will naturally find this more to their taste, while non-fans may feel confused or excluded. The film has little to offer non-Mario fans and is unapologetic about it. If I weren’t a Mario fan, I don’t think I would’ve liked this film all that much. This is what probably explains the gulf of opinion between fans and critics, though I should note that there were many critics who appreciated the film for the cotton candy thrill ride that it was. Big names like Richard Roeper, Owen Gleiberman, and Peter Travers, who accurately noted:
“The real secret behind the unexpected and staggering success of "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" is animation, which niftily catches the anarchy of gaming. It creates the illusion that anything is possible. It’s also the next best thing to playing the actual game, which continues to thrive and multiply.”
For my part, I only had two criticisms. The first is that the characters were somewhat underdeveloped, especially Luigi. I wish he had been given more to do, as he mostly plays the captured princess role. The second critique is that the 80's pop songs felt a little unnecessary, given how much great Mario music we already have. I can’t speak to the English voice acting, because I only saw the Japanese dub. Charles Martinet, Mario’s original voice actor, has cameos in both dubs, and as usual, he was excellent.
The Mario Bros Movie is only further proof to me that we have entered a new golden age of video game adaptations. Netflix has been at the forefront of this wave with Castlevania (2017–2021), Arcane (2021), and Cyberpunk Edgerunners (2022). Paramount has wowed us twice with the Sonic the Hedgehog movies (2020 and 2022). While Warner Bros threw its hat into the ring with Detective Pikachu (2019) and The Last of Us (2023). What an amazing time!
Yes, we have had good video game adaptations in the past: Street Fighter II: The Movie (1995), Mortal Kombat (1995), Pokemon (1997), Last Order: Final Fantasy VII (2005), Tales of Symphonia: The Animation (2007), Persona 4: The Animation (2011–2012), Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works (2014–2015), and Akira Himekawa’s Legend of Zelda mangas. However, you may notice that a quality video game adaptation was a rather sporadic event, and especially rare when it came to live-action or Hollywood adaptations. And yet, starting with Castlevania in 2017, fans have enjoyed a consistent stream of quality adaptations which not only respect the games, but can also tell compelling stories. The Mario movie is but the latest achievement of this new wave, and like all great blockbusters, it is best enjoyed in a large theater, with bowl of buttered popcorn and your favorite soda.
