Directed By Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic

Starring – Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day

The Plot – A Brooklyn plumber named Mario (Pratt) travels through the Mushroom Kingdom with a princess named Peach (Taylor-Joy) and an anthropomorphic mushroom named Toad (Keegan Michael-Key) to find Mario’s brother, Luigi (Day), and to save the world from a ruthless fire-breathing Koopa named Bowser (Jack Black).

Rated PG for action and mild violence

The Super Mario Bros. Movie | Official Trailer – YouTube

POSITIVES

Thirty years after its infamously bad live action predecessor put a long-term halt on video game adaptations of every brand, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” ,from Illumination Studios, mends those deep-seeded traumatic wounds, invoking the essence of the games with a breathtaking presentation and infectious good times that easily make this among the best video game adaptations that I’ve ever seen, even if that bar is tremendously low to begin with. Most transfixing for the occasion is the animation styles containing three-dimensional emphasis in lusciously explosive colorful canvases, with an impressive level of creativity and expansive detail that not only give each fantastical world rendering a lived-in brand of believability that pushes the envelope of imagination, but also subscribes to the abundance of clever Easter Eggs and game-specific references that will reward the biggest fans with the widest most unshakeable smile, with a conscience to effort that simply can’t be ignored for its continuous exploit of the never-drying well. The film’s script and sound designs are certainly overloaded in these aspects, but the familiarity never feels exploitative to tickle the tenderness of audience nostalgia, nor shamefully desparate in the way it’s naturally conjured in the interactions of the engagement, instead gifting us the nuances of the franchise that only further illustrate the kind of passion project that this is for Horvath and Jelenic. My favorite of those elements is easily the soulful channeling of Brian Tyler’s eclectically tonal music capacities, with an underlining emphasis on the tracks of the video game finding their way into the complexities of the many sequences in the film, but this time rendered with the kind of instrumental tenacity that feels like we’re experiencing them for the first time all over again. As for the screenplay, it’s not exactly a plot with subversive depth or even emotional heft, but it does contain some ballsy unconventional directions for the plot, that, while testing on the traditionalism of the franchise, does have a consideration for everyone in the audience with their own respective favorite character. This leads to the painful decision to split the brothers up early in the movie, but with a reward that I think not only fleshes out stakes and motivation to the movie’s conflict and titular protagonist, but also a race against the clock for Mario, which mirrors the urgency in the movie’s pacing while inside of an 85 minute run time. More on that in a second. Finally, the collective ensemble are perfect in their selection, but it’s especially time for me to apologize to one Chris Pratt for thinking he was an awful selection to play the iconic plumber. Pratt thunderously dominates the occasion by bringing to life the adventurous and brave sides of Mario, all the while cloaking himself in invincibility by somehow eviscerating the familiarity of his vocal tones, and in such, shares an impeccable chemistry with Charlie Day’s Luigi, which fully fleshes out the believability and bond of the dastardly duo accordingly. Seth Rogen’s Donkey Kong is also a charming treat while fleshing out the larger than life personality of a prince living constantly in the public eye, and Jack Black’s Bowser completely steals the show with a balance of thunderous dictator and love-sick lush that effortlessly stitches together a psychological side to the maniacal Koopa that we’re not used to seeing, all with the kind of emotional versatility that Black’s known for in capably dominating whatever screen he chooses to invade.

NEGATIVES

Part of what has made the Super Mario games among the all-time greats of video game history is the adventurous aspect of its gameplay, and while the imagery couldn’t be better in the rendering of its fantastical environments, the conflicts themselves could’ve used more time towards eliciting something beneficial towards both the integrity of the backgrounds, but also the evolution of Mario. Considering this is an 85 minute movie that is continuously jumping from brick to brick like its heroic frontman, it leaves very little time between for audiences to capably grasp the integrity of their outlines, with an execution that too often abruptly rushes through what is easily the most vital aspect in adapting a game to the silver screen. In my opinion, more time could’ve further fleshed out the expansive world of the many assorted kingdoms, in turn maximizing the stakes while further bringing along the dominant side to Bowser’s unstoppable capabilities. Aside from this, the movie’s 80’s fueled soundtrack felt a bit unnecessary and even distractingly dated to the integrity of the audience they accommodated, making this feel like another shameless effort to spark downloads for songs that have frequently been imbedded to animated and video game adaptations. I point specificially to Bonnie Tyler’s “I Need a Hero”, which just last week adorned “Tetris”, and now has invaded “Super Mario Bros. The Movie”. Considering Brian Tyler’s score is off the charts in instrumental complexities, as I previously conveyed, the use for these tracks grows all the more unnecessary the longer the film goes on, and with enough repetition had me fearful for how they’re essentially used purely as montages to speed up what we should be experiencing first hand. Beyond this, my only other problem pertained to the element of convenience to plot device logic that had me scratching my head at the inconsistencies of the rules that the movie establishes for itself. While there are a couple of examples of this aspect, the biggest is easily in the blue mushroom, which is meant to shrink the character who ingests it. One such moment involves a character shrinking before returning to normal size, roughly 10-20 seconds later, while another time a completely different character remains permanently subdued by its shrinking capacities, which is all the more problematic considering the occasion in which it unceremoniously happens.

OVERALL
“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” lands on the better side of both Illumination and video game adaption returns, respectively, thanks in whole to its vibrantly detailed animated stylings, energetic ensemble, and limitless Easter Eggs, proving it a property of the heart from everyone involved. While the conveniences occasionally stack in the establishing circumstances of its otherworldly magic, and adventurous quests are surprisingly bare in its brief run time, the heart exuded nourishes every member of the family, cementing a love-letter to the legion of fans of the game from over the last 37 years.

My Grade: 7/10 or B-