The Super Mario Bros. Movie released April 5, 2023. It is the love child of Nintendo and Illumination.
The movie features an all-star cast of voice actors and boasted a budget of a hundred million smakeroos. It’s been a while since there was a production this big for a video game movie. Needless to say, The Super Mario Bros. movie is a big deal.
The first crazy thing about the movie is the animation. In the opening shot, it is immediately apparent where much of the budget went. The characters are lively and the environment is very detailed. The lava glows and the snow sparkles. There aren’t many shots that aren’t a pleasure to look at. There are also dozens of small details going on in the background that to view in almost every shot. The animation was very well done and the world feels very lively.
The musical score was something to marvel at. It includes many classic songs from before the 2000s as well as composing its own score for some scenes. A large number of the newly composed scores are derived from the different Mario video games’ music. Fans, or even just casual viewers, are bound to recognize several tunes.
The voice acting is pretty good. The main cast isn’t really put into challenging roles. Bowser, who is played by Jack Black, seemed to really carry the voice acting. Chris Pratt does a decent enough job in the lead role as well.
The plot is exactly what most would expect from a Mario movie. This isn’t the kind of movie to have a crazy plot twist and there aren’t any. It is clear that a great deal of care was put into incorporating elements from the game into aspects of the movie. There are several segments where the platforming from the game is shown as an example.
There are also a decent number of Easter eggs or references riddled within the movie. They’re done in a fun way to which fans of the series are constantly rewarded for being in the know.
One major issue with the film is the pacing. It is easy to tell the writers tried to cram the movie into 90 minutes. It’s a little rough, as a few things are even skipped over to be replaced by a montage. Sometimes it’s rough to see how different characters’ relationships evolve but we don’t really see the journey in its entirety from point A to point B.
There are a few scenes that feel forced. For example, sometimes characters chime in when they really don’t have to.
Some of the jokes are hit or miss, which is often typical of kids movies. It is relevant to mention it is made by the same studio that created the minion movie.
Overall, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a really good time that will make long time fans. as well as casual viewers, happy. It is definitely worth watching if you are into that sort of thing.
