Movie review
Viewed on: Ultra HD Blu-Ray
Released: 2023
There's nothing more synonymous with bad conversions from videogames to movies than the original "Super Mario Bros." movie from 1993. Where people in Hollywood had no connection or vibe on what the games were about and tried to go with a realistic take on the Super Mario. It was a disaster and stands perhaps as one of the worst adaptations made. Yet, it gained a cult following.
Luckily, the first Silent Hill movie, review here, broke new territory by successfully capturing the essence of a game franchise on the silver screen. Finding that sweet spot between recreating the story and atmosphere of the game, while at the same time making a standalone movie for those unaware of it.
In parallel to this, CGI animated movies have become massively popular and open up for easier transferring typical children or cartoonish games successfully over to the movie format. In 2023, Nintendo cleverly hired the right team to do this and "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" arrived.
Originally, I saw this at the cinema with my wife and kids and we all absolutely loved it. Recently, I got hold of a lovely steelbook 4K edition and decided to rewatch it in this razor-sharp quality with my family. After all, this year sees the sequel, Super Mario Galaxy, release too!
Let's jump on a Goomba and take closer look!
In a clever twist, after an initial battle where Bowser is taking power over various regions in the kingdom, the focus moves to Mario and Luigi as regular plumbers in New York. It crosses the line of placing Mario in our own world and helps build a reason as to why Mario ends up in the Mushroom Kingdom. A few leaking pipes later and a massive pressure disaster in the centre of the city, Mario and Luigi are teleported into this fantasy world.
With the brothers split up, Mario quickly discovers that there's something dark and ominous casting a shadow on what seemingly is a colourful and peaceful world. In an attempt to find his brother, who is captured by Bowser's minions, he finds himself aiding Princess Peach in her battle to gather an army against Bowser.
It's a smart setting and puts Mario in the position of being completely new to the Mushroom Kingdom, or any skill at all for that matter, perfect for non-gaming viewers to grasp what it's all about. Although, I highly doubt there are many viewers not familiar with some release of a Super Mario title by now!
In an impressive showcase of her skills, Peach teaches Mario how to basically do platforming and attacks. In a hero training montage and throughout the movie we see him gaining skills and becoming the videogame hero, we all know. With a lot of humour thrown in we get an alternative to the overused idea of a dark origins story.
There are tons of famous Super Mario characters we get to meet along the journey. Apart from a few key characters, they're all here, including a bunch of Donkey Kong ones too. All the various enemies are depicted at some point, even if they're just a tiny glimpse of them in the background. You can spot literally endless easter eggs and intricate details if you see the movie a couple of times. Fans of the Super Mario franchise will adore the attention to detail.
Talking about detail, the visual splendour of this movie is fantastic! It looks amazing on my UHD 4K version, with a razor-sharp picture and tons of colours popping in HDR on the screen! They way they have depicted all the classic areas of the Mushroom Kingdom is incredible, with a high level of detail, while creating that charming CGI animation look.
It's so fun watching the panoramic shots of the colourful worlds, then panning in at all small detail of all your favourite characters walking about. Not only do we see the charming areas, but also the darker castle themed locations to Bowser and the tropical Aztec inspired Donkey Kong world. There's even a blazing ride on a rainbow road in classic Mario Kart style. Everything pops with lots of cool visual effects thrown in, pushing your TV to it's most colourful. You'll be eager to play a Super Mario game again!
As far as the plot goes it's an exciting ride from beginning to end, with a lot of humour thrown in for good measure. It works on so many levels too; fun to watch both for kids and adults. As a family everyone enjoyed it tremendously as we've played a lot of the games together and everyone knows the characters and the world. Adults from my millennial generation, grown up with 80s and 90s Mario, will love the old-school plumbing intro and vibe, tapping in on that nostalgia!
My gripe with this movie would be that it perhaps takes little chances and follows are rather typical plot; weak hero is thrown into a world ending, needs to build up skills and it all ends in a final showdown. Then again, with the repeated theme of Mario having to save Peach from Bowser in the games this feels at least fresh.
There's also a lack of Luigi screen time and more of the female characters, like where is Daisy, to weigh in on the lead roles as Peach stands alone. That said, Peach holds an awesome kick-ass attitude just fine by herself, a contrast to the helpless princess trope.
I've seen journalists not enjoying the movie at all, which I just cannot understand. I thought it was an awesome way to depict the games, and it has so many references and charm!
Absolute must-watch and I can't wait for the Galaxy sequel in March!
