The Super Mario Bros. Movie
“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” is now the highest grossing video game film of all time. And I can see why. It's filled with enough nostalgic moments from the long life of the series for the adults. Tons of brain dead “Minion” style humour for the kids. A wonderful soundtrack and animation, and best of all is Jack Black as Bowser. All that being said, it plays it extremely safe, which makes it highly enjoyable for kids, but adults will probably forget the majority of it once the credits roll.
And after all, it is made for kids. So, mission accomplished. There are a few really funny jokes that had me laughing out loud, but that “Minion” style humour that's just random for the sake of random plays thin really quickly to me. Whereas say, something like “Puss In Boots: The Last Wish” has actual, truly great writing that earns it's laughs. On the “earned laugh” side of things, Jack Black as Bowser shines. He's easily the best part of the film. But out side of Black's incredible performance, everyone else is FINE. But there's no reason they needed to cast Hollywood actors as opposed to the many talented voice actors out there. This is a common problem in a lot of these big Pixar/Illumination/Dreamworks films.
The story is extremely Mario focused, which I mean, duh. But they introduce so many other characters (Donkey Kong and his family, Luigi, Princess Peach, Toad, and more) that many of them feel extremely brushed over. Luigi in particular doesn't get a fair shake. But maybe that's fine given that's exactly how people feel about his video game treatment as well. Luckily what they do with Mario is very good.
Is it the best video game movie ever made like the numbers would have you believe? I think no. I think it's on par with the “Sonic The Hedgehog” movie. Fun and competently made, but didn't blow me away. My favourite video game movie remains “Detective Pikachu” which is criminally undervalued, in my opinion. That said, I am still excited to see more from all the franchises I just mentioned.
And one last thing; there IS a post credit scene at the very end of the credits, so stick around until the very end. And without giving anything away, whether intentional or not (and I have to assume this was intentional) the scene has a direct link to “Godzilla” (1998). And that made me extremely happy.
7.5/10
