By Christopher Giang
SPOILERS for The Super Mario Bros. Movie
It’s a brisk Saturday evening in Georgetown and there’s popcorn in my mouth. Months of trailers and sneak peeks have been leading up to this very moment: a sprawling epic starring the world’s most famous character to debut in 8-bit form. I think to myself, “I still can’t believe they cast Chris Pratt, but there’s no way that will detract from how awesome this film is going to be.” The lights dim and the movie begins…
The Super Mario Bros. Movie impressed me most by being bold and confident with its source material. Video game adaptations have been taking off lately with other successes like Uncharted and The Last of Us, but it feels like they want you to forget what they were originally based on. In contrast, this movie is proud to boast its pixelated roots, with loving details and references to the games on every frame–and I ate up every second of it.
The fantastic visuals and presentation are certainly my favorite aspects of the film. The bright animation and new orchestral arrangements are electrifying. The action scenes are fast and exciting, save for some out-of-place 80s pop hits and the unconventional cast gives some strong performances. Jack Black especially steals the show as Bowser, with a touching piano ballad worthy of tears. Despite the initial controversy, Chris Pratt’s Mario turned out to be very… expendable. It’s fine.
Chris is the least of Mario’s issues, though. It’s hard to adapt the typically skeletal plots of video games into something good, but this story seems to leave gaps for everything original it creates. A Peach origin story gets dropped as soon as it comes up and my boy Luigi gets shafted for a morbid Luma whose shtick gets tiring fast. I wish they had time to expand on these sidelined main characters, but that brings me to another problem.
Much like a Bullet Bill rocketing through Coconut Mall, the plot also rushes through its major story beats without giving you a chance to breathe. A weird, off-putting sense of urgency seems to undergird this movie, like it feels trapped by its own short runtime. You never get much of a chance to engross yourself in these strange environments like our hero does, because everything is moving so quickly. For as big and wide as the world of Mario is, it felt pretty small here.
Regardless of these critiques, I think the Mario movie has shown that video game movies are an untapped goldmine. I expect to see many more film versions of old, beloved games being announced in the next few years, and I’m definitely all for it. While I don’t expect that they will be anything ambitious, I also don’t doubt that they will give everyone a good time at the theater.
