When I was growing up in the 90's, I remember playing the Super Mario games (notably the Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Party games) and loved them very much. They were imaginative, colorful, characters that have some charm, and some of the catchiest music in history. Later on, as a young adult, when I heard that both Universal and Illumination Entertainment were adapting the IP into an animated feature film after the 1993 cinematic flop, I was interested in how both of the studios were gonna pull it off.
So my brother and I, being the Super Mario Bros. Fans we are, went to see it after it came out only to end up having a very enjoyable time. Now, before I can go into detail on why this movie is so good, I'd like to say that I'm not really an Illumination fan. For starters, I thought the first two Despicable Me movies were good, but the other films they made have been either passable (Minions: The Rise of Gru, the Sing movies), mediocre/forgettable (the Secret Life of Pets movies, The Grinch, Despicable Me 3 and Minions) or just downright terrible (Hop and The Lorax). So I was a little hesitant at first considering the studio's reputation for mostly appealing to the young demographic. Not to mention I was baffled at some of the casting choices for this movie.
That being said, the studio managed to do some homework when making this film. Ok, it does have some problems, but as a 90's person who grew up with the games, this was a love letter done right.
First off, the animation is so breathtakingly gorgeous and some of the best Illumination has done. Not only does it succeed at being faithful to the visual aesthetics from the Mario and Donkey Kong games, but the character animation designs/movements are accurate which made me so happy. Not to mention the world building is great. The action, however, is where the animation excels even more as it does have a sense of intensity and energy. Also, the music score from Brian Tyler is one of the highlights of the film. He did a fantastic job at his own rendition of the themes from the Mario games with the help of Koji Kondo (the guy who created the music for the original Mario games) and mixes them with some new themes, creating an epic magical musical narrative.
The story, while not too deep and does have some cringe worthy moments, is very fast-paced and engaging on it's own right. Also, it's nods to the video games were well deserved which made me very happy. The comedy, while not the best, is at least funny and doesn't feel over exaggerated. The characters are likeable enough (especially Bowser who is the best part of the movie) and the voice cast was surprisingly good. Chris Pratt did grew on me as the voice of Mario, Charlie Day suited Luigi's cowardly personality very well, Anna Taylor-Joy is heartfelt and courageous as Peach, Keegan-Michael Key is both silly and also aspiring as Toad, Seth Rogen and Fred Armisen did fine as both Donkey Kong and King Cranky Kong and Jack Black is both threatening yet also comedic as Bowser which is a good combo for both intimidating and hilarious at the same time. Plus it was nice that Chris Martinet, the original voice of Mario, got to be in the movie while Kevin Michael Richardson, one of the best voice actors in history, did a great job as Kamek, Bowser's advisor.
Overall, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is not only a great love letter to the video games, but it's an enjoyable movie on it's own right. To those who love the Mario games and everything else Nintendo related, check this one out and you'll have a rockin' good time. :)
So my brother and I, being the Super Mario Bros. Fans we are, went to see it after it came out only to end up having a very enjoyable time. Now, before I can go into detail on why this movie is so good, I'd like to say that I'm not really an Illumination fan. For starters, I thought the first two Despicable Me movies were good, but the other films they made have been either passable (Minions: The Rise of Gru, the Sing movies), mediocre/forgettable (the Secret Life of Pets movies, The Grinch, Despicable Me 3 and Minions) or just downright terrible (Hop and The Lorax). So I was a little hesitant at first considering the studio's reputation for mostly appealing to the young demographic. Not to mention I was baffled at some of the casting choices for this movie.
That being said, the studio managed to do some homework when making this film. Ok, it does have some problems, but as a 90's person who grew up with the games, this was a love letter done right.
First off, the animation is so breathtakingly gorgeous and some of the best Illumination has done. Not only does it succeed at being faithful to the visual aesthetics from the Mario and Donkey Kong games, but the character animation designs/movements are accurate which made me so happy. Not to mention the world building is great. The action, however, is where the animation excels even more as it does have a sense of intensity and energy. Also, the music score from Brian Tyler is one of the highlights of the film. He did a fantastic job at his own rendition of the themes from the Mario games with the help of Koji Kondo (the guy who created the music for the original Mario games) and mixes them with some new themes, creating an epic magical musical narrative.
The story, while not too deep and does have some cringe worthy moments, is very fast-paced and engaging on it's own right. Also, it's nods to the video games were well deserved which made me very happy. The comedy, while not the best, is at least funny and doesn't feel over exaggerated. The characters are likeable enough (especially Bowser who is the best part of the movie) and the voice cast was surprisingly good. Chris Pratt did grew on me as the voice of Mario, Charlie Day suited Luigi's cowardly personality very well, Anna Taylor-Joy is heartfelt and courageous as Peach, Keegan-Michael Key is both silly and also aspiring as Toad, Seth Rogen and Fred Armisen did fine as both Donkey Kong and King Cranky Kong and Jack Black is both threatening yet also comedic as Bowser which is a good combo for both intimidating and hilarious at the same time. Plus it was nice that Chris Martinet, the original voice of Mario, got to be in the movie while Kevin Michael Richardson, one of the best voice actors in history, did a great job as Kamek, Bowser's advisor.
Overall, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is not only a great love letter to the video games, but it's an enjoyable movie on it's own right. To those who love the Mario games and everything else Nintendo related, check this one out and you'll have a rockin' good time. :)