Review originally published on 7th April 2023. Brought forward to coincide with the film’s release in Malaysia on 20th April. 

30 years ago, Nintendo was traumatized from ever making live-action film adaptations of its treasured properties after the disaster that was the Super Mario Bros. movie in 1993. The company could have taken the same stance as Capcom and just taken its licks and try again and again, but the Big N has always played it safe with its games and franchises. A shame too, given how titles like the Zelda series and Metroid are a shoe-in for promising film adaptations in the right hands.

As time passes, so too does the stubbornness of the renowned game company. Key folks at Nintendo, specifically Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto, have warmed up to going back to the proverbial well. They took the plunge and teamed up with Despicable Me and Minions creators Illumination, and go for film adaptation broke with a 3D-animated Mario movie.

And if you love all things Nintendo and simple video game plots brought to colourful 3D life (or hate that sort of jazz), you’ve pretty much made up your mind about this all-ages film made for children.

Plumbers Don’t Wear Ties

The story is as basic as you can get: two Brooklyn-based plumber brothers -Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) get warped into a strange world and are separated, and end up being embroiled in a conflict between Bowser (Jack Black) and his Koopa army and the Mushroom Kingdom ruled by Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy). Basically it’s Illumination’s first isekai story but with Nintendo references aplenty; you’ll find loads to spot and cheer at in the show’s 1 hour and 32 minute runtime.

You’ll see everything from the Super Mario video games play out in grand animated fashion, from dungeon-dwelling to platforming, to even a Super Mario Kart section featuring the series’ toughest course. There’s even the inclusion of Mario’s earlier nemesis Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen) alongside his dad Cranky Kong (Fred Armisen), including a duel, and an eventual tag-team moment. Suffice it to say, Illumination spared no expense in making everything as flashy, colourful, and bright as possible. It’s clearly a fun feast for the eyes.

If you’re expecting a deep plot and major character arcs that go beyond layers, you clearly didn’t read the part that where this film is made & directed by Illumination, a company known for making huge bank with kid’s movies filled with gags and cute animation aplenty. As such, you get what you pay for: a fun 3D animated movie based on a video game with paper-thin plots but tons of action & thrills. To be fair, a lot of the game lore and references tied into the plot will be lost on anyone who goes into the show without Nintendo game context. Unless you know a thing or two about Mario Kart, you wouldn’t get why a maniacal blue-shelled turtle transforms into a flying blue shell to chase and home in on enemy karts.

Besides, it’s not like the voice actors aren’t having fun with their respective roles. Jack Black, Charlie Day, and Anya Taylor-Joy clearly stand out as Bowser, Luigi, and Princess Peach respectively, giving life to the roles and having a blast being comedic and over-the-top with their tone and delivery. As for Chris Pratt as Mario? He’s fine. While he is clearly outshined by the aforementioned three, he serves his role as the straight man who doesn’t know when to quit. Still, his role could have been played by anyone, but he’s commendable.

What isn’t commendable is the forced inclusion of licensed music in some key scenes, especially in a property that’s soundtrack-rich as the Mario series and spin-offs. It really sounds out of place and just added in for the sake of being a box-office animated film. Still, that’s only 30% of the film’s score, with the rest being amazing thanks to Brian Tyler’s arrangments of Koji Kondo’s originals.

Pipe Dream? Not Quite…

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is fun candy for Nintendo game fans, gaming aficionados, families with kids who play the Mario titles, and everyone in-between who has actually touched a Nintendo all-ages title. Nothing more, nothing less. It’s safe and predictable, with plot beats you can see coming a mile away, though with no room to breathe and develop some side plot stuff given the kid’s movie runtime.

That’s not a back-handed compliment, because I did have fun watching the film (I saw it twice, even!). It didn’t need to be beyond what it’s meant to be, and Illumination knows this. In any case, this movie is definitely the right step for Nintendo to launch its film-making initiatives, hopefully using its other properties to make more movie adaptation magic. Luigi’s Mansion spin-off, anyone?

Final Score: 70/100