IR Film Review: THE SUPER MARIO BROTHERS MOVIE [Nintendo/Illumination/Universal]
With nostalgia the basis always begins with where the idea of the connection began. An interesting illustration of the Super Mario craze is that it stretches over generations which is both good and bad because there are many different interpretations. This partly explains why "The Super Mario Brothers Movie" is all over the place. It wants to be so many different things to so many different people that it doesn't quite settle on anything and everything at the same point. In addition there are little stylistic touches which don't quite meld. They try to appeal to the younger audience and just feel forced. The aspect of Illumination is that they are able to place some subversive texture into all of their films even while they remain sweet (see "Despicable Me"). Likely because of the oversight of Nintendo and the different angle of Japanese entertainment, they don't quite meld. There are some interesting and exciting sequences when they get going like a training sequence and an eventual storming of a compound. The logistics can be really cool in how they are visualized and executed but the issue is that the characters aren't really connected so the story itself really never makes sense. The reason the characters are doing this is but the way is very all over the place.
Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) are fine enough and subvert the accent issue straight up at the beginning but they are just not interesting. Bowser (the bad guy) is played by Jack Black and starts off very intense (almost too much for a movie that wants to hit multiple generations) and then becomes a parody of itself as it continues. The reason Gru works with Steve Carell is balance. This character loses respect right when he tries to get mushy and violent at the same time plus adding in Black's trademark music. It doesn't work. "The Pick Of Destiny" did as comparative but it knew its audience better. The best drawn character is actually Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) but even she at most points doesn't have a lot to work with. Again this picture needed to be very broad, especially since it is supporting a theme park push. But in doing everything it loses avlot. It squeezes the Mario Kart craze in there because it has to but it really feels forced.
Its introduction through Kong World has its moments (but again no concept of reality per se). The Kong family in Crazy Kong (Fred Aminsen) and especially Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen) is the funniest part but it starts feeling a little like Balloo grafted onto another movie: funny but disconnected. Perhaps the best character connected to the world is Keagan Michael Key as Toad because he knows what the world is but stays sweet while being slightly shifty subversive. The design of the worlds is fantastic, if not diametric, but also seeing it in 3D the issue also can be that the dark scenes are not illuminated by a bright enough projector to make everything pop (the person who understands how to balance this is out is likely only James Cameron). "The Super Mario Brothers Movie" tries to be alot of things but it misses mostly on character and a bevy of plot holes while still creating a design rich world and a couple great almost game-like sequences. C+
By Tim Wassberg
