Mamma Mia That’s A Good Movie

The new Super Mario movie is definitely a blast from the past. If you grew up playing “Super Mario,” “Super Smash Bros. Brawl,” or even “Mario Kart,” this movie will make you feel like you are on star power. It’s one of the movies where you will even see adult men in the audience getting excited about watching little animated characters fight. 

The Super Mario Bros movie is distributed by Universal Pictures through Illumination Animation Studios, producers of popular films such as “Despicable Me,” “The Lorax,” “Sing” and “Secret Life of Pets.” 

The Mario franchise has been made into a film before, but since this one looks so different, it was hard to know what to expect. This film centers on the relationship between Mario and Luigi,  who decide to live out their dreams of being plumbers in the city of Brooklyn, New York. They are both humans in the real world, but eventually find their way into a different universe through a magic sewage pipe. 

The character design stayed very loyal to the original design from the video games. Luigi was tall, thin and dressed in green, while Mario was dressed in red, short and stout. In the video games, Mario acts as a protector and rescuer to Princess Peach, but this movie portrayed Peach as an independent and capable monarch, which makes sense in our contemporary context. Peach definitely knows how to kick butt in the movie like she does in “Super Smash Bros Brawl.” 

Toad is sort of like the sidekick that wanted to defend and protect Princess Peach on a mission to defeat Bowser even though he is the smallest. Bowser is the king koopa villain that plans on taking over every land or kingdom in the Super Mario world. For a second during the movie, Bowser reminded me of Thanos from the Marvel cinematic universe because he had to collect an item in order to have the most power. Luckily, we didn’t have an ending like “Infinity War” where half the characters disappear. 

One of my favorite scenes from the movie was a commercial playing on tv created by Mario and Luigi. The commercial song was a rad and entertaining rap about how they are awesome plumbers. For those who know the older show, it refers to the Super Mario Brothers Super Show Intro/Theme Song. One reason I was super excited to see this movie was because Super Mario has had such an impact on our society by being in some of our favorite video games growing up. 

The cast of this movie is legendary, and when I mean cast, I mean Jack Black specifically. He was no doubt the best voice actor, voicing the role of Bowser, the spikey turtle shell wearing, fire ball blasting villain. And a twist in the movie, that I won’t spoil for you, showcases his “special” musical talents. 

I think the only downsides to this movie were the lack of screen time we get from Luigi and the main plot left much to be desired; also, I would have liked to see Yoshi in the film.  If you were worried about Chris Pratt voicing the character Mario, then do not worry because it was not as bad as you think. And although the animation was a little different from what we are used to from the old video games, it really was golden and cute. 

All together, I walked out of the theater with a smile on my face and a movie that gave me hope for some movie remakes. It is hard to create something that has already existed for so many years and make it something people can still enjoy. Super Mario has had such an impact on our society by being in some of our favorite video games growing up. So go and grab a question block popcorn bucket and take a seat for a journey into your childhood. 

Written By: Erica Hamon