The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)

★★★
The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a fun animated adventure full of colorful landscapes and amusing characters. It has a simple plot, but it makes the most of its short runtime by inserting many references to its source material and various other adaptations over the years. I really liked the commercial jingle taken straight from the television series starring Captain Lou Albano as Mario from the late '80s. The movie is also a referendum on the modern state of film criticism and the D.E.I. culture that has become widely vocal over the last six years. I don't wish to position Illumination's latest success story in the culture war, but its attackers have forced the issue. The movie has no motivation behind it other than to entertain. Children will love it for its beautiful character design and humorous situations. It is thrilling in all the ways that will captivate its young fans. Adults who are long-time devotees of the games—along with those who are not, this is not a movie that excludes curious outsiders—will appreciate the attention to detail and the respect given to Nintendo's mascot. This is a passion project. Nevertheless, leave it to the race hustlers to attack it for not fitting into their agenda.

Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) are two Brooklyn plumbers trying to make it on their own after leaving their previous employer. Success is not immediate, as they anticipate their first call in the same way the Ghostbusters waited for their first call. When their big opportunity arrives, it's for a small leak in a mansion bathroom complete with a mean little dog who dislikes their intrusion. An even better opportunity for recognition arrives in the form of a flooded street. Mario has a hunch that the problem is not where the utility department thinks it is, so he and Luigi venture into the sewers themselves to track down the source of the flood. They find it, but they also stumble upon a large room that appears to have been sealed off for years. It's full of pipes—green pipes. The brothers step inside one and are whisked away to the Mushroom Kingdom, a faraway land where mushrooms grow to the size of trees and a terrible villain named Bowser (Jack Black) threatens to take over the entire world. We saw his menacing army in the opening scenes. He commands a legion of turtle soldiers who do his every bidding. His latest conquest, a land full of penguins, doesn't stand a chance.

The brothers are split up. Luigi falls into Bowser's evil clutches, while Mario lands in friendlier territory. Mario meets Toad (Keegan-Michael Key), a welcoming resident who escorts the Brooklyn native to the castle to meet with Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy). More of the story unfolds, and Mario realizes his potential when the Princess puts him through a rigorous training course that looks like a traditional side-scrolling level complete with fireballs and mushroom power-ups. Elsewhere, Bowser seeks Peach's hand in marriage. He imprisons Luigi and threatens continued mayhem until the Princess caves. Undeterred, Peach seeks assistance from the Kongs to join forces and battle their common enemy. This brings Donkey Kong into the mix, with more games like Super Mario Kart getting a nod. The script juggles the various sources of inspiration flawlessly by finding the right balance between honoring the games and telling an original story. The movie makes no radical departures from what fans would expect, but at the same time takes enough creative license to ensure the story isn't just a retelling of the game. 1994's Street Fighter failed to impress for several reasons, but reassigning the characters' roles should not have been considered one of them. I was much kinder to it than many other viewers.

I was also (and still am) a lot kinder to 1993's Super Mario Bros., a movie that found its audience many years later and counts Quentin Tarantino as one of its admirers. That was a radical departure from the games, but as a creative vision it was ingenious. It was action-packed, looked splendid and featured Bob Hoskins in an entertaining turn as the Brooklyn plumber. He denounced the movie in later years, but I recall his enthusiasm in an interview in which he relished the opportunity to perform his own stunts. That movie's failure turned Nintendo off to any future movies featuring its most popular intellectual properties. Now that Illumination has produced a movie worthy of fans' admiration, we might see the door open to more such productions. A lot of care went into The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and that same dedication to storytelling should never give way to the sort of politics that have weakened Disney's standing. John Leguizamo, who played Luigi in the 1993 version, has been particularly obnoxious in his views that The Super Mario Bros. Movie should have cast Italians as the two leads. The producers cast who they felt was right for the material. Chris Pratt gives Mario a whimsical and humorous edge to go along with an accent that is less pronounced than the accent introduced in Super Mario 64, which I felt even in 1996 was overdone.

I'm writing these words late in the game. The box office totals are impressive. I have long felt that money is never an indicator of how good a movie is. The [insert genre here] Movie output by Aaron Seltzer and Jason Friedberg was profitable for a minute before the two vanished into the wilderness and took the money with them—laughing all the way no doubt. The Super Mario Bros. Movie's success doesn't change my views on the subject. It's a good movie not because it earns smiles for recognition, but because it has genuinely good writing with interesting characters and eye-popping animation. It also would not have made this much money in 2013 or 2003 or 1993 (even accounting for inflation). Unintentionally, it is a magnet for dissatisfied viewers who feel disgusted by the likes of Elizabeth Banks, Olivia Wilde and beta male Billy Eichner. I don't blame anyone for padding Illumination's wallet to send a message to these people. If anything about this movie's success concerns me, it's the possible complacency that could befall writers if they feel they have an automatic revenue stream from viewers looking for a non-political distraction.

Leguizamo and others of his ilk can make up a boogeyman and slam it all they want, but there is no boogeyman to be found here. If a movie has weaknesses, it's okay to talk about them. One could reasonably write an unfavorable review for this without resorting to cheap shots. It is not okay to criticize the movie for presenting Peach as a supporting character (supporting characters are vital to any movie) or because Chris Pratt isn't Italian (neither was Leguizamo). Enough of all that. I'm tired of these people. The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a breath of fresh air in a cinematic landscape that has grown hostile to a weary public fed up with a once-proud company (Disney) that is a shell of its former self. Nintendo had a hand in shaping the story to ensure its lead mascot got the movie he long deserved. By doing so, Nintendo ensured fans got the Mario movie they've long wanted. For everyone else, this is still a fun picture with an enjoyable plot and good humor. Just don't let John Leguizamo anywhere near a sequel.

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