I’m sure I’ve said more than once I was never much of a gamer. Yes, I have played some Mario games in the past, but I am far from a fan. But since this weekend is one where I visit family and I actually had things to do at home, I was basically limited to one trip to the multiplex. What would I choose? Well, there was The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and then there was Air, a movie where I couldn’t care less about the subject matter but I would be very interested due to the cast and director. Well, there’s also Paint were Owen Wilson plays a knock-off Bob Ross type who is maybe a dirtbag, but I haven’t seen much on that one way or the other.
I ended up choosing The Super Mario Bros. Movie mostly due to its runtime and the need to do other things.
Two brothers, Mario (voice of Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day), are trying to establish a plumbing business in Brooklyn when, while trying to prove themselves, they get sucked into a portal and end up in another world. Luigi, a major coward, ends up in the Dark Lands, where he is quickly captured by the spooky natives serving evil dictator type King Bowser (Jack Black). Mario, meanwhile, lands in the Mushroom Kingdom. He wants to save his brother, but a talking mushroom named Toad (Keegan-Michael Key) says Mario’s best hope is to get assistance from Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) to save Luigi.
Small problem there: Bowser is looking to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom on his way to take over this entire world. Mario is new, but there are special powers he can gain if he gets the right training, and he’s already fairly acrobatic for a plumber. Worse, Bowser is actually in love with the princess, and he sees Mario as a rival. So, as Peach, Toad, and Mario head off to get help from the Kong Army of the Jungle Kingdom, led by king Cranky Kong (Fred Armisen) and his boisterous son Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen in the most obvious casting in the movie), Bowser is right behind them to win Peach’s heart despite the fact he’s an evil conqueror and that’s not her type. Can Mario save his brother and, by extension, the world?
So far, it looks like the critical consensus for this movie is it is at best mediocre. I think I can see why. As I see it, there are two types of kid entertainment. One is aimed at children with little if anything there to entertain adults. It’s not necessarily bad. It’s just not for kids. The other side is something that works for the whole family. Sesame Street is a prime example of the latter. Yes, the show is primarily aimed at very small children, but the producers knew parents would be stuck with it as well, so they made it as entertaining as possible for adults as well without being “adult”. Pixar’s best also often does both. But The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a product of Illumination, an animation studio where, honestly, about the only movie of theirs that I have seen that wasn’t just a kids movie was the first Despicable Me. That’s essentially true for The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Will it entertain a kid? Yeah, probably. It’s colorful, the plot moves, and the humor is basically something a kid could probably enjoy. Maybe people who grew up with Mario would as well, but I didn’t, so there were probably plenty of references I didn’t catch.
Now, there was some controversy over Pratt’s casting, and, well, he’s fine. But his voice is also totally generic compared to, oh, everyone else in the movie. Day is doing the thing he always does, but Luigi is actually not much of a presence in this movie as the story seems to prefer dealing with Peach, Toad, and Donkey Kong, making the title of the movie a little suspect. But I will say this: this movie takes full advantage of Jack Black’s musical and comedy skills. If anyone was having fun making this, it was him. Is that enough to recommend this movie? Well, I think kids will like it, and I don’t think it will bother their parents that much. It’ll just be there for them.
Grade: C+
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