The Super Mario Bros. Movie - Review Thread

[John Elden Ring]

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The Super Mario Bros. Movie

• Rotten Tomatoes 54% (100 Reviews)

Critics Consensus: While it's nowhere near as thrilling as turtle tipping your way to 128 lives, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a colorful -- albeit thinly plotted -- animated adventure that has about as many Nintendos as Nintendont's.

• Metacritic: 49 (35 Reviews)

Reviews:

Variety:

There have been approximately 50 movies based on video games, and most of them are terrible. I’ve had limited patience even for the ones that “work,” like the coolly depersonalized “Resident Evil” series or that first “Lara Croft” film. It’s not that I’m hostile to video games; it’s that the game and film mediums are so different. Then again, not all video games are the same — the funky nihilist hellscapes of Grand Theft Auto couldn’t be further removed from the interactive innocence of the Mario franchise. Mario presides over a digital playground that lifts the spirit to a place of split-second wonder, and “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” stays true to that. Its ingenuity is infectious. You don’t have to be a Mario fan to respond to it, but the film is going to remind the millions who are why they call it a joystick.

IndieWire (B):

Parents shouldn’t expect a Pixar-level experience, but Matthew Fogel’s script has as at least much narrative heft as the best Mario games. Kids’ movies can be — and often are — so much worse. Nobody is reinventing the blue shell, but Horvath and Jelenic do an excellent job of recreating the Mushroom Kingdom from the recent video games while adding a decidedly cinematic flair. For certain demographics (i.e. families lamenting the fact that it’s been months since a major kids movie hit theaters), this is going to be an absolute godsend.

Empire (2/5)

Beautifully animated, and about as faithful and affectionate as a corporate cash-in is possible to get — but it still doesn’t come close to the experience of actually playing the games.

IGN (8/10):

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a fireball of animated fantasy. Mario, Luigi, and Peach’s adventure delights with its infectious energy and smart implementations of video game callbacks, and the top-shelf animation renders the Mushroom Kingdom as an Oz-like wonderland that begs to be explored in the inevitable sequels that will follow.

The Wrap:

Short of dropping onto the Rainbow Road ourselves there is no experience closer to being fully immersed in one of the world’s most beloved video games. Pair that with some great comedic moments and swoon-worthy visuals and it looks like The Super Mario Bros. Movie might just make a real mark on the feature animation world.

Deadline:

All of this is immensely likable and loaded with laughs, if not raging wit. Having the likes of Black and Rogen in the voice cast though definitely ups the ante of some stabs at subversive humor, and all seem to be enjoying this stint, definitely set up for sequels as Mario and Luigi are about to start a new act in their long careers. The CGI animation goes big for bright colors juxtaposed with the ominous Dark Lands, and the film is helped immensely by a zippy and lilting musical score from Brian Tyler. As proof of the filmmakers’ attempts to be true to their source there is even room for Charles Martinet, original voice of Mario and Luigi video games for the past three decades.

Hollywood Reporter:

Directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, creators of the Teen Titans Go! series, deliver a reasonably faithful big screen adaptation that, while it features plenty of juvenile humor, wisely doesn’t lean toward broad satire.

AV Club (B):

Ultimately, Nintendo fans are sure to find the second Mario film (unlike the first) well worth a trip to the cinema, and with a runtime of only 92 minutes, it doesn’t overstay its welcome. But to swipe a metaphor from the original NES Super Mario Bros. game, while the film may complete the level, it doesn’t quite nail the leap to the top of the flagpole.

The Guardian (2/5):

The second film adaptation of the phenomenally successful video game is a disappointment to rival the first.

SlashFilm (4/10):

The Super Mario Bros. Movie brings together the many recognizable characters of the franchise, the musical flourishes, the colorful design, and even some replication of familiar gameplay, into a brisk 90-minute package that is as critic-proof as it is largely uninspiring.

Collider (B+):

The Super Mario Bros. Movie captures the spirit of the games, the deep history, and the incredible possibilities that these games have presented for decades, all in one of the most fun animated films in years, with a team behind it that you can feel loves these characters and this world.

The Independent (2/5):

It’s hard to demand all that much from a Mario Bros film when its source material has been historically devoid of plot, but shouldn’t we be allowed to demand a little more than mere competency?

The Playlist (C):

The film is in fact so busy introducing characters and churning through plot points that there’s not really even time to let animation powerhouse Illumination give it a spin of inspired silliness that made the “Despicable Me” franchise such an unexpected hit.

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SYNOPSIS:

With help from Princess Peach, Mario gets ready to square off against the all-powerful Bowser to stop his plans from conquering the world.

CAST:

• Chris Pratt as Mario
• Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach
• Charlie Day as Luigi
• Jack Black as Bowser
• Keegan-Michael Key as Toad
• Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong
• Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong
• Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek
• Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike

 

[ethomaz]

Critics here in Brazil didn't like the movie.
It is more for fans but has very little substance.

 

[ethomaz]

Thinking a bit about I believe Zelda or Metroid should be better movies than Mario after all they have more story/plot points.

 

[Cool hand luke]

I'm surprised the Variety reviewer liked it. It's one of the poorer video game films with a lower meta than Spirits Within and the Prince of Persia movie.

 

[KiryuRealty]

I'm surprised the Variety reviewer liked it. It's one of the poorer video game films with a lower meta than Spirits Within and the Prince of Persia movie.

It is a stretch to call The Spirits Within a video game movie.

 

[Bryank75]

It is a stretch to call The Spirits Within a video game movie.

Fantastic piece of film, one of the all time greats.... glad Square bet their whole company on it.

Really though, I remember seeing it in cinema and not having a clue what was happening. Less of a clue than normal, that is!

 

[KiryuRealty]

Fantastic piece of film, one of the all time greats.... glad Square bet their whole company on it.

Really though, I remember seeing it in cinema and not having a clue what was happening. Less of a clue than normal, that is!

I love it, it really is one of the more interesting sci-fi films of its time, but honestly, it had fuck all to do with Final Fantasy aside from the title.

 

[Nhomnhom]

I love it, it really is one of the more interesting sci-fi films of its time, but honestly, it had fuck all to do with Final Fantasy aside from the title.

I spent years having it as my reference as to what Final Fantasy was.

 

[Zzero]

IGN's Nintendo podcast gave it an 8 and shit all over the plot in non-spoilery ways. Big comedown after the head clown there spent the last three months telling people it was going to be the most successful animated movie of all time (and didn't know why the comments were telling him he was being foolish.)

 

[Vertigo]

SkillUp loved it. Fan reception seems positive.



I can’t say I trust critics at all. Especially for film. Disney Wars proved paid shills can’t be trusted when Disney owns all of them.

 

[Lord Mittens]

Fantastic piece of film, one of the all time greats.... glad Square bet their whole company on it.

Really though, I remember seeing it in cinema and not having a clue what was happening. Less of a clue than normal, that is!

Damn, haven't watched that one for a long time...

 

[On Demand]

Sony won.

 

[Kokoloko]

Sooooo, Sonic movie beats Mario movie lol

 

[KiryuRealty]

Damn, haven't watched that one for a long time...

I’m hoping it gets a 4K disc release. Imagine how good some of the effects in it would look with a good HDR pass done on them.

 

[Gamernyc78]

Thinking a bit about I believe Zelda or Metroid should be better movies than Mario after all they have more story/plot points.

I would loveee a Zelda movie!

Exclusive: Legend Of Zelda Movie In Development From Illumination

We've learned an animated The Legend of Zelda movie is in development from Illumination, the same studio behind The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

www.giantfreakinrobot.com

 

[Gamernyc78]

I'm going with the family today to watch it in 3D. I'll let everyone know what I thought.

 

[John Elden Ring]

Critics here in Brazil didn't like the movie.
It is more for fans but has very little substance.

It's basically a movie made to fans

 

[KiryuRealty]

That Rotten Tomatoes ratio just proves how low the standards of Nintendo fans are.

 

[Zzero]

Saw it today, thought it was fine. A few takeaways:

Boy, it really is amazing what cgi films can look like these days.
Mario films shouldn't have cheap Shrek pop songs in them, though fortunately short, they took me out of the movie each time. Do film studios really stull use this shit as a crutch? ffs
I didn't really like Mario's weird Alfred E. Neuman head in the trailer but thought it was fine in the film, Peach's head looked really weird though, too big and triangular. Her eyes also looked off, like they were painted on blobs or something. Mario and Luigi had this too, to a lesser extent.
The film really didn't have a plot, IGN guys were right about that.
DK had all the best lines, followed by that one Luma, rest didn't really standout.

 

[Gamernyc78]

Straight 6.5/7 out of 10. Movie was definitely fan service but story was Meh. It wasnt that humorous either but I enjoyed it somewhat. The kids loveddd it though so it hit it's demographics even though over 80% of the theater were adults lol. My girl game with Luigi abd Mario outfits and made me wear one smh lol but a gd amount of ppl were in character.