You might not know this, but I am a huge Super Mario fan. When I heard that Nintendo and Illumination were working on a Mario movie, I was a bit skeptical at first, since Illumination is known for being cheap when it comes to animation. But did Illumination produce a cheap marketable movie with toilet humor and cheesy jokes, or did they make a redeeming masterpiece, as Sony Pictures Animation did with "Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse"? Read my review and find out!
But first, a history of Nintendo movies. 1986 saw the release of a Japan-exclusive anime movie called "Super Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach!" which was a moderate success. 7 years later, Disney's Hollywood Pictures division, alongside Lightmotive and Allied Filmmakers, released a sci-fi adventure flick called "Super Mario Bros." which was SO LOOSELY based on the games, and the only mention of Nintendo or Shigeru Miyamoto was at the very end of the credits in extremely small mice-type. It's an insult to the most popular gaming franchise ever, just like how Star Trek: Discovery is an insult to Gene Roddenberry's ideals from the original 1966 series.
Forget what the critics on Rotten Tomatoes say. This movie is the freshest tomato of the 2023 movie bunch! The movie opens with a shortened Universal logo, an Illumination logo with a minion in a go-kart failing to get a rocket boost, and a pixel animation of Mario and Luigi hitting a "?" Block that contains a large Nintendo logo. That trio of logos were an excellent way to show who made the film.
This film contains visual and musical references galore. My favorite reference was the Toad at the antique store with the NES cartridge. That was a great little visual gag alongside the elder Toad saying "have you tried blowing into it?". Even though the recommended way to clean an NES cartridge is to use a damp cotton swab to clean its contacts that connect to the pins in the system.
Peach is more of a good girl gone bad instead of the usual damsel in distress, which is awesome, and a welcomed change, and Luigi is the one that needs to be rescued.
The movie's message is important as well, You can get through tough times if you stick together. After all the struggles brought to us by 2020, it's more important than ever.
Chris Pratt did an okay job as the plumber in red. But Charlie Day's high-pitched New York accent fits Luigi's personality like his gloves. But Jack Black stole the show with his portrayal of Bowser. Let's not forget the hilarious love song "Peaches". It made me crack up like a Yoshi Egg.
All in all, if you are a fan of Mario, you'll enjoy this masterpiece. Nintendo should release a cartridge copy of this movie on Switch.
I give this movie 5 Super Stars!
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