Review: ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie Is Okeydokey
April is a very cruel month. Lift the lilacs from the dead ground, unite memory and desire, mingle the misty roots with the spring rain. But again, when I look at my watch, it's Mario time.
"The Super Mario Brothers Movie". To illuminate the landscape with primary colors, our sad springs, is condemned by T.S. Eliot. If there's any new excitement for a Mario Bros. movie. This is a once unimaginable development. Mario last appeared on the big screen in a little-remembered 1993 live-action film starring Bob Hoskin as Mario, John Leguizamo as Luigi, and Dennis Hopper (!) as Bowser. Hoskins called the experience a "mouth--- a nightmare."
But a lot has changed in the three decades since the first video game adaptation of Super Mario Bros. A genre that was once widely derided is now a cash cow. The Last of Us is a huge hit on HBO. Pokemon and Undefined are blockbusters. In two Sonic the Hedgehog films, Mario has been trying to catch up with him.
And "Super Mario Bros. Movie," which opens in theaters Wednesday, is a thrilling and exhilarating effort to run in front of a crowd. The collaboration between legendary video game designer and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto and Illumination founder Chris Meledandri (both producers) is a more sincere attempt to capture the fun and spirit of Nintendo games.
And visually, it's a dream. Directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenik and their animators depict the Mario universe with cartoonish brilliance, combining the simplicity of the gameplay with strong and equally enjoyable daytime language. If that's part of the appeal of playing Super Mario Bros. And with most of the forest thrown into an always-sunny fantasy world, plus composer Koji Kondo's vivid score, the film manages to capture the joy of stepping on that mushroom. Makes me want to play Mario.
Of course, nothing is as fun as Super Mario Bros. watching the movie, let alone playing it. It is, Mario, but it's not a masterpiece. The story is better than the average story bits that usually appear in between gameplay. With the exception of Jack Black's adorable love interest Bowser (he's part operatic and part Meatloaf-esque dancer), there's nothing more immersive than the usual 2D adventures for these characters. . Mario may be a modern-day Mickey Mouse, but his reign is on consoles.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie begins like Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing in a Brooklyn pizzeria. There, Mario (Chris Pratt, who succeeds despite resistance) and Luigi (Charlie Day) struggle to start their own plumbing business. There are a few moments of typical Italian life - pasta and a big family dinner - before the brothers' attempt to fix a water break slips through a portal into the game's fantasy realm. By bugs and hipsters :)
Bowser, on the other hand, controls an army of Koopa soldiers in scenes that look like a true imitation of Triumph of the Will. But while that green pipe may be shortened or lengthened, there's never any mention of the potential loss of human life as Mario makes his way through the fused mushrooms and question boxes. His condition is clear, as he was playing. she is separated from Luigi and must help Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joe) to prevent her from being forced to marry Bowser.
Game logic often dictates Mario's movements. Turtle-like Koopas' shells can be swiped as ammunition. And choosing a Mario Kart car is an equally difficult decision. Sometimes the coverage isn't very consistent. The Invincible Star searches a lot in this adventure, greatly exaggerating its conventional meaning. These things last about 10 seconds.
People say yes, yes. None of this is enough to tell them. Jump up and down and take off their hats. But it's an excellent hour and a half of shopping that will satisfy your appetite for more Mario at home in bed. If anything, as Mario says. "okey dokey" "Super Mario Bros. Movie” only reinforces the distance between two completely different media. It may be a video game adaptation, but Mario's main event is still back on Nintendo.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie, a Universal Pictures release, is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association for action and mild violence. Duration: 92 minutes. Two and a half out of four stars.
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Follow AP film writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP
