When people ask what I write about I usually say “I review films and write about stuff”. I’m not a professional critic, and don’t consider myself any kind of authority. I just like sharing my opinion. Hundreds of times now it turns out.
So I’m not cursing my own when I say that some film critics are talking out of their backsides when reviewing The Super Mario Bros. Movie. They’re missing the point to such an extent that some of them must either be neglectful in their prep or are being willfully contrarian. Accusing it of being hollow or a cash grab. It’s lazy, and we’ll get to why shortly.
Mario is ubiquitous, and has been for decades. He had a film back in the early nineties – and it wasn’t great – but no one knew how to do it back then. Nowadays you don’t need to make concessions, and tech means anything is possible. A story just needs to be true to the characters that we love.
So essentially…Mario can just be straight up Mario. And in this film he is.
Back to the critics critique. Keep this in mind; Nintendo and Illumination are businesses and they want to make money. So the accusations being levelled at this movie are just lazy. Because this film was always going to lean heavily on recognition and nostalgia. To expect anything else is ridiculous.
The movie is ninety minutes long, and it has lots of bright colours and cute characters. The story is efficient in its world building, nicely straightforward, and has a sprinkling of peril mixed in with some family messages.
Whilst the film is absolutely a money-making behemoth, it’s also a lot of fun. I picked up on deeper cuts whilst my five year old recognised the characters and music. Remember guys, this is fundamentally a fun kids film. So go in with correctly adjusted expectations.
Voices? Big fuss about nothing. The brother’s accent is dealt with quickly, and Jack Black is…well he’s Jack Black, which is excellent.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie is exactly what you think it is and what it should be. Here’s to Yoshi in the sequel!!
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