The Super Mario Bros Movie was super fun!

I meant to write this post up exactly a month ago, when I went to the movie spoken of in the title. But maybe this is good too, as I've now had time to think about the movie a little bit more since first seeing it.

Anyone that knows me knows my love of all things Nintendo, and Super Mario specifically. So I was pretty hyped for this movie. Did the announcement of Chris Pratt as Mario make me a bit nervous? Yes it did, but I don't think as much as a lot of other people on the internet. I think I have a more unique perspective, having been a fan of Mario ever since he first appeared. I've kind of been used to seeing lots of incarnations of Mario, not just Charles Martinet's "It's-a me" version. Mario was a gruff sounding plumber from Brooklyn as depicted by Captain Lou Albano in the Super Mario Bros Super Show. He was another gruff sounding Brooklynite in the Super Mario Bros movie starring Bob Hoskins. Personally I always enjoyed getting some different looks and sounds to Mario is portrayed. After Super Mario 64, it feels like they started narrowing down exactly how Mario can look and sound, and I felt a little disappointed that we didn't get many deviations after that. I mean, it was big news when Mario wore short sleeves for Super Mario Sunshine, that's how much they tend to not want Mario to change!

So with that background out of the way, I was pretty okay with them going back to the Italian-American version of Mario who lives in Brooklyn. And Chris Pratt sounds just fine as Mario. I felt like it was Mario talking and not Pratt, so I'm fine with it. I was super excited to get Jack Black as Bowser and man did he not disappoint at all! Bowser is a pretty great video game villain, and what Black adds is a ton of charisma, charm, and humor. Another character I was excited to see was Toad, the whole reason I usually go by Toad64 online in the first place! Keegan-Michael Key is hilarious, so I was interested in seeing how they'd tackle his character...and they didn't really. He's just there, and there's never a good reason for him to be there. I really wish they gave him some kind of interesting personality trait or hook, or some reason to be following everyone's adventures at all. Oh well, maybe he'll get more screen time in the sequel?

Special mention to Donkey Kong in this movie, too. Seth Rogan was a choice that I was a little iffy on when announced, especially since he's gone on record as saying he doesn't do voices, he just does his own voice. But I thought his voice really worked well with the character. And while not many people get any characterization or growth in this movie, Donkey Kong does, and even though it's pretty small, it made me really like him being along for the adventure. They played with the feeling of DK and Mario not getting along, which ties back to the original Donkey Kong games when they were adversaries, but does it in a different way here, and I was surprised that Donkey Kong became one of my favorite characters in the movie! Here's hoping he somehow works his way back into the Mario games!

Movie critics seem to really have hated this movie, while the moviegoing public loved it. And I can totally understand why. I've always rolled my eyes when I heard someone say something wasn't 'made for critics'. But man, was this movie not made for critics. The plot is simple, and the world of the Mushroom Kingdom does not make any sense, nor do they try to explain it. Why are power-ups stored in question mark blocks? How are things able to just float in the air, like brick blocks? Because it's a video game, that's why. The movie expects people to be familiar with Super Mario and his world, and doesn't bother giving any explanation for them. People that play Mario will just understand it, or maybe even like it all the more, because it's just like the game, but a movie critic who may not be familiar with Mario and his world would probably find it confusing and irritating. This was a movie made for fans of Super Mario, and that's it.

I'm interested in seeing if the movie will have any impact on the games going forward, especially now with the incredible success it's turned out to be, but I think I'll save that for a separate post.