Chris Pratt, Keegan-Michael Key, Seth Rogen, and Anya Taylor-Joy. © 2023 Universal Pictures, Nintendo and Illumination. Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic.
Watched it in IMAX @ AMC Theaters
One of The Most Iconic Characters in Video Game History Returns on the Big Screen! In today's film market, everyone is heading for big franchises just to squeeze out money including video game franchises. However recently, there are video game films that prove that they are worthy on the film/tv medium including Sonic The Hedgehog, Pokémon: Detective Pikachu, and The Last of Us. After almost 30 years since the live-action Mario film, Nintendo is back to try again once again to make a movie about Mario and what's the result? Well, they finally did justice and it was worth the long wait since my birth. Illumination is stepping up its game recently for the past two years and they are proving that it can entertain audiences while giving us a good story. Join me in the mushroom kingdom and fight against Jack Bla- oh wait, I mean Bowser and save the kingdom! Story: After Mario and Luigi got separated by a magic pipe in Brooklyn, with help from Princess Peach, Mario gets ready to square off against the all-powerful Bowser to stop his plans from conquering the world. The biggest carry of this film is the animation and it's very faithful to the video games. It has that pop-animation style that Illumination is known for but it's turned up to the max. It's fast, colorful, and also uncanny for a bit. Obviously, there are certain costumes and textures that look very real but for this to translate in movie form, it's done very well. Even one Mario game that used some realistic textures like Super Mario Odyssey was also uncanny but mixed well. The one thing I was worried about when they announced that Illumination was producing this film, I thought they would go the Despicable Me route of human animation. However, that wasn't the case when they released their first teaser poster and from there, I trusted them on creating a faithful adaptation of the Mario franchise. The animation took me into the film and the two worlds of the film within their style are just beautiful and faithful. The human world which is in the city of Brooklyn is so cartoonish yet normal. The human characters look human but very cartoonish like the 80s 2D animation type but into 3D. When Mario and Luigi travel to the Mushroom Kingdom, it's night and day. Very colorful with cartoonish elements and it feels lived in. It feels like an open-world video game and from there, I was sold on the animation. This is Illumination's best visually animated film in their studio and they should be proud. It's colorful, vibrant, stylized, cartoonish, and most importantly, faithful. DreamWorks could also pull this off but I feel like Illumination was the right choice. That's just the animation side and the story side is an interesting side of this film. The story is very simple and straight to the point. The Mario games weren't praised for their narrative storytelling but there are certain Mario games like Super Mario Galaxy mixed in well with story and platforming. The film falls into the same territory but is simpler and aimed at kids. However, there are plot elements that diehard Mario fans who are now adults or teenagers will appreciate more. I love that we get time to be with Mario and Luigi's family in Brooklyn and expand their personal life before we get to the main central story. The plot is predictable until the third act. That's where my expectations go in a complete direction and that's where the plot starts to get very spicy. No spoilers but the final act is the best part of the film. All come in a full circle and the story ends perfectly while opening up to a potential sequel (in which case they are since it made a crap ton of money). The pacing of this film was right for this film. It didn't waste any time and I was hooked on every scene. The characters in this film are great for this adaptation. Mario and Luigi are great but Luigi had less screen time which bumped me. However, Bowser was the highlight out of all the characters due to Jack Black's voice performance and he gets a lot of screen time. Huge props to the directors for making Bowser a centric villain and making him what he really is, while sympathizing with him. The voice cast in this film is pretty great and Mario's voice from Chris Pratt isn't that bad. I got used to it and it's pretty good. Toad's voice performance by Keegan-Michael Key was unrecognizable and he wasn't annoying thank god. The cameos were sweet and I'm happy they had Charles Martinet in not just one cameo but has a role in the film which I won't spoil. Overall, the cast is pretty great and the story was simple and easy to follow.
There are a bunch of easter eggs which contain spoilers but I will only mention some that are non-spoilers. We get to see Yoshi Island for a bit within a travel montage scene which was pretty nice. The power-ups are pretty cool including the tiny mushroom and I love how they made fun of those power-ups. While the film is colorful and harmless, there are some dark humor or dark references that adults will catch. A lot of "deaths" which is normal for an Illumination film but not a Nintendo movie. On Twitter, someone mentioned that one of the Koopas was a suicide bomber, and looking back, oh boy. That was pretty dark. There are a bunch of easter eggs that I want to discuss but that will make the review a little bit longer. However, there are fan service moments that worked nicely into the story and I'm glad it didn't shove it right to the audience. A lot of great easter eggs throughout and it made me pay much attention to every detail in the film. All of this shows the dedication the directors really truly cared about this film. The passion behind this film on making a fun entertaining film that all ages will love from new fans to diehard fans. These directors really did a great job on the camera movements, shot choices, and especially the final act of creating an emotional resolution that brings everything full circle. I loved every second of this film but I have some critiques that many people will agree with.
The film's plot is very straightforward but it's a plot that we have seen a lot in films and if you expected this to be The Godfather, well, you will be disappointed. The film strays away from Luigi a lot which sucks since Luigi is an important character in the story. I felt like a chunk of the movie was missing and there weren't enough moments of true character development or even a moment of a sit-down. The tree scene could've been longer to establish an emotional connection with peach and toad. Even though Mario isn't famous for its narrative, I wished they could've improved more of its character development and added more screen time while keeping the same original pacing. One thing I will definitely agree with is the weirdly placed use of 80s music. It's so Illumination and it kind of took me out for a bit. However, the score of the film was really great and I loved the mix of modern and classic Mario music while making it cinematically. I wouldn't say this film is a video game masterpiece, but if you go into this film with normal expectations, you will be having fun. I feel like critics are being harsh with this film and it shows what are the problems now with critics these days. Have an open mind with this film or expect a fun movie with the whole family! This was definitely a fun time at the movie theaters and I'm definitely going back for a re-watch. It's fun, colorful, funny, and nostalgic. It's the perfect movie that we need in 2023 right now and I'm happy they brought this adaptation to justice. It's what I have been waiting for since I played my first Mario game on the Nintendo DS. I loved this film so much that I will recommend watching it on the biggest screen possible and buying it on Blu-ray. Go watch this film and you will have a fun time! Now Playing Only in Theaters in IMAX and 3D. Vizeit Score: "A-" (Share this review with your film friends and on social media! Thank you for continuing supporting my indie film website.) Copyright © 2023 Vizeit Reviews / Vizeit Studios. All Rights Reserved. Review Written By: Everardo Garcia Jr.
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