Video game adaptations on the big screen haven’t always fared well, and while ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ ain’t exactly the Shawshank of joystick fodder (what’s that?…joysticks have gone the way of the dinosaur? Hoo-kay, gives you a good idea how up-to-speed I am on this), this is fun stuff.
And coming from a non-gamer, I THINK that’s pretty high praise.
Me, I’ve done the Mario thing, only my journey has been strictly a la cart. As in, Mario Kart. Christmas season only, when family is home. And that gives me, at the very least, enough intel to know some of the characters in ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’. However, the fact is, this film is FOR the true gamers. The young and old who are so in tune with Mario that they speak-ah-like-‘dis. Which, oddly enough, the voice behind the main character doesn’t. Oh, he tries, but never quite gets it. But he’s a big, big star, so we have grace…
‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ follows Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) on an offbeat adventure. Trying to get their fledgling plumbing business going, the brothers dive into the sewers of Brooklyn, only to be sucked into a mysterious portal which leads them to the Mushroom Kingdom, where Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) is being terrorized by the nefarious Bowser (Jack Black, the MVP pipes of this baby). And then….well, yeah. Other things happen, complete with power-ups, and again, I THINK it’s all pretty cool. What do I know? I was just happy to see Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen) in this, he’s a blast. I ain’t a video game guy, remember?
BUT those who come to see ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ ARE, and I can’t see them not being impressed. This thing is colorful, energetic, and – considering it’s from the Illumination Animation Studio, the same minds behind the ‘Despicable Me’ franchise (hello, Minions), it carries that serviceable balance of humour for both kids and adults. Overall, I thought it was good, not great. But again, it ain’t for me.
