"The Super Mario Bros. Movie¨ was released in the United States on April 5, 2023. Nintendo partnered with Illumination to make the first animated Nintendo film in four years since its Pokemon adaptation ¨Detective Pikachu.¨
The film received mixed reviews from critics but was an instant hit with the audience. The movie was a massive box-office success, producing over $710 million since its release, making it the highest-grossing film in 2023. Although the original live action “Mario” movie was a failure, earning a 23% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it did not seem to constrict the creative premise of the new rendition. Seeing the brothers on the big screen brought many fans back to their childhoods, also bringing young viewers to love the brothers many of us grew up with.
The movie's central premise is similar to the video games. Two Italian brothers have a plumbing business in downtown Manhattan. Their father also seems to disapprove of their business, thinking that Mario is dragging down Luigi with him. After seeing a big water leak on the news, Mario and Luigi go underground to fix it but are sucked into a pipe, separating them. Mario lands in the mushroom kingdom, ruled by Princess Peach. Meanwhile, Luigi lands in Bowser's kingdom, which is under King Bowser's evil rule. King Bowser seeks to take over Mushroom Kingdom and wants to take Princess Peach's hand in marriage.
"The Super Mario Bros. Movie" did a lot of things right throughout the production of the movie. The writers did a good job incorporating the different characters and concepts into the film. For example, the movie had a vast amount of the different characters seen throughout the video game including: Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, Koopa Troopas, Shy Guy, and more characters seen throughout the years of games. Elements from the game used in the movie included the mystery boxes. Super Stars, Fire Flowers, and Mushrooms were used brilliantly in the movie. One of the most loved elements in the movie was Jack Black's character, Bowser, who performs a piano ballad to secretly confess his love for Princess Peach. The song hit number 83 on the US Billboard Hot 100, making it Black's first solo single to chart.
While a lot of things were done right with the film, some weren’t. Many critics wanted Luigi to have a lot more screen time. The taller brother wasn't shown much past the first and last parts of the movie. Although Luigi spent a lot of the film in captivity, it would have been nice to spend time building the character of Luigi. Some people have been speculating about a spinoff of the movie into a ¨Luigi’s Mansion Movie¨, another popular game in the “Mario” universe. Many watchers also didn't enjoy the pace of the movie. Some viewers thought the movie was too fast-paced and confusing. Some viewers called it a ¨fever dream¨ because of the fast pace of the movie.
Overall, ¨The Super Mario Bros. Movie¨ was good, especially considering the franchise's shakey cinema past. The directors did a really good job implementing the different ideas, characters, and power-ups directly from the game's history. I would personally recommend this movie, even to people that haven't ever played the game. There is definitely a market for future ¨Mario Bros.¨ spin-off films.
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