Phew, this is a big one! We've been waiting 30 years for a Mario movie (...or rather, we've been waiting that long for a movie that DOESN'T SUCK!), and Illumination, on April 5th of this year, delivered. Now, I do have a handful of critiques, but just to be clear: This one's overall good.
The story
Obviously, seeing as the film came out yesterday in theaters, I won't spoil much so as to entice readers into going to see it, but here's a semi-quick rundown.
Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) are Brooklyn residents who left their previous job to start their own plumbing business. They aren't seeing much success with it, however, despite their best attempts to advertise their company. Everyone around them treats them like they're fools in pursuing that venture. And that's when people don't demean them on their diminutive sizes!
One night, as they try to prove that they're worth something by helping the city services during a broken water pipeline crisis, the brothers accidentally discover a large, abandoned underground complex. A massive green pipe down there sucks them in, and the brothers end up split in the following flight between worlds. Luigi, who is known for not being the bravest of the two, winds up in the Dark Lands, where he is swiftly captured. Mario, luckier, winds up near the Mushroom Kingdom, and is found by a Toad (Keegan-Michael Key) who takes him to the kingdom's castle to meet Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy).
Bowser (Jack Black), true to the text of the games, is a ruthless conqueror, but also has a disturbing crush on the Princess, hoping to marry her someday. He learns of Mario's existence and, jealous, kicks his plans into overdrive, keeping Luigi as prisoner. It thus becomes a race against time as Princess Peach has to swiftly teach Mario how to navigate this new universe filled with dangers. Among other ideas, she seeks an alliance with the kingdom of the Kongs, led by Cranky Kong (Fred Amisen) and his son Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen). And... that's as far as I want to go.
Critique Part 1: The before and after viewing
The film was produced by Illumination, which we know for the Despicable Me, Minions and Sing franchises. They can manage some truly impressive animation (they definitely earn their place among the titans of CGI art, alongside Pixar, Disney and Dreamworks, for their attention to detail). They further upped their game here; not only is every shot impressive, but frequently outright breathtaking. Kamek has friggin' age spots, for Pete's sake.
My main issue with Illumination was the impression that they had learned the wrong lesson from the popularity of the Minions and that they felt the need to have Minions-like in a lot of their films. Thankfully, that's not what happens here; as though Bowser has a lot of baddies and the Toads also feel somewhat similar, they aren't used here in a way that could feel annoying. The Koopa Troopas and other assorted critters of Bowser's army have their funny moments, but never to the point of detracting too severely from the events.
There's been quite a few people with apprehensions due to Chris Pratt's casting as Mario, and I kind of understand; I'm somewhat neutral to the guy, but he falls into the issue of frequently playing the same character archetype. The film uses some of his trademark traits (have you noticed he's frequently "some guy who has something to prove to the rest of the world"?). He had big shoes to fill, replacing Charles Martinet for the feature (though Mr. Martinet actually has two roles, one of which is pretty important story-wise). The original fear that he'd play a heavily Italian-accented Mario is joked about early on in all languages, and dropped afterwards. I did not see the film in English, however, so I cannot speak on the original English cast's performances.
The overuse of shots from the Mario Kart portion of the film in the trailers had me worried that it would have a major importance in the story... read: That it would be the actual climax of the film. Thankfully, it isn't, but it is nonetheless a very important piece of the story. Makes sense that it would be there, as Mario kart is the best-selling Mario spin-off. I'm glad it was used correctly.
Critique part 2: Post-film thoughts
On to things I could not assume, from trailers and announcements, before viewing the film.
The first issue is that the movie is very fast-paced. It squeezes a lot of elements in a 92-minute runtime. While there are moments of breathing room, those feel rare. Mind you, this sort of length for a film is refreshing in the "massive movie length" era of blockbusters we're in as of late (many movies released recently come close to the 3-hour mark if not pass it), but a few extra minutes to give the viewers some additional chances to appreciate the sheer amount of work on screen would have been very appreciated.
The film is intensely heavy on fanservice, in that it pulls references from everywhere in the Mario franchise (One example: Mario and Luigi's former boss is Spike from Wrecking Crew, that's a deep cut if there ever was one). Several power-ups are seen, some classics, some modern; the Super Mushroom and the Fire Flower coexist alongside, say, the Super Bell. Every chance they had of featuring something from the Mario universe they took. Even nods to gameplay mechanics (such as the "snaking" mechanic from Mario Kart) are hidden all over the place. That's not without mentioning all the nods to non-Mario classic titles of the Nintendo Entertainment System sprinkled throughout, which an attentive eye can spot. As a result, the film is an absolute treat if you've kept up with this 43yo franchise, but it also assumes everyone knows the major references featured, and doesn't break the pace to stop and explain them.
The film does stumble into the classic pitfalls of being an origin story for the main characters Mario and Luigi, though it works well within these parameters. However, as a result, the story remains simple (some would call it simplistic, even), and rarely takes risks, which I can understand from Nintendo holding a tight grip on what Illumination could or couldn't do, likely in the hopes of preventing any chance of a mess like the original live-action Mario movie was. The end result is, therefore. fairly safe in the choices made. Some questions remain unanswered, leaving the door open for mysteries to solve in a sequel (let's hope there'll be one this time!). The tone is surprisingly dark for a Mario story, as well; characters don't mince words about death, and some sequences are pretty intense for an all-ages film, Luigi's arrival in the Dark Lands being among the standouts.
I welcome some of the reimaginings among the cast, with Bowser having some musical talent (it would have been a crime to NOT have Jack Black sing, heh) and his fixation for Princess Peach being treated in a manner that felt to me far creepier than the games would have ever dared to show. Peach, meanwhile, basically becomes Mario's mentor in this world and is one of the film's most badass characters, a nice change of pace from the constant damsel in distress problem of her counterpart. Mario, being a relatively blank slate emotionally in the games, had the most room to grow here (him not liking mushrooms at first, though? That's forced as all Heck). Even characters like Toad and Donkey Kong have new character traits that make sense within the context.
The original score for the film masterfully blends epic orchestration and several of the most famous themes from the Mario franchise, and yet again an attentive fan will be likely to recognize them despite the changes to make them boom and fit within the scenes. Fantastic composition work from Brian Tyler, nothing negative to say about that. That said, the movie also makes use of popular songs from time to time, though their inclusion often clashes. Explain to me how a-ha's Take on Me, a classic pop song, fits with scenes of Mario, Peach and Toad being taken around a kart on Kong Kingdom? It's not just that they don't all fit, it's that some are already overused in pop culture. ACDC's Thunderstruck for that moment where the protagonists are designing their karts? I Need A Hero during Mario's training montage? Come on! I know Chris Pratt is voicing the main character, but this wasn't directed by James Gunn and this isn't Guardians of the Galaxy, dammit.
(also, without spoiling, is it just me or the film takes a handful of elements of the plot in the original Mario movie from '93... and actually executes them correctly, makes them good even? I can't be the only one who had that impression!)
Yeah... that's it. The film hits a ton of right notes, missteps at times, but is overall a pretty great watch, especially for fans.
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