The Super Mario Bros. (2023) - Movie Review, Discourse Breakdown and The Adaptation of Video Games.7/10/2023 Written by Tyrone BruinsmaMovie Review42 years his first in game appearance, 38 years after the first game with his name on it and 30 years after a disastrous live action attempt-Mario finally gets a feature length film worthy of his legacy. Produced by Universal and Illumination, directly supported by Nintendo and filled with a star-studded cast: The Super Mario Bros. Movie is an exciting, fast paced and colorful adventure film sure to please children of all ages and lovers of the Mario video game series. Starting from the original concept, Mario and Luigi (voiced respectively by Chris Pratt and Charlie Day) are a pair of plumber brothers from Brooklyn who get transported to a fantasy kingdom with the warring factions being Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) aiming to protect the Mushroom Kingdom from the evil Bowser (Jack Black). So yeah, it's pretty much the original Mario story since the 80's rolled out in a modern animated adventure style with plenty of nostalgia. This movie is just a ton of fun without a moment wasted, a lean 90-minute-long kids film stuffed with references to the games in visual and auditory fashion. The film looks incredible, easily standing out amongst Illumination's often flat and bland looking franchises with dynamic lighting, variety of colors and better attempts at grandiose spectacle action. The facial animations capture plenty of emotion, with the exaggerated expressions being a reason why you'd make a story like this in animation. The cast is stellar, while Chris Pratt was originally criticized for his vocals as Mario in the trailer-I think he did a great job emulating the character, especially when it comes to scenes opposite Luigi. Charlie Day as Luigi is perfect casting, with the brotherly dynamic being the core theme reminding people that it's the "Mario Bros.". I wasn't initially sold on Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach, she's a great actress; I've just always been a fan of the higher register Peach (Anya would've been my first choice for Daisy to be honest). But the movie proved me wrong and she's easily the most refined and dynamic version of the iconic heroine to date, with plenty of action and humor to balance her emotional scenes. Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong is another great choice, with the Kongs being included at all is a great choice-so we're probably getting a spin-off film/tv series all about them. But yes, the big star of the film is Jack Black as Bowser who completely disappears into the iconic villains as a loveable yet despicable foil to Mario and Peach. The rest of the supporting and cameo filled cast do great too, with Kevin Michael Richardson as Bowser's second in command being another high point. This film easily works as a comedy nearly the whole time, with the entire film bringing a smile to my face-despite the fact that I'm not a hardcore Mario or Nintendo fan. It's not overly serious, has a sincere heart, delivers fun action and the right amount of character development and is a continuing sign of video game adaptations being done right alongside The Last of Us tv series, Rampage from 2018 and Pokemon; Detetive Pikachu. Is the story going to surprise you? Not really. The main subversion from the classic "save the Princess" model is having Mario trying to save Luigi, which does avoid the cliche dynamic and instead bolstering the love both brothers have for each other. But you're not gonna have any world shaping twists or left field subversions, I mean the concept for the Mario series is basically a toddler friendly version of John Carter/Princess of Mars so its legacy is over 100 years old at this point. That lack of subversion/surprise might be a disappointment to some, but considering the film is aimed to be appropriate for audiences as young as 4-I don't think that's an issue. I mean Bluey is a cartoon series aimed at the same demographic and that's beloved by people of all ages across the globe, so is it any real surprise that this film made a billion dollars at the box office? No, I don't think so. This is basically the Mario film fans have wanted to see since 1985 and has been doing that in style. Pretty much the only demographic this doesn't' appeal to is people who've no interest in animated kids films or video games. But I still think this is a massive win for video game adaptations into films as a whole-so let's see how Zelda and Metroid go. 9/10 Dissecting the DiscourseSo, at the time of writing (with the film having been on home media for a while now), The Super Mario Bros. film is currently sitting at a box office total of $1.3 Billion; making it the highest grossing video game film, highest grossing film of 2023 so far, 3rd highest grossing animated film and 15th highest grossing film ever. That said, the film's critical reception is largely mixed; with many wishing the film was less reliant on nostalgia and doing more with the premise. And in some of the worst takes on the film by the likes of Grace Randolph and Adam from YMS, considering it a horrible film. Now the latter two's overly negative takes feel like they're trying to anger people for attention, and both have their own issues where patience more than intelligence is needed to breakdown their problems. A big studio movie that makes huge bank, is a hit with fans and audiences, but doesn't get the best reviews isn't some anomaly. On that Wikipedia list of "List of highest-grossing films" with the top 50 displayed are plenty of films with less than overwhelming praise: Aquaman, Jurassic World, Transformers: Age of Extinction, Disney's remakes of Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King etc. Box office is not a pre-requisite for critical acclaim and visa versa. Box office success merely means that lots of people wanted to go out and see it, with kid's films being an easy win as parents and children are both seeing it. Illumination has made a career off releasing not the best reviewed films that make huge money at the box office. A large amount of critics not liking this film is understandable, not every critic is necessarily a gamer or a fan of Mario so they don't have a predisposed emotional engagement. And the film is relatively simple in its execution compared to similar big brand animated works like The Lego Movies, the Spiderverse films or emotionally resonant works from Disney like Encanto or Turning Red. But many people are happy with it, and unless you're one of the critics who is actively despises audiences seeing a film you don't or are trying to anger audiences who like the movie-it shouldn't bother you. This film was however a fascinating insight into an incredibly niche sector of the online discourse space (even though it's scarily getting noticed outside that sphere) which does involve me having to dissect what's become known as "The Fandom Menace" (I think) and the buzz word "Woke". Sigh. Ok. So, the internet pretty much is a space where people of all interests can get together, discuss their niche interests and enjoy it. The "Fandom Menace" is a nebulous collective of failed comedians, failed journalists, failed game/film critics, failed writers (failed actors even) whose toxic personalities and beliefs led them to becoming "Cultural Commentators" who mostly just throw tantrums online about nothing. They hate everything that's mainstream or progressive, spout buzzwords instead of arguments, support horrible people and basically function as the titular "Right Wing Reactionaries" (Right Wing Hipsters if you will). If someone they hate likes something, they're against it. They're also some of the stupidest people on the planet because they will say "this is an insult to the fandom", while referring to a concept or subject that's always been involved in a franchise or series-because they're not actually fans. They's people who can't find friends or social spheres easily, so they enter fandom communities they barley know about and try co-opting it to fit their backwards beliefs. And if you're guessing these people are so toxic that they don't actually like each other and will attack one another when they're not hating something-you're also correct. All they do is make angry tweets, upload 10 videos a day about a non-topic with clickbait titles and thumbnails to keep those who want to be perpetually angry in that state. It's a "community" full of dumb, hateful, angry bigots who are mad they're not intelligent or skilled enough to make meaningful media-so look to tear it down. It's all a grift to take advantage of those angry enough and stupid enough to keep watching their videos, donating to their streams and buying their merch. Feed the angry hateful piggies their digital slop so they never think or question anything. As for the word "Woke", this is a term that's had a consistent devolution as it's been co-opted by the worst people. It originally started as a term used by black communities online to refer to organizations or people who were "woke", in the sense that they were aware of systemic issues. It then was quickly used by other parties to call out companies and individuals who were pretending to be progressive, before being co-opted by the above toxic group. Woke then become a rapid-fire buzzword bigots used to criticize people, products and anything they didn't like. The word basically acted as a "criticism" in media of non-white characters, LGBTQIA+ inclusivity, female empowerment and basically anything progressive including (but not limited to) giving money to a children's charity or being pro-nature. "Woke" basically became a right-wing buzz word to critique everything the politically right opposes as a barrier to not outright say they're bigots. The word has gotten so much usage that disgusting entities like Ron De Santis use it in a way that implies "Wokism" is some sinister disease corrupting people. And in case you were wondering, yes; lots of people who use this buzz word obsessively as a negative buzz word also have conspiratorial thoughts, anti-Semitic beliefs and supporting outspoke fascists. So, with that context, when the second trailer for this Mario film came out with Anya Taylor Joy's Princess Peach as a proactive character: the toxic online grifter community (who of course contain obsessively sexist bigots who think they're owed women, as well as self-hating women with internalized misogyny) lost their minds. For literally weeks, this niche community spammed social media with their filled diapers thrown in tantrums; complaining that Peach wasn't a damsel in distress, despite her being proactive in the games since the first and this being the model for Disney princesses/animated heroines since the late 90s. They cried and cried in a pathetic and obsessive fashion about how "toxic" it was to show Peach not being kidnapped and rescued because it's "unrealistic for women" (yes, that is disturbing). They used buzzwords like "Woke", "Girlboss" and "Feminist" as insults before moving on to whatever the next target was that week. And when the movie came out, this community that had so ravenously torn this film apart based on a few seconds of trailer footage...did a 180-degree turn. When the majority of reviews for the Mario film weren't positive, these sniveling little grifters changed their tune and started praising the film as a massive success for "anti-woke cinema" and "destroying Disney" (because these people hate Disney in a cult like fashion). Despite pre-hating this movie for Princess Peach, they now claimed that "bias left-wing critics" didn't hate the film for being formulaic, reliant on fan service etc...they claimed that it's because the lead character was played by white man Chris Pratt. Yes...that's the excuse these brain-dead troglodytes pulled out of thin air. While Chris Pratt is a minor problematic entity, critics have largely praised him as an actor and would give glowing reviews for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 not long after. The change of tune was only in a nakedly obvious attempt to not appear to side with mainstream critics. If mainstream audiences and critics like something, they'll hate it. If anyone in the mainstream media space even vaguely criticizes something (or it promotes values these horrible little humans support) they'll praise it and use it to curb stomp the media they hate. So, for these YouTube channels to have a dozen videos like "Mario destroys Woke Disney Cinema!" alongside "Woke Feminist Peach ruins Mario!" without the people who consume this content to not notice it is a DISTURBINGLY accurate rendition of Big Brother from George Orwell's 1984 "The war has always been with East Asia and not Eurasia". And what's annoying is that this kind of braindead propaganda content fills up the online discourse and leaves very little room for more interesting discussions. The moment I finished watching the film, despite loving the film-there was a subject i wanted to talk about. But the cultural oxygen surrounding the film was far more around "Audiences V.S Critics" and people trying to breakdown to garbage spewed by loud bigoted grifters. Because the success of this movie and similar recent works brings into question a far more unique discussion about the nature of adapting video games into films. Adapting Video Games into FilmsWhile adapting stage plays, musicals and books into films has yielded masterpieces and classics, adapting video games into good films has always been considered a difficult endeavor. One could argue that comic books suffer the same fate but considering the likes of Richard Donner's Superman from 1978, Tim Burton's Batman films, the first two Sam Raimi Spider-Man films and so on-that ideas doesn't hold much water. The reason for video games being a difficult task to adapt into films is removing the interactive element. Similar to making a book out of a film, removing an additional engagement method. And many video game films have been downright disasters between Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, House of the Dead, Hitman, Bloodrayne, Tekken and the cult item-1993's Super Mario Bros. Movie.
The live action Super Mario Bros. Movie from 1993 was such a strange attempt to adapt the rough narrative of the games into a story that turns Bowser into a dinosaur human played by Dennis Hopper with a mohawk is nuts. While it's a cult classic to some fans (largely due to irony and age), I still think it didn't work and felt closer to "Ghostbusters end up in Mad Max 3". But the attempt to realize video game ideas into a then tangible real world was admirable. Ever since, fans of video games have demanded their adaptations be more accurate. While we would get aesthetically fitting versions like 1995's Mortal Kombat, 2002's Resident Evil and the Angelina Jolie Tomb Raider films-they would like the core essence and heart of those games. We would get better films like 2006's Silent Hill and Disney's Prince of Persia before hitting very big attempts in Warcraft, Rampage and Pokémon Detective Pikachu. All three films we big, budgeted projects and while they made money-not as much as the film studios were hoping. And I'd argue all 3 are great films in their own right. Before Covid, the Sonic the Hedgehog film hit and was a moderate success with fans, critics and the box office (even if I thought it was middling) and then Covid shut down a lot of things. But in 2021-we had two accurate video game films in reboots for Mortal Kombat and Resident Evil. Mortal Kombat borrowed the violence and more serious tone of the games, while Welcome to Racoon City evoked many of the creatures, scenes and storylines from the first two games. They received mixed success and reviews, though Mortal Kombat was a hit on streaming. 2022 rolled around and saw Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Uncharted both make over $400 million each. And then, Universal and Nintendo released The Super Mario Movie in March of 2023-becoming a global hit with $1.3 Billion at the box office and God knows how much in merch. And while I enjoy it, maintain it's a great film in its own right and one of my favorite films of the year-I have an issue with it. Due to the two studios (especially Nintendo with Shigeru Miyamoto) overseeing it with the lead creators of Teen Titans Go at the helm and needing to obey the brand-it lacks what you would call a solely unique creative spark or vision. To give another example of what I mean, another 2023 film that gave me the same sensation was Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. A long-awaited reboot of the classic RPG game series, that film is a fun, well made and engaging film. However, due to being overseen by owners Hasbro and Paramount, along with being largely handled by the workman writer/directors behind Game Night and the script for Spider-Man; Homecoming-it too lacks that sense of unique vision. It's a true collaborative effort sure, but no one single vision beyond "Make a fun movie based on this material". Unfortunately, that leaves Honor Among Thieves as only a good but not great fantasy romp that will be familiar to anyone vaguely aware of the fantasy genre. Then again you could argue that's the best any fantasy film can do without breaking the glass ceiling and transcending to a lifetime achievement like Peter Jacksons' Lord of the Rings or a dream scape fairy tale artwork like Ridley Scott's Legend-but that's another story. In fact, both those previously mentioned directors are an example of why even if many filmmakers can achieve good or great films-a director with vision will always be able to elevate a film or make it at least memorable. For instance, while it was largely disliked-I still think Guy Ritchie's take on Arthurian legend in 2017's King Arthur: Legend of the Sword is still a unique and memorable take on that kind of fantasy sphere. To use a video game film adaptation: while many fans despised the Paul WS Anderson produced Resident Evil films made film 2002 to 2017-you cannot deny they're his films. Even the 2 installments not directed by him feel like they fit into the story, tone and atmosphere he was creating. Yes, he ignored the storyline and characters gamers liked in exchange for his original character Alice (played by his eventual wife Milla Jovovich) and traded claustrophobic B-movie sci-fi horror for Matrix inspired slow-mo shootouts and fight scenes with latex outfits-but those were his choices. I wouldn't' say the series was good overall (I only liked the 1st and 5th films), they did make money and audiences largely paid to see them with that film series making over $1 Billion at the box office. And I'll always appreciate attempts like this, even if the results are mixed. 1994's Street Fighter tried to turn the fighting tournament game series into G.I Joe and is still kind of fun. Doom from 2005 removes the pure supernatural elements of "Hell" but replaces it with interesting pseudo-science. And even if the 2009 Street Fighter; The Legend of Chun Li failed due to a low budget and bad script-someone did make an attempt. But all these come from creatives wanting to adapt and change the material to fit their mold and vision. However, with the likes of the animated Mario film and The Last of Us tv show being so well received by audiences-I fear all studios and producers with video game rights in their folds will seek to do the same. No looking for interesting creators to bring fresh takes on a video game story-just solid talent who'll crank out a pure one to one product. Similar to how the recent South Park RPG games produced by the original South Park creators feel literally like the animated series in a video game. With projects like Five Nights at Freddy's, Borderlands, Minecraft, The Division and more in the not-too-distant future-this likely won't stop. But, I actually want bold, unique visionaries to adapt games, books, comics and alike into films because that creates some of the most iconic films of all time. Francis Ford Coppola turned "Heart of Darkness" into Apocalypse Now. Ridley Scott turned "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" into Blade Runner. And at the turn of the century, Peter Jackson and Sam Raimi respectively adapted The Lord of the Rings and Spider-Man into films that were simultaneously works fully of their creatives' vision and accurate to the source material. Whether visionary directors create their own unique worlds to play in and tell their original stories like James Cameron and the world of Avatar or getting to adapt popular IPs into their vision like Matt Reeves' The Batman-I want to see them. Those works might not be popular with everyone, but one cannot deny the commitment and vision of their makers. While filmmakers such as Michael Bay and Zack Snyder made divisive films in the Transformers and DC franchises respectively-you cannot deny that those films are entirely theirs and unforgettable. I feel people won't forget lines like "I am directly below the enemy scrotum" (Revenge of the Fallen) and "MARTHA!" (Batman V Superman) any time soon, and I myself do enjoy those films. What I'm saying, is that while I truly love the Super Mario Bros. Movie as a fun, colorful perfect realization of the Mario games-I don't want its dedication to those games (especially under corporate oversight) to make it so that future potential projects are constructed the same way. Creative vision checked in at the door and made an oath to not stray from the canon of the game. I want someone to make their wholly personal vision of Legend of Zelda, or Gears of War, or that eventual Half Life movie. And some of the best cinematic adaptations of video games are made by passionate visionaries. Christophe Gans pleaded to Konami himself to make a story inspired by the games but is its own entity. Duncan Jones cashed in his indie street cred to make a big budget Warcraft film as he loved the games. For better or worse, I want unique talent brought int to interpret a game into a film because they have a story and vision. And while I enjoy IP managed films like The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, I don't want all films to be like them. Variety is the spice of life, so let's enjoy as much of it as we can by letting our creatives tell the stories they want to tell. And yes, that does mean paying them what they're worth and not letting AI replace or exploit them.
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