Mamma Mia. A LOT of Mamma Mia. The Super Mario Bros Movie (Like the Dungeons and Dragons movie) had a lot of hype and advertising to it, and it (mostly) lives up to the hype. The movie will do exactly what you expect, and will give you almost no surprises, but that's not exactly a bad thing. The voice actors do a lot better than I thought they would (especially Chris Pratt), but the overall movie is safe. They didn't take a lot of risks, the humor is casual and expected, and the plot is simple (like any Mario game). With that being said, it's cute, charming, and was a really palpable movie. I hope they make a lot more of these, and it seems like they are going to, since the movie made 377 million it's opening weekend. Here is a quick breakdown.
The Potential
Not since Iron Man released in 2008 has there been this much potential for a franchise. We aren't talking four John Wicks and a spin off here, we are talking dozens upon dozens of projects that could result from this movie being made. Nintendo needs to go all in on this concept of animated blockbuster movies, and start rolling out the big hits. A Donkey Kong movie, Luigi's Mansion, Yoshi's Island, the Nintendo catalog runs SO deep that this could eradicate the MCU (long overdue now) and kickstart a fresh and exciting animated universe. With that being said, I don't think it would be that good of a universe. The movie was great for fanboys, getting to see your favorite Mario heroes and villains on the big screen is definitely the draw, but nostalgia only takes you so far. I'm excited to see where the universe goes, but if Nintendo is smart, they will recognize the potential of what they could do working with some of the biggest animation studios of Hollywood today. Heck throw Sony Animation Studios the Star Fox movie, they'd probably crush it.
The Cast
Like so many other reviewers, I do have to apologize to Chris Pratt. His voice wasn't just "Andy", it was a unique spin on Mario that worked. The movie's cast was so strong when they announced it, that I had my doubts. But Pratt, Anya-Taylor Joy, and Jack Black absolutely nailed their performances. Charlie Day definitely just sounded like Charlie Day (same for Seth Rogen, but he admits that), but it kind of worked for Luigi. Not so much for Donkey Kong. I love every actor involved in the movie, but Seth Rogen as DK, as much as I love Rogen, definitely did not work. Every other actor (especially Jack Black) was having the time of their life with the role, and really brought the characters to life. Jack Black doing an original song as Bowser is more than enough of a reason to see the movie.
The Animation
I mostly loved Puss in Boots: The Last Wish because they, like Spider-verse, took risks and used creative animation to tell a story. This is an Illumination story, so no risks were taken. The animation looked just like you would expect it to, good, not great, no surprises. There were definitely some impressive scenes (Fire Flower field), but the rest of the movie was the Laffy Taffy Skittle throwup color palette we can expect from Illumination. I'm hoping different animation styles/techniques are tried for any spin offs or sequels, to give each film it's own feel, like how the videogames have unique feels to them as well.
Summary
A moderately fun family movie that has a lot of easter eggs for the casual and hardcore gamer. The potential of this franchise is huge, and hopefully next time we get a Super Mario movie, not an Average Mario one.
Score: 6/10