Film Review - The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)

There seems to be a big push in recent films to take us back in time and return us to easily the greatest decade in modern human history: the 1980s. This week, Ben Affleck transports us back to 1984 and the birth of the Air Jordan in his brilliant dramedy Air; last week we travelled back to later in the decade and across the globe to witness the birth of Tetris and Taron Egerton’s spectacular moustache; now, as the very early summer blockbuster season begins, we go back to 1985 and a new attempt to bring The Super Mario Bros back to the Big screen, only this time in animated form and thanks to the goliath animation studio Illumination who swap Minions, Gru and The Grinch for Italian plumbers.

On paper, the conglomeration of Illumunation’s obvious talents and track record for making hugely successful animations and Nintendo’s most famous video game characters coming back to the big screen after a three-decade wait should add up to a fun experience all around. Alas, much like its previous incarnation, The Super Mario Bros and their electrifying escapades sadly don’t translate to film and, sadly, we can only report disappointment with this frustratingly dull caper. Indeed, if you’re of a certain age (let’s say 5-12), it may well have the opposite effect and be not only a welcome distraction for all the family but also a brilliant time at the cinema. The graphics, colours, and worlds created here will be a plethora of enjoyment for little ones as they marvel at Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, and Donkey Kong and be a little bit frightened by Bowser though Jack Black does bring his usual warmth and charisma with him, as well as a sing-song.

But for adults, aside from coming along for the ride, there isn’t much here for them. One of Illumination’s strengths in their previous works, particularly Despicable Me, was their ability to be subversive, to add a few nuggets of suggestive adult humour for older audiences into them for the older audiences but here, despite its technical wizardry, that side is severely lacking and only adds to the frustration that the film will impart for much of its runtime. Yes, there are snippets of fun in there but many of the jokes land as flat as Mario does try to save the Princess, and all of the more fast-paced elements feel surprisingly leaden. Perhaps this is an even bigger sin when you have the likes of Black, Seth Rogen, Keegan Michael-Key, and Fred Armisen at your disposal and ultimately give them very little to work with. With some comedic presences, as well as Chris Pratt (his controversial casting aside), Charlie Day, and Anya Taylor-Joy, it feels like a real waste of talent, with the latter coming out of it all the best.

It’s not bad, just disappointing and that, as we know, more often is worse and only serves as a reminder to stay at home and play the games themselves.