The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a family adventure movie an adaptation of the video game series. The titular bros stumble into an alternate reality get separated, Mario teams up with Princess Toadstool to face off against the evil Bowser who holds Luigi prisoner.
The voice cast is relatively inconsistent with Jack Black as Bowser the only one who really understands what movie he's in, and to be fair seems the only person/character the writer knows how to write for. Seth Rogan is good as Donkey Kong as is Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek, a Koopa sorcerer but the rest of the cast particularly the main three- Chris Pratt, Charlie Day, and Ana Taylor-Joy- all give relatively unformed, listless, generic vocal performance made even more so by the lack of any real depth of character from the script.
It looks slick and plays kind of like an extended video game trailer or watching someone on Twitch but as an actual movie its mostly sizzle and very little steak. It clips along at a tight 90 minutes which is to its benefit, it's colorful, the humor is mild and harmless but consistent There's just not a lot to it as far as narrative, it feels like an AI program amalgamated the narrative of several of the games and spat out the script. It's not terrible, there's some cool sequences, but it is stunningly thin. Who would have thought watching this one would reasonably yearn for the gonzo ambition of the derisive 1993 live-action adaptation. Certainly valuable for parents looking for something mild and diverting for their kids, very little to offer beyond that.
Empty calories.
Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.
Stream It.
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