So this is how I break my Oscar nominee streak: with something the Academy would probably never honor. It is extraordinarily popular for a video game adaptation, even among adults in my circles, but professional critics aren't as thrilled. I went in with cautious optimism.
Brooklynite fraternal twins Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) have a failing plumbing business when they happen upon a long-hidden pipe that sucks them into another world, albeit in separate directions. In the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario meets friendly fungal fellow Toad (Keegan-Michael Key), who surmises from his details that Luigi wound up in the clutches of King Bowser (Jack Black), a sort of turtle-dragon hybrid bent on world conquest. Their best bet for saving Luigi is to team up with another displaced human, Princess Peach Toadstool (Anya Taylor-Joy), who's already planning to stop Bowser via an alliance with gorilla king Cranky Kong (Fred Armisen) and his son Donkey (Seth Rogen). Mario may be short, but he is dedicated, and his past unlucky antics have honed his athletic skills even before he's introduced to power-up items.
I haven't had a very high opinion of Illumination Entertainment, but I must admit that it was probably the best choice of studio in this case. The realm of Mario exhibits a cartoon wackiness that sees no need to justify itself. The protagonist himself is perplexed by things like floating platforms but accepts them without explanation. And while he gets knocked around a lot, it rarely leaves a mark.
Yeah, parents, I wouldn't worry about the violence if your kid is about six. While the dialog doesn't shy away from words like "die," I think the only unambiguous demises are of walking bombs. One turtle minion becomes a skeleton, but that's not the end for him. There's no racy element either, despite Bowser's disturbing marital interest in Peach. (Feelings between her and Mario are kept ambiguous.) And not even the plumbing slapstick gives way to potty humor. It's as tasteful as you could hope for.
Not that I found it particularly funny, any more than I usually find the games so. The main fun for me was in noticing shout-outs, including a few to other Nintendo franchises. The familiar musical motifs brought me more joy than the '80s pop songs, much as the latter evoked another Pratt vehicle. Even I missed a handful of Easter eggs, tho not many if IMDb is any indication. If you're not a kid or a relevant player, you might still appreciate the colorful, swift, quirky action sequences.
The picture makes few deviations from the source material, loose as that canon is. I think it takes the most important liberties with a few personalities. Toad doesn't normally project that kind of cockiness. Donkey tends not to be a preening jerk, and I've never seen his dad quite like this before. As for the princess, let's just say that modern cinema has little tolerance for damsels in distress. She's actually more competent than Mario and never truly gets captured, only giving herself up momentarily to save others. Poor Luigi doesn't get to be cool until the climax. (That's not out of character for him; I just thought I'd mention it.)
Mild feminism aside, there's really no pushing of values herein. Of course, that has the downside of making the whole exercise feel a bit pointless. Just a fleeting 92 minutes of entertainment for us and a lot of money for the makers.
The ad campaign is about as faithful as the film itself. If you saw a trailer and thought it wasn't for you, you're probably right. If you thought it looked promising, go ahead.
I'm still not ready to say that any great video game movies exist, but we're getting closer. The likely sequel may be closer yet.
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