"The Super Mario Bros. Movie", How To Do A Video Game Movie Right

Olivia Schroder | Writer

With the making of several video game adaptations that have come out onto the big screen, video game movies have proven to be very hit or miss. Either you nail it on the head or you miss and hit your thumb in the process.

Let's just say that with “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” my hopes were suboptimal at best, but I found myself pleasantly surprised.

I would say “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” finds the sweet spot between pleasing the fandom and giving the viewers, who are less invested in the franchise, a good movie.

It also takes heavy inspiration from its source material, from the soundtrack loaded with the original bouncy rhythm of the games to the small cameos of the creatures that are scattered throughout the universe, even down to its animation and framing.

For instance, there's a scene early on in the movie when you see Mario and Luigi run on a parkour track through the streets of Brooklyn in a style reminiscent of the original side-scrolling platform games.

They also kept the plot simple and to the point. It stars Mario and Luigi as they run a failing plumbing operation. After shenanigans ensue, the brothers split up by accident, and Luigi gets captured by Bowser. Mario ends up meeting Princess Peach, Toad, and Donkey Kong to go rescue him. More shenanigans ensue in typical kid's movie fashion, along with the expected romantic subplot between Mario and Peach. As expected, Bowser is defeated, with a slight twist at the end.

One fear I had walking into the film was that Chris Pratt wouldn't be able to embody the character of Mario. However, given who the movie is catering to and Charlie Day as Luigi, I would say he did well as Mario, and I look forward to seeing him play in the rest of the franchise.

Overall, I am extremely impressed with the quality and effort that were presented in the movie, and I'm excited to see what this means for video game recreations moving forward.