REVIEW: Super Mario Bros. The film is a love letter to the fans.

After long years of waiting, since its announcement in mid-2018, the partnership between Nintendo and Illumination Entertainment finally resulted in Super Mario Bros. The film. An animated feature film that, in addition to pleasing the public, also needs to erase the stain left when the plumber appeared in the cinema for the first time in 1993.

However, was all this waiting time worth it? O showmetech was one of the sites invited to watch the film, which has its premiere scheduled for tomorrow, April 5th. Check out whether or not the feature film is worth it!

It is worth mentioning that in this analysis, we tried our best to avoid spoilers, but some things like characters and songs that are part of the feature were mentioned. So be careful!

The soundtrack for Super Mario Bros. the movie is great

Three great pillars support the new adventure of Super Mario in theaters: music, nostalgia and animation. So let's talk about it in order.

The film's producers knew how to choose very well which songs would be included in the feature film. It's a great mix of many classic sounds that fans have heard when turning on their video game, with famous compositions from popular culture.

The result of all this is poetry that pleases the ears very well and draws a big smile from those who know them. For example, fans of the new adventure of Super Mario on the big screen can now join fans of Shrek and sing together “I need a Hero”, which is just one of several that you will recognize as you follow this journey.

Also, the original songs, or the little musical acts that occasionally occur in the feature film, are also funny. I'm not saying they're perfect, since they're scenes aimed at making the audience laugh or at least make us wonder how they managed to think of that. So, in the end, we have a very good result and able to please everyone.

Nostalgia in references

Despite being a film aimed at children, with characters made to be charismatic with the younger audience, any fan of the universe of Mario you can feel satisfied with the result. The feature film has a very good nostalgia factor and manages to appeal to all audiences. Whether in small objects inserted in the scenery that only call the attention of those who are most attentive or even scenes that seem to be taken straight from one of the many titles of the mustachioed plumber in the video game, there are many things to love.

It's what almost everyone expected, actually. A show of references that fits very well as the plot progresses, fan service well done to also make sense with the plot. I already wanted to apologize for the pun, but there is a familiar face in each barrel of this work.

By far, this is one of the strongest points of the entire film of the Super Mario Bros., a true journey through everything that Nintendo already produced in its long history in the digital games market, which makes us wish for more. Yes, despite recognizing several faces, many of which have already appeared in the trailer, alongside other unreleased names, we still managed to miss a few things.

This, in addition to showing that Mario's universe, but not only his, but also that of Donkey Kong, who share the same “world”, is replete and even in such a work, it also gives the Nintendo and Illumination Entertainment a golden opportunity: to maintain this partnership and continue with charismatic characters on the big screen, creating captivating stories for all audiences, but especially for the family.

For these details, some with deeper meanings or even simpler references, the movie Super Mario Bros. becomes a real love letter to fans of the mustache, giving them a new and bigger universe, but without scaring with the news. In fact, we felt right at home.

Animation does its job

Viewers who watched Cat in Boots in the cinema a few months ago or who is waiting for the unique style of Spiderverse, can find reasons to complain about Mario's new journey. However, those who do not have expectations that the Nintendo delivered a new revolution in this film segment, you won't find any reason to complain.

For example, in Super Mario Odyssey, which launched in Nintendo Switch, we had the mustachioed plumber alongside humans in real proportions and even though the game was well made, it still caused some strangeness for the player to see the two models side by side. Anyway, in animation, everyone is cartoonish and in harmony, even the tallest ones don't seem out of tune with others in the scene.

Other than that, the quality and care that Illumination Entertainment put in to make this product even better can be seen at different times. From the care taken to make the combat scenes dynamic and interesting, to the fur on the Donkey Kong, which are very well produced.

The Brazilian dubbing contributes to the characters

Since Chris Pratt was announced as the new voice of the film's protagonist, fans were a little wary. After all, after years, the iconic speeches of charles Martinet would be replaced by another voice actor.

The trailers, unfortunately, did not please much. Fortunately the same cannot be said of the Brazilian version. Our dubbing of the film is sensational, since we chose to keep the Italian accent for which the plumber became known and this adds a lot to the issue of familiarity with the story.

Not just the voice of Mario it's very good, as is the cast of characters who accompany him on his journey. They all seemed to fit together well, which goes to show that the love for the final product wasn't just something the animation studio and the company itself Nintendo, but of everyone involved in the project.

However, despite the dubbing having a good quality, the fact that they have cast the Eternal Star Lord in the Marvel Universe is reason enough to want to see the film with American voices. Couple this with the fact that the work of Jack Black is being highly praised by critics out there, as well as the apparent good performances of Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach and Seth Rogan as Toad, it's worth considering a second visit in theaters just to catch up on this story again.

However, if you only want to go once and are in doubt about which one to choose, choose to see the version of the Mario movie dubbed and localized for our country. Voices familiar to us and the dubbing direction choices are factors that add a lot to make the experience even more fantastic.

Within this point, we can also mention the charisma present in all the characters. They were well planned, without being complex, but designed to be cute and provide comic relief in many scenes.

For example, out of Princess Peach and Mario, which fit very well as a duo, Toad, the third member of the trio also steals the scene several times and fulfills the role that was expected of him by the trailers: a light presence in the scene and making the audience laugh.

Apart from them, a star that is very reminiscent of Luma, Rosalina's mascot in the games of mario galaxy, also pleases in the scenes that she appears. But she is a very interesting contrast with the others, since she is pessimistic and her lines, with a calm voice, almost always stir up despair in those who follow her.

Unfortunately, screen time was lacking for the Luigi, which was also well done, but left out of the script in favor of his brother, the big star of the feature film. Will we ever get a movie focused on him? I hope so.

History is nothing out of the curve

Older fans of Super Mario they know that the strength of the game was never the story. It was always simple, where you needed to pass several levels, jump on enemies, break blocks and discover that your princess is in another castle.

In parts, this low complexity was also maintained in the film. The story is far from being the most interesting point, but it is still capable of absorbing the thousands of references inserted in a way that makes sense within the context.

It seems that one of the biggest inspirations for the motivations of the Bowser were taken from Super Mario Odyssey, where he is not a madman in search of power. In fact, yes, but deep down, his biggest goal is another. We won't go into deeper details, but anyone who knows the last great Nintendo game released for the Switch can understand what I'm talking about.

The mini arcs that complete the story are equally simple, sometimes even seem too rushed. Since the Mushroom Kingdom's biggest political figure decides to accept help from a stranger without thinking twice, since Mario is also human. There is not much development in that part, they are there, together and ready to fight the Bowser, who is advancing with his army towards the kingdom.

By far my favorite part was when they headed to the Kingdom of the Kongs. The apes in the story, led by Cranky Kong and your son Donkey Kong they are great, charismatic and deliver good scenes.

After all, who never wanted to see gorillas wearing blazers and driving karts at high speed? It's also cool to see how the universe created in Super Mario Bros. blends in with the DK saga games. Although they have a relationship, when the Miyamoto created jumpman, the relationship between the two worlds in the games was a bit confusing, but now we understand well that they are just kingdoms with different customs.

Despite not being complex, the story is capable of having its beginning, middle and end, as well as leaving room for the Nintendo work on more ideas if you want to create your own universe. The pipes work as dimensional portals, connecting the real world in Brooklyn that Mario and Luigi live with the fantasy universe known from the games.

There are many possibilities to be explored here. We still have several characters from the Mario universe that haven't made their debut on the big screen, but we've already seen references and now we're looking forward to seeing them animated by the Illumination Entertainment, as well as other franchises of the Nintendo that we would also like to see in theaters, as a certain kingdom of Hyrule protected by the hero of time.

Despite being a joke that has taken over the internet since the announcement of this film, it is also possible to see the real possibility of a "Super Smash Bros." happen and, frankly, if the quality of both the film and the Super Mario how much of Sonic, which has a slightly different proposition, I look forward to it happening.

Box office success?

Although we still don't have data from the Brazilian box office, Super Mario Bros. The film is having a great success in the countries where the data have already been published. According to information from Deadline, in its premiere, the total gross of the feature film was approximately US$ 66,4 million, around R$ 357.444.701 million in direct conversion to our currency.

In addition, the new adventure of the Nintendo in theaters it also broke some records, being the best premiere of an animation in 11 different markets, such as Germany. Spain, Argentina and Central America. In the latter location, for example, the box office achieved by the film is more than double Minions e My favorite evil, two other commercially successful films by Illumination Entertainment.

Meanwhile, in North American cinema, the adventure of the Mario brothers conquered the position of the best debut of a video game adaptation for the big screen. Since it surpassed some strong competitors, such as Sonic and also Detective Pikachu!

It's worth watching?

Simply put, the movie will be worth every penny of your ticket. It's crafted in such a way that it balances masterfully between pleasing veteran fans of the mustachioed as well as a new generation.

This proves that the universe of Super Mario, conceived by the brilliant mind of Miyamoto, is generational and although many games have appeared over the years, the charisma of the mustachioed plumber will always charm new audiences.

Some references, characters, special powers and other things were missing, but everything that was inserted in the work perfectly matches what was proposed. I believe that if I put more details, we would actually get lost in the middle of so much content. In addition to opening space for the creation of future works.

In this way, it is perfect to watch with the family, especially if there are children involved. Little ones will have a good laugh as they marvel at the well-executed partnership between Nintendo and Illumination Entertainmentt. It is possible to see a perfect combination of what made the Minions to be famous there, with the universe that gamers are used to.

If you're older, you might not laugh at everything – which is pretty difficult, I guarantee – but you'll get that good feeling of nostalgia. You can even see yourself as a kid again, sitting in front of the television and experiencing that game for the first time.

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SOURCES: Nintendo, Deadline

Text proofread by: Pedro Bomfim (04 / 04 / 23)