We have the impression, in front Super Mario Bros. the film (VF of The Super Mario Bros. moviee) by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, to be in front of a giant part of the famous Nintendo franchise… without having access to the controllers.
At first, it’s still very exciting. Especially since this computer-animated film explodes with brilliant colors here and there with disturbing blacks and searing reds. It dazzles with the beauty of the different territories visited, from the warm Brooklyn of the Mario brothers to the dapper Mushroom Kingdom where Princess Peach reigns, passing through the devastated lands conquered by the terrible Bowser. And multiply the “Easter eggs” (it’s in season, okay, but can we make it indigestion?).
Among younger viewers, the dazzle and excitement will likely remain for the 90-minute feature film signed by the directors behind the series. Teen Titans Go! and written by Matthew Fogel, screenwriter of Minions: The Rise of Gru. Note here that the film is co-produced by Illumination, the box from which the little yellow creatures came out, you can see and hear it. And halfway through, the accompanying adult runs the risk of starting to find the time long – even if he has played or is still playing Super Mario Bros.. Because the adventure is in the image of those family films of yesteryear where the second degree intended for the older segment of the public was not part of the recipe.
Unlike the always unequaled The Lego Movie by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, which was its own thing and conveyed an important point (oh. what. yes!); and far from Wreck-It Ralph of Rich Moore, who had such a big heart, Super Mario Bros. the film consists of a series of winks. And a scene like Mario Kart ! And another way Super Smash ! And a third at donkey kong ! Hurry up !
tick yes, tick yes
So we tick boxes, through a lazy story in which the two plumber brothers have just started their business. They find themselves in the sewers of Brooklyn, where they fall into a pipe that transports them to a magical world. Mario sets foot in the Mushroom Kingdom, ruled by a Princess Peach who had built a semblance of a spine over the games, but who is a formidable badass here. And Luigi falls head over heels into the dark territories populated among other “zombie” creatures and led by a Bowser who could make the most impressionable of young spectators shudder.
From there, with the help of those we imagine; overcoming the obstacles one imagines; multiplying the victories that we imagine, Mario will run, jump, climb, retreat, go up, fall, get up. And save Luigi. It’s thin. Especially since the two brothers being separated, the brotherly bond so rich in potential (let’s think Forward) is not used. What is, on the other hand, in a flat and “uncomfortable” way, are Bowser’s motivations: the monster wants at all costs to marry Princess Peach, for whom he feels an obsessive love (emphasis on this last word).
At the end of the game, a feature film carried by a formidable voice cast in original version (Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black, Seth Rogen, etc.), but lame (among other things on the side of the choice of songs : Never Holding Out for a Hero Or Take on Me, although often used in this kind of adventures, have had so little impact), is far from being a drain. But it lacks “fire, plumbers!” »