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30 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Watch it objectively and it's an ok, imaginative movie., March 5, 2005
Like a lot of kids of my generation, I grew up anticipating every new Super Mario Bros. game. And like a few other people in the country, I went to see the movie when it came out in theaters. I was almost 15 at the time, but I actually liked the movie.
Nowadays, it doesn't stand up. It bombed at the box office, is the source of constant scorn, and is often blamed for starting the "movies based off of video games always suck" phenomenon.
But to be quite honest, this isn't a terrible film. If you were to watch it objectively, you'll probably find something in it to appreciate. Sure, to begin with, the casting is off. Though I think John Leguizamo is capable of just about anything (he's played a fat, demonic clown, a character in Romeo and Juliet, a midget, a charismatic boxer, and a sneaky gangster (Benny Blanco from the Bronx!!). His roles have been met with mixed reviews, but say what you will, the guy has range. But here he is playing the taller, mustached Italian brother of the most famous plumber around, yet he's shorter, no mustache, and not at all Italian. Bob Hoskins being british doesn't do great for Mario either.
Someone else mentioned that the dinosaur adversary of the game, King Koopa, is played here as a sleazy, suited businessman. Yes, this is strange as well. Come to think of it, a lot of this stuff is just plain bizarre. But therein lies the problem.
Super Mario Bros, when taken at its most serious, is a game about a plumber who travels through pipes, beats up turtles with fireballs that he gets from a flower, and hits invisible blocks in the sky all while romping around in the mushroom kingdom while attempting to save a woman named Princess Toadstool. So, how would you film a plot such as this?
The filmmakers tried. They really did. And in my opinion, they came up with quite an intruiging world. Somewhere in between Blade Runner and Twin Peaks, the world in this film is flashy, colorful, populated with lots of strange creatures, and almost always with something unique or interesting to look at. That it's packaged inside this strange film is disappointing.
But that, again, is almost impossible to avoid. Some may argue that this film should've just played it straight, such as Mortal Kombat- meaning that the things in this film just are. You accept them, their rules and parameters, or you don't. Partly where SMB fails is in trying to make the completely absurd world of the videogame into something acceptable. See, this mushroom kingdom is just an alternate reality, where time flows differently and where prehistoric creatures roam about. Wouldn't you know it, two hapless plumbers stumble in, and boom- now we have a reason to accept the premise of the game.
Sure there's lots to complain about. This movie is very silly. But at the same time, I can respect what they tried to do. Dennis Hopper as Koopa is an inspired choice, since he's such a (expletive) all the time anyway. To see him run around, firing guns at everything while screaming "PLUMBERS!!!!!" is a hoot, akin to his freakout at the end of the (more) bizarre Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.
That's the thing. You have to just accept this movie for what it is- tongue in cheek, self-aware goofiness. The movie doesn't try to be accepted as a serious entry into the medium of high art, it's just a silly trip into this land populated by characters who are in a video game that was, at the time, 8 years old. And in my opinion, there's lots for fans of the game to look for. Many references are there, from obvious things such as the dinosaur character Yoshi (who is played straight, strangely enough) to much more obscure references such as the character "Big Bertha", who was a fish in SMB3 but here a large african american woman who holds a key central to the plot. Yes, it's strange. But I mean come on, the game's far out to begin with. This movie may very well have been better served as a direct play on the game, such as the successful cartoon series. But instead, we're left with a sort of "alternate take", a slightly more adult and realistic one, on the Super mario landscape. Many view it as a complete failure, and I can easily see why. But for myself, I think it's no worse than any number of video game movies (and better in some cases, such as the film rape of the Resident Evil games).
In Super Mario Brothers, there's a lot to make you groan or wish better upon the participants. But if you just accept that the premise of the game is so thin to begin with, and then just accept the movie as a genuine attempt to breathe life and character into this game world, I think at the very least you can gain a new respect for what the movie is.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
An OK Flick, epic in my eyes, though..., July 5, 2006
It was summer, 1997.
I was just becoming a video gamer then, and when my Dad told me the Super Mario Bros Movie was on TV, I nearly had a lapse of sanity, I was like "THERE'S A MOVIE?!" And so I sat down and watched it. Then, I rented it endlessly. After which my parents finally bought me a VHS copy for Christmas in winter of '98. I have studied this movie to no end, I have watched it so many times I have lost count. But it was just a while ago that I realized that it's really not that good. But it's also not as bad as people make it out to be.
Let's look at the facts.
Mario is Italian, right? Mario is from Brooklyn, right?
Well, they got half that right, getting a British actor (Hoskins) to play the part of Mario with a New York Accent. I thought that was OK, but in the long run, Mario should have been played by Danny DeVito. That's really the only person who could have played him, because DeVito's both Italian AND a New Yorker (at least, he acts like it...)
Luigi is Italian, right? Luigi is from Brooklyn, right?
Again, something they got half right. John Leguizamo, a young Hispanic man, to play the part of an Italian Plumber. At least John acts like a New Yorker, a convincing New Yorker, nonetheless, but not an Italian Plumber. Also, Luigi should have had a mustache, there's no excuse for him not having a mustache in that movie, but for some reason...
Koopa. Koopa is a dinosaur.
Okay, they totally blew this one, but hey, it was 1992 when they made the movie, for Chrissake! There was no such thing as CGI back then and even if there had been, we'd all complain to this day about 'How fake Bowser looked.' So they did the next best thing, they made Koopa a really mean politician, I can see the humor in that now...
Daisy. Daisy is the Princess of Sarasaland.
OK, they blew this one too, but here's the lowdown on Mario and the Princess, I don't know if you know this, but Mario doesn't go out with Peach in the games, he goes out with Pauline, the girl from Donkey Kong, an earlier model for Peach. But now, Pauline and Peach exist in the same plain, so there is no reason to have Mario have a relationship with a young princess when it can go to Luigi, a character that kids can relate to.
Goombas. Goombas...
Again, there was no CGI back in those days and even if there was it was very primitive (T2) and it could not have made the illusion of many little characters on screen. So they did the next best thing, they had over-sized (God knows why) zombie-like creatures who had once been members of the Mushroom Kingdom act out they're part, unfortunately, probably taking a lot of the budget up...
And Finally, Toad. Toad, Toad, Toad...
Toad is supposed to be a body guard of the princess, right? Well he's Peach's body guard, not Daisy's and he must have been out of a job or something in this movie because I have no idea why he was even in this film...
I hope this helps you understand the Mario Bros Movie a little better. I like to think of it as "Mario in Wario's World," which would've made a cool sequel, but again, the movie bombed at the box office... I have now, and always will enjoy this movie, but the flaws are hard to look past. But if you can manage to watch the movie and just have fun, then I salute you, because it's Mario, and everybody loves Mario, no matter what they say.
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14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
This, unfortunately, has to be my favorite movie, June 14, 2001
For all those people who are totally tearing the movie, you will probably grow up to be critics. It IS true that the movie will never be on any The Best of The Century's Movies list, but if you're looking for entertainment: Mario Bros. are your men. The movie is not made to be believable: two "brothers" get trapped in another dimension while trying to save Luigi's kind of girlfriend, who happens to be the princess of this strange world. The princess is trying to reverse the damage King Koopa did to her father (he turned him into a giant ball of fungus). In the end, the Mario Bros. save the day (did you expect a different ending?). Don't expect a recreation of the game; this movie is a far cry from any version of Super Mario. I have watched and rewatched this movie since I was little and I STILL have to say that it is my favorite. The plot line is a wee bit out there, yes; it's not like the game, that's true; all the aspiring critics out there will not get into it, unfortunately; but for all you normal people out there who don't care what the rest of the world thinks about reality and just want a nice, quiet night to yourself or with a loved one: check this out.
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