Super Mario Bros. Review

Super Mario Bros.

Release Date: 10th June 1993 - Australia

Production Companies

Allied Filmmakers (present)

Cinergi Pictures Entertainment (in association with)

Hollywood Pictures (present)

Lightmotive (co-production)

Nintendo (Uncredited)

Touchwood Pacific Partners I (Uncredited)

Distribution

Umbrella Entertainment

Genre: Sci-Fi/Comedy

Rating: PG

Runtime: 104 minutes

Budget: $48,000,000

Box Office Gross: $38,912,465 (Worldwide)

Plot Summary

Two plumbers from Brooklyn, Mario and Luigi, are about to have the shocking discovery of their lives when they stumble upon a parallel world populated by the intelligent descendants of dinosaurs. The meteor didn't destroy them millions of years ago but threw them into another dimension. Now, they have plans to take control of our world. It's up to our

improbable heroes to

battle the evil King Koopa

and his goombas, free the

beautiful Princess Daisy

and save humanity in this

life-changing quest.

Cast

Bob Hoskins - Mario Mario

John Leguizamo - Luigi Marko

Dennis Hopper - King Koopa

Samantha Mathis - Daisy

Fisher Stevens - Iggy

Richard Edson - Spike

Fiona Shaw - Lena

Dana Kaminski - Daniella

Mojo Nixon - Toad

Gianni Russo - Scapelli

Francesca P. Roberts - Bertha

Lance Henriksen - King Bowser

Sylvia Harman - Old Lady

Desiree Marie Velez - Angelica

John Fifer - Goomba Toad

Don Lake - Sergeant Simon

Terry Finn - Hatcheck Girl

Rob Priester - Egon

Preston Lane - James

Robert D. Raidford - TV Announcer

Frank Welker - Creature Voices

(Voice)

Dan Castellaneta - Narrator (Voice)

Crew

Directors - Annabel Jankel

and Rocky Morton

Based on the Concept and

Characters: Creators -

Shigeru Miyamoto and

Takashi Tezuka

Writers - Parker Bennett, Terry Runte and Ed Solomon

Producers - Jake Eberts and Roland Joffé

Co-Producer/Unit Production Manager -

Fred C. Caruso

Casting - Don & Mali Finn

Production Designer - David L. Snyder

Conceptual Artist/Creatures Designer

and Supervisor - Patrick Tatopoulos

Art Director - Walter P. Martishius

Assistant Art Directors - Sarah Knowles

and Simon Murton

Set Decorator - Beth A. Rubino

Costume Designer - Joseph A. Porro

Prosthetics and Cosmetic Skins Supervisor:

Koopa Creature - Rob Burman

Director of Photography/Second Unit

Director - Dean Semler

First Assistant Director - Louis D'Esposito

Choreographer - Barry Lather

Stunt Coordinator - Gary Jensen

Special Effects Coordinator - Paul J. Lombardi

Mechanical Creature Effects Supervisor -

Russell Shinkle

Visual Effects Designer and Supervisor/

Second Unit Director - Chris F. Woods

Lead Digital Animator/Compositor - Peter Webb

Editors - Mark Goldblatt and Caroline Ross

Supervising Sound Editors - Jerry Ross

and Hamilton Sterling

Sound Mixer: Second Unit - Whit Norris

Re-Recording Mixers - Gregg Landaker

and Steve Maslow

Foley Artists - Gary A. Hecker and

Dan O'Connell

Music - Alan Silvestri

Music Supervisor - Peter Afterman

Writers and Performers: "Almost Unreal" -

Roxette

Review

Welcome back, viewers. As you all know, I haven't done anything in my blog except grammatically proofread my reviews, news updates, etc. It's been a few months since I last posted a new critique, but with the latest Super Mario Bros. movie in theatres, it's time to refresh my memory on the previous movie adaptation.

As far back as I can remember, SUPER MARIO BROS. is a well-known video game series, its titular character being the official mascot of Nintendo. Its popularity fell with the advent of Sonic the Hedgehog and modern video games like Halo and Minecraft. Through its iconic status, it spawned three television cartoons and two movies (the latter is a recent animated feature from the studio that brought Despicable Me). There was even a live-action film adaptation that many people would try to forget but grew a cult following.

As a young child, I wasn't aware there was a Super Mario Bros. movie until I discovered its packaging on VHS. The film may seem nostalgic as I look back, but it was nothing like the Mario video games I've played. It felt like a wound that never healed, leaving a lasting mark on fans of the series. The failure of this movie may have led Nintendo to prevent any more big-screen adaptations (except for Pokémon). Even the co-creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, felt it tried so hard to replicate the games.

All criticisms have pinpointed the film's poor direction and mishandling of the source material. That's why fans consider it the worst video game movie adaptation. Aside from the film's lack of resemblance to the games, it had a confusing plot and inconsistent tone. However, I appreciate the filmmakers' efforts to try and make this movie different from the games, but they're woefully misguided. I applaud the marvellous set designs (despite being too gritty and industrial for a feature based on the Mario Bros) and the innovative effects that aged beautifully.

I feel bad for the actors that have participated in this film, particularly the late Bob Hoskins, who plays Mario and John Leguizamo as Luigi, whose experiences in making this movie had soured them. Their performances are good, and they have excellent chemistry. While they did their best to save the adaptation they could, unfortunately, they are mismatched, especially Bob, who is too gruff-looking for the character. The same goes for Dennis Hopper, whose baddie, King Koopa, isn't the character known as Bowser. He is having fun overacting in his role and not taking himself too seriously.

Some people may see SUPER MARIO BROS. as oddly charming in a way that honours the source material, while some don't find the film that bad and find it fun. While disappointing, it certainly has its separate storyline detached from the games and is not the perfect adaptation I would expect. Here's hoping Illumination will do a better job of handling the concept. And Chris Pratt will be a better Mario than Bob Hoskins.

Star rating: (3/10) Disappointing

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