Hello and welcome back to My Geekology! I’m Ash and today we are going to talk about the Super Mario Bros. (2023) movie! There were a fair number of questions fans of the franchise had when information about this film began to roll out. Many pertained to casting and how the film would treat the universe millions have come to love over the years. Today, we hope to answer some of those questions and give you some of our thoughts on the movie! We hope you have fun, see you on the other side!
Scroll to the bottom to take our quiz to see which Mario character you are!
DISCLAIMER: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE!
Something fun…
The pandemic affected virtually everybody. We did what we all could do to cope. One of the movements that occurred was a shift to a more relaxing gaming experience to somewhat distract from the outside world. Games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons and other Nintendo greats were favorites of streamers and casual gamers alike. Nintendo Switch consoles became scarce and more and more people experienced masterpieces like Zelda: Breath of the Wild or took in the farming life in Stardew Valley.
I did not grow up with Nintendo being a part of my life. The first Nintendo games I ever played were with my wife during this time. We just wanted something fun, something colorful and light-hearted, and ultimately what everyone wanted: an escape. One of the things we constantly seek out is what is now referred to as “couch co-op” games, or rather games we can enjoy together. These games are rarer and rarer in the gaming landscape, but we cherish the great ones that come into our lives.
The first three we enjoyed together were Mario Kart 8: Deluxe, Mario 3D World, and Luigi’s Mansion 3. They are collectively an explosion of creativity, wonder, and beautiful music. So many of my memories of experiencing these games for the first time are cascaded in laughter, at a time when it seemed like an impossibility.
The Film Experience
I saw a very late showing of the Super Mario Bros. (2023) film with my wife. Our only hope was that it would hint at the joy it brought us during that dark time. We did not intend to watch it looking for problems or inconsistencies. We wanted to laugh, and we wanted something fun, full of color and joy like those games were.
I am happy to say the movie was an absolute blast for us. Once the film takes us to the Mushroom Kingdom the film never slows down. There are many loving nods to various games throughout the entire franchise, but my personal favorites were ones that acknowledged the Mario Kart series. I had a wonderful Captain America “I understood that reference” moment with my wife.
Answering Questions
To answer some of the questions people had, the voices did not take us out of the film, and it was so evident that so many of the people that worked to bring this universe to life cared for it very much. We laughed often, and the characters were believable versions of the video game ones we have come to love.
One of the things that I have personally seen criticized is the so-called “girl-bossification” of Princess Peach and I would push back on that a bit. She is a very formidable and selfless queen for her kingdom. However, to people who think her fighting is not true to the original Princess Peach, I would urge them to consider the nuance at play.
In the film, we see Princess Peach willingly accept a marriage proposal to Bowser when there are no options at the table, which is nuanced. I would be more willing to accept this as true to Peach’s past displays of character and interpret some of her past kidnappings as this same act of self-sacrifice. To me, it is not a changing of character, but rather a rounding out, or contextualization of one.
Critiques – The Music
One of the things I desperately wanted more of was the iconic music from the franchise. In a previous piece for My Geekology, I discussed how the music of Mario Kart 8 enchanted me when I first experienced the game. I knew a lot of the classic Mario songs without ever playing a game because they are so ingrained into the pop culture experience.
However, there is a significant number of licensed songs in the film. I do not have a hard opinion either way regarding the inclusion of licensed music in films, I think there are spectacular examples of both enhancing the overall experience and taking away from it. When the first licensed song started playing the movie is in Brooklyn. I initially thought the licensed music was going to be played when our protagonists were on Earth (the Beastie Boys’ “No Sleep ‘Till Brooklyn helped establish the setting) and the beloved music from the Mario universe would help settle us into that world. That wasn’t the case.
The licensed music continued once the story took us into the world of Mario and very mildly threw me for a loop. The themes we know and care for are interpolated within the film’s scare and are noticeable when they happen. My wife offered an alternate perspective when I brought this up with her.
One of the things she loved about the film was all the brief nods to the franchise’s history that were offered, if only momentarily. She saw the interpolation of the themes from the world of Mario as similar nods. After hearing her perspective, I was settled with that idea. Despite me personally not liking the way the licensed music was handled, it did not take away from the story or the overall enjoyment of the film for us.
Quiz
Find out which character from the beloved Mario franchise you are! Do you envision yourself as a princess? Perhaps you see yourself as more of a powerful, villain type! Wherever your heart leads we hope you have fun, see you on the other side!
And They Lived Happily Ever After
Thank you for coming on this journey as we relived the joys of the Mario franchise and experienced the new movie! We hope you had fun, and we’ll see you here next time at My Geekology!
