The Super Mario Bros Movie

Say what you want about the 1993 Super Mario Bros movie. It's one of the most fascinating troubled productions of its day. I always considered it quirky and fun to watch even if it's not a direct transplant of the original games. Thirty-years-later, the Nintendo aesthetic has been transplanted into a new animated film. How is The Super Mario Bros Movie? Let's a-go find out.

Brooklynites Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) have just started their own plumbing business. Business isn't good. One night, they venture out to fix a major leak downtown. They instead find a green pipe to another world. Mario winds up in the Mushroom Kingdom, ruled by Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) and populated by diminutive Toads (the most significant one is voiced by Keegan-Michael Key). Luigi winds up in the Dark Lands, whose King Bowser (Jack Black) wants to take over the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario decides to help Peach form an alliance with the neighboring Kongs to repel the invasion. It's a little bit easier with abundant power-ups.

That's basically it. We get just enough family time between Mario and Luigi (plus two amusing cameos from Mario's longtime game actor, Charles Martinet) before they go underground. It's about 20 minutes before they find the pipe. Their final takedown of Bowser and a moving flashback makes up for them being separated for most of the film. In the meantime, Mario gets some good moments with Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen) as they form a rivalry. Peach also gets a backstory that could've been told with more than one flashback. The whole plot unfolds over a lightning fast 92 minutes. It's not a complex plot but it's never boring, either.

Its voice cast does a good job making their characters likable. That even goes for Black, whose Bowser is equally sly, ferocious and dorky. It's a surprisingly cohesive combination. Pratt's quite good as Mario, and the same goes for Day as Luigi and Joy as Peach. Rogen is quite fun as Donkey Kong, as is Fred Armisen as King Cranky Kong. The supporting standout is Juliet Jelenic (daughter of co-director Michael) as the star critter Lumalee. How so? The disconnect between Lumalee's nihilistic moanings and his cheery voice is enough to drive Bowser's other captives mad. But it's also hilarious.

The film looks and sounds great. Whether it's Brooklyn, the Mushroom Kingdom or the Dark Lands, the worlds are all visually appealing locales. It's impressive how much of the games' mechanics are incorporated into the Mushroom Kingdom (including a training course). It also leads to a few good gags. One segment is an excuse to incorporate the Mario Kart series into the film. That scene, a long vehicular battle between Team Mario & the Kongs and Bowser's minions, is an exciting battle. The sound designers do a great job incorporating the games' sound effects into the mix. Koji Kondo's beyond iconic game music is also incorporated into Brian Tyler's score to great effect.

The Super Mario Bros Movie is a simple family film. Anyone looking for an emotionally complex animated tale should look elsewhere (i.e. Makoto Shinkai's Suzume, which opens this week). It's a fun film even if it's too straightforward at times. But hey, this might be enough to consider a trip to Universal Studios' new Nintendo Land. Or even play the old games for the first time in forever. This is the kind of movie that makes one want to have fun again. See it soon and you might agree.