This is one of those situations where I'm going to say a lot of bad things about a movie that mostly excelled at exactly what I think it wanted to do. As a kids movie, this is probably great. Colorful, goofy, lot of Mario stuff to get into. Taylor-Joy and Day were exceptional in their roles, with Day really amazing me with how perfect he felt as Luigi.
Then there's everything I couldn't stand... This is barely a movie. Instead, it's just a series of references, easter eggs and Nintendo-isms barely tied together with a shoestring plot. By the halfway point, I was just so bored of everything on screen. It had become rote and trite. Another Mario cliche on the way to a foregone conclusion that everyone on the planet knew was coming. They were so desperate to cram as many possible things into this that I honestly feel like they could've easily gotten an entire Phase One of the NCU (Nintendo Cinematic Universe) out of random scenes in this movie. It's like they didn't feel confident that this movie was going to be a success so rather than risk not telling a joke or fitting a reference in, they forced EVERYTHING in. Given how predictable the movie is, this just leads to an overly hollow experience that left me completely underwhelmed and dissatisfied.
Then there's the voice acting. Already mentioned that I think some of it is good (Taylor-Joy) and some is exceptional (Day) but then there's the counterbalance. Pratt is awful as Mario. I'll leave out any social injustices of not finding someone of proper ethnicity, mostly because they didn't get a giant dragon turtle to voice Bowser or a mushroom to voice Toad. Besides, Mario's whole Italian thing always felt vaguely offensive anyhow. Beyond that though, Pratt can't stick to an accent to save his life. Sometimes he just sounds like Pratt, sometimes he's got a stereotypical Brooklyn affectation and sometimes he's throwing in hints of an Italian accent. There's zero consistency and that's kinda rough for the TITULAR/MAIN CHARACTER!
Oh, and let's talk about Bowser. I love Jack Black, he's hilarious and brilliant and has so much of his own style. "Peaches?" Son has been in my head and will not leave. The fact that I've listened to it repeatedly since the movie ended might have something to do with it. It's great. He's great. He's not Bowser. He's Jack Black reading Bowser's lines. It's weird, because I think back to when he played Po in Kung Fu Panda and I was fine with it then, but that character felt like it was designed for him. Bowser is a long standing property though and Black's voice just doesn't seem to disappear into that character so much as overwhelm it. Then there's the whole love of Peach thing that just felt really ham-fisted and clunky.
Seth Rogen as DK was bad too. Similar reasons but I've come to expect this of him. Rogen is Rogen and DK is not Rogen.
Again, I know it sounds like I hated this movie and I don't. I don't like it. Found it pretty underwhelming overall. I think it's vacuous and simplistic in a desperate attempt by a large company to finally break into a medium they have been shunned from for years. But, I'm not the target audience and I think kids will LOVE this (and the box office and buzz seems to support that). And that's great, legitimately. It just isn't for me. I can't imagine that I'd ever watch this again, but I can also think back to the glory days of VHS and how many kids would burn out the tape on this one.
Then there's everything I couldn't stand... This is barely a movie. Instead, it's just a series of references, easter eggs and Nintendo-isms barely tied together with a shoestring plot. By the halfway point, I was just so bored of everything on screen. It had become rote and trite. Another Mario cliche on the way to a foregone conclusion that everyone on the planet knew was coming. They were so desperate to cram as many possible things into this that I honestly feel like they could've easily gotten an entire Phase One of the NCU (Nintendo Cinematic Universe) out of random scenes in this movie. It's like they didn't feel confident that this movie was going to be a success so rather than risk not telling a joke or fitting a reference in, they forced EVERYTHING in. Given how predictable the movie is, this just leads to an overly hollow experience that left me completely underwhelmed and dissatisfied.
Then there's the voice acting. Already mentioned that I think some of it is good (Taylor-Joy) and some is exceptional (Day) but then there's the counterbalance. Pratt is awful as Mario. I'll leave out any social injustices of not finding someone of proper ethnicity, mostly because they didn't get a giant dragon turtle to voice Bowser or a mushroom to voice Toad. Besides, Mario's whole Italian thing always felt vaguely offensive anyhow. Beyond that though, Pratt can't stick to an accent to save his life. Sometimes he just sounds like Pratt, sometimes he's got a stereotypical Brooklyn affectation and sometimes he's throwing in hints of an Italian accent. There's zero consistency and that's kinda rough for the TITULAR/MAIN CHARACTER!
Oh, and let's talk about Bowser. I love Jack Black, he's hilarious and brilliant and has so much of his own style. "Peaches?" Son has been in my head and will not leave. The fact that I've listened to it repeatedly since the movie ended might have something to do with it. It's great. He's great. He's not Bowser. He's Jack Black reading Bowser's lines. It's weird, because I think back to when he played Po in Kung Fu Panda and I was fine with it then, but that character felt like it was designed for him. Bowser is a long standing property though and Black's voice just doesn't seem to disappear into that character so much as overwhelm it. Then there's the whole love of Peach thing that just felt really ham-fisted and clunky.
Seth Rogen as DK was bad too. Similar reasons but I've come to expect this of him. Rogen is Rogen and DK is not Rogen.
Again, I know it sounds like I hated this movie and I don't. I don't like it. Found it pretty underwhelming overall. I think it's vacuous and simplistic in a desperate attempt by a large company to finally break into a medium they have been shunned from for years. But, I'm not the target audience and I think kids will LOVE this (and the box office and buzz seems to support that). And that's great, legitimately. It just isn't for me. I can't imagine that I'd ever watch this again, but I can also think back to the glory days of VHS and how many kids would burn out the tape on this one.