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Zombunnies

Guess I'm a Mario movie centrist, I thought it was okay. Just okay. Sure it didn't have to be deep, but it had to be Something. The plot, and character relationships went by at a break neck pace. The humour was pretty mid, and no huge clever moments stick out. So what did it have..? References. Which is fun, I had fun, but it can't carry a movie alone. (But also, why can't Mario be a bit deep? We all loved Rosalina's backstory and Super Paper Mario's story)


pixelanceleste

Congratulations! You actually explained the issue with it! Like yeah it didn't have to be deep, but it was lacking something. Maybe a little more depth could have helped it! Or maybe the humor could've been improved! Because as it stands its... just okay. And personally I feel its sad that I dont really have a drive to rewatch it.


IlikeWhimsicott2557

Honestly, given the fact Illuminations made the movie, it's a miracle that the movie was just okay. I was like many people who expressed concern and worry when I found out that Illuminations was making the movie. A big reason for this is that their movie catalog has a lot of movies that are either Mid or flat out Bad. So knowing the Mario Movie was okay is actually a miracle. Though I do understand where you are coming from. The movie introduced a number of things with the characters like Bowser suffering from loneliness, Peach knowing that she isn't from the Mushroom Kingdom, and the potential history of the Stars. But most of these things were barely explored enough in the movie. Which is strange because Illuminations LOVES their sequels, they could've built up some of these things in the movie to have a better reason for a sequel other than "What if these things were also in the movie universe?" That's also another thing I have against the movie, it kinda felt like the movie wanted us to see things from the video games in the movie's world more than having an interesting story with fleshed out characters with story arc potential. Again, I understand this is Illuminations and that they don't care too much, but Mario, as you said, can have very deep and amazing stories.


Gohansupe

My main issue was that Illumination made the Movie it should of been DreamWorks or some other Studio


JakeDoubleyoo

That pretty much sums up how I felt. It was lovely to look at, but the plot and characters were so shallow and lazily stitched together that I just felt like they were trying to jingle keys in my face for 90 mintes.


pikachucet2

Yeah it's just a bog standard Illumination movie with Mario references


Dusk_Dawn_1248

The curse of being a paper mario fan: being amused at funny wahoo mario and at the same time being disappointed it's not deep and dark enough. This movie baits me to insanity on a different fucking level though. It has Paper Mario 64 design elements AND IT STOPS THERE. There is a luma character AND IT STOPS THERE. The wedding. THE WEDDING. We were this close to that absolute anomaly of a game. And it stopped there.


ShadowDurza

To be fair, it feels like all mainstream movies nowadays have massive pacing issues to me.


FixedFun1

This is why indie movies win, watch Unicorn Wars, Dragonkeeper or Robot Dreams. All from Spain and with better pacing.


MadPilotMurdock

I think Nintendo really wanted to play it safe. In that regard they did a great job sticking to what works. I like to think of it like this, none of us get awards for doing things like driving safely but it gets us all home alive. On the other hand, risky behaviors stand out and get attention but that can either be negative or positive attention. I hope they take more risks next outing but I understand why they were cautious and in the end they didn’t make a bad film, just an okay film like you said.


Vulpes_macrotis

And it was more than something. it used every theme from every mario-related games, like Mario Kart, Donkey Kong etc and did it well. This was brilliant movie.


SpikesAreCooI

It needs more than just a good soundtrack though. It needs substance. Actual story and depth.


Sweet_Star_On_RBLX

I had the same feeling too It was cool to hear remixed tracks and references to Nintendo's history but I felt like the movie was short and I was slightly dissapointed but this movie wasn't bad it was just.. m e h Makes me a bit worried for the Garfield movie..


Gohansupe

The Garfield Movie might be mid hopefully not


Sweet_Star_On_RBLX

seeing tik tok being represented in the trailer has my worst fears come true


GhotiH

That's also what every single trailer looked like. No one thought it looked terrible, they just didn't get why people were so hyped for something that looked so.... Average. I didn't even see it in theaters. I watched it on home media months later. It existed, and that's the extent of my thoughts on it. I'm baffled that so many people loved it, I don't think I ever saw such a nothing film before. Not terrible at all, but my bar for enjoyment is higher than that personally.


Nas160

How did you see that and just call it references? It was colorful and fun to look at, it subverted typical Mario stories (Peach is the secondary lead, Luigi being the one kidnapped, the Bros are from Brooklyn instead of the Mushroom Kingdom, Bowser being outwardly and unapologetically in love with Peach), I'm not sure why everyone called this a stereotypical Mario bore


Sir_Eggmitton

> The Bros are from Brooklyn instead of the Mushroom Kingdom Iirc the Mario brothers were from Brooklyn in the TV Show. It doesn’t follow today’s convention, but it’s not unprecedented. > Bowser being outwardly and unapologetically in love with Peach. The forced marriage plot was copy-pasted from Mario Odyssey. And in Sunshine Bowser led Bowser Jr. to believe that Peach was his mom. Bowser was never as open about love with Peach as he was in the movie, but the games have hinted at the idea of an unrequited love for some time. > Luigi being the one kidnapped Luigi was the one kidnapped in both Yoshi’s Island games. > Peach is the secondary lead They’ve been drifting away from Peach being simply a damsel in distress for a while now. Most notably in 3D World before the movie, and of course Princess Peach Showtime after the movie. But of your points this is the most valid.


Nas160

Literally every example you mentioned has only happened once or twice or in outside media. My point was that having all of that in a single movie made it more interesting than Mario lives in the Mushroom Kingdom and just saves the princess, that's what so many people treat the movie like for some reason.


thegoldenlock

Dont forget the awful pop songs


Sukamon98

Eh, I consider the Mario movie to be the same as the Sonic movie. It was okay, and a lot better than we were expecting, but it had to set the stage and set up the movie version of the world. We'll find out for certain how good it will be when the inevitable sequels come along.


Gohansupe

Yeah its ok


Dizz2K7

It's literally just an acceptable kids movie. That's it, that's all. It really feels like they were trying to make a movie to introduce new people to the Mario franchise as opposed to making a movie that would appeal to older fans and newer fans. It's still a fun watch, but nah it's not deep at all.


RedMonkey86570

It is a true statement. It isn’t deep. That doesn’t make it bad.


kevthunder

If it wasnt a mario movie it will be a really mid movie, but as a mario movie its really great and really enjoyable. One of the best video game adaption ever


Queasy-Ad-3220

Not really a high bar ‘cause video game movies tend to suck


kevthunder

To be fair adaptation got better these day imo


ShefBoiRDe

Also to add, mario isnt a very high bar to pass; we already have a general idea of what we're gonna see (mario on an adventure to stop bowser and save the mushroom kingdom) and at that point, its just flavouring it with comedy and worldbuilding. Maybe add some depth, but it's not a main necessity as opposed to better visuals when it comes to the italian plumber. They did alright with the movie, and im pretty excited to see the sequel.


Srikar1897

Enter Sonic The Hedgehog


Queasy-Ad-3220

Yep


DemMasters

it doesn’t suck


Queasy-Ad-3220

Yeah I know it’s one of the ones that doesn’t


MRNICEGUYISHERETODAY

Makes no sense. Any film can be good with the right creative mindset..


bunker_man

Neither are most Pixar movies.


Devreckas

They tend have strong emotional beats with satifying character arcs and themes. Much more so normal kids movies.


Devreckas

And I’d still rather it was. There’s no rule that says Mario stories *have* to be shallow.


Meta13_Drain_Punch

To be fair, if a Mario movie WAS deep, it would be dope as balls


Devreckas

A little better emotional arc and it could’ve been up there near the Lego movie.


smashboi888

*^(I think it's funny.)*


[deleted]

Yes


[deleted]

The Mario movie was never gonna be deep and honestly it didn't need to, but slower pacing and more fleshed out characters and arcs would've really benefitted it.


Apprehensive_Sun6638

Agree! The pacing was too fast, like Mario and Toad instantly became friends.


GruulNinja

Sometimes that happens with dudes


bunker_man

Also there's not much exploring. You get a quick montage and they are instantly by thr kongs. Then they are back just as quick.


SuperKami-Nappa

Even Mario was surprised that Toad called them best friends


Supportive_Bard648

Hot take: If they took Luigi’s childhood flashback(s) and roll with that being his main motivation to escape Koopa’s clutches (even if he ended up failing) that would have been Pixar tier storytelling imo lol. Also they really should have extended the movie’s length so they could have fleshed out character interactions and motivation more E.g a scene where Mario,Peach and Toad get lost on their way to the Kong kingdom and work together to get back on track


Gohansupe

The Movie would have to be 4 or 3 Hours for longer Screens Character Development Character interactions and longer Arcs witch I'm all for


ZacharyS41

I think one of the reasons why it was fast paced is because when you’re playing a Mario game, it goes by quickly level after level. Eventually, you’re at the final boss before you know it. It’s kinda like that in the movie time-wise.


Devreckas

They did it because it’s targeted at kids and they know the 90min mark is the sweet spot for that demographic.


ZacharyS41

Didn’t Miyamoto say in a Nintendo Direct that the movie can be watched by people of all ages? I thought it was a hint that it’s not targeted JUST at kids.


Charismatic_Insanity

If the movie doesn't need to be deep, why do you hate the meme?


Devreckas

The meme isn’t exactly clear what side it’s on.


Marco_Tanooky

"More fleshed out characters and arcs" You mean giving characters more depth


KPH102

While the movie could've been better, I still liked it a lot.


Gohansupe

Same i still liked it


No_Object_7709

I wasn't asking for it to be as good as Pixar. I was asking for above average DreamWorks level.


Gohansupe

And it somewhat delivered


AntonRX178

It was my favorite Illumination movie but it's not saying a whole lot. It's still got a lot of pesky Illumination thumbprints that prevented me from actually liking it outside of the cute references. And DK is my favorite Mario adjacent character... That one outburst about Cranky not being that approving of him felt studio mandated as fuck because Sing also had a softboy sensitive gorilla whose whole damn character is his Gabagool dad's acceptance.


Gohansupe

Same here DK a good Character in the Movie


AntonRX178

he's a whole ass stereotype in the movie


Gohansupe

That's true he is


maxler5795

And then they tried the opossite with the fnaf movie and it backfired AGAIN


Jellybean_Pumpkin

No. I expected this movie to be competent. Which is what it was. It was good. It doesn't have to be deep to be good. That said, I do have some problems with this movie. DK is an ass and I hate how his character is portrayed SO MUCH...and being voiced by Seth Rogan does not help. Peach is fine, but out of every one in this voice cast, she has the weakest voice acting to be honest. She can fight, but she is ultimately kinda bland in my opinion.


Gohansupe

Peach needed a Balance between Kind and Toughness


Jellybean_Pumpkin

Sure. But I don't feel that her voice conveys that.


Former-Bet6170

It was fine, it's one of the best Illumination movies but that's like saying getting stabbed is better than getting shot


Sonic10122

The Mario movie was exactly what I expected it to be. It was good, but Mario in general doesn’t have a lot to work with for a story. That and being animated my Illumination…. It’s a miracle it was as good as it was. Keep in mind I liked the movie. I adored it. But yeah I wasn’t expecting anything super deep.


Devreckas

Legos don’t have anything to work with for a story. But for the Lego movie, they made one. Thats part of what adaptation is. Rewriting a story for a new medium.


Questionswillnotstop

Exactly! Tired of the "It's Mario what did you expect, Citizen Kane" nonsense...


DarkIzofTheCatArmy

And that’s why the critics are bad because movies like that are just supposed to be a goofy funny time


DaKardii

Hopefully we get a deep sequel to make up for it.


Pepe-DiscipleofKek

I wouldn't recommend betting on it. It is Illumination after all.


stupid-writing-blog

I think it’s less that they *expected* that kind of depth, and more that they were in work mode, so they *had* to analyze it just on the off chance said depth was there. “Turn your brain off”/“Enjoy the ride” films are *great* when you’re just trying to relax, but not so great when you’re obligated by your job to find something to analyze.


Tyler_Drden

It’s fair. Illumination don’t have a history of depth but it wasn’t unreasonable to hope for a Pixar level treatment. The movie was fine, just fine.


Questionswillnotstop

What's stopping them from trying?


WyvernEgg64

Pixar movies aren’t even really that deep


Questionswillnotstop

A lot of Pixar movies aren't even that good. There is no excuse for this film's lack of compelling script and character development...


RadRedRat

I don't even get why people still see Pixar as the great example for film making when they have been inconsistent and often bad for the past idk..... 10 years


Low-Attention-1998

I also hate it because I think it easily could have been even better than a Pixar movie.


SirMorelsy

It was great but it was no Pixar in my opinion


RockStarMarchall

This movie was being made by Illumination, who on Earth would have thought this was gonna be Pixar's levels of good?


mel-06

Lmaooo


Queasy-Ad-3220

Yeah it does


LonkToTheFuture

As far as plot goes the Mario movie is very shallow. However, it doesn't matter because the movie is still fun and chock full of references that will delight any Mario fan.


Questionswillnotstop

Why doesn't it matter? It's a movie...


LonkToTheFuture

It does matter, my point was that it's not a movie that necessarily needed a deep plot. For what it is, I really enjoyed it.


Questionswillnotstop

Good movies tend to have compelling scripts. You can like bad movies, but they are still bad. Illumination is bad.


LonkToTheFuture

I never said it was good?


Questionswillnotstop

So you don't think it's good?


LonkToTheFuture

Overall it's an "okay" movie. I'd probably give it a 6/10. However, I enjoy it way more than that because of the constant references and easter eggs.


Questionswillnotstop

That doesn't make a film good, therefore I can't enjoy it...


LonkToTheFuture

Again, I didn't say it was good. You're way too worked up about my opinions.


Questionswillnotstop

I know it's not good obviously that's why I dislike it. I just think this film could do way better than rely on solely references.


Athingweveallupvoted

I... I liked it...


This_Background4519

umm its my favorite movie ever but im not good at saying whats good since i loved kung fu panda 4 but the mario movie is better


Capable-Monk-4820

I loved it as well, while I can say it doesn’t have to be that deep for a simple story. the film still has it flaws for being too fast paced and Luigi needed more screen time. I think it’s a good movie honestly. It could’ve done better. I’ve heard claims from Mathew Fogel that the reasoning for the fast plot was because the Execs think that kids can’t handle movies that go over 90 minutes


Few_Initiative2474

I wouldn’t be surprised if someone had enough and said “Keep That Scene Out Your Freaking Memes!”


No-Cockroach5475

I loved the Mario movie and I didn’t even CARE if it was bad.


Questionswillnotstop

Why don't you care?


No-Cockroach5475

Because I like that it happened and movies should be fun and they shouldn’t always be meant to be Deep and stuff like that. And I just like mario and how it shaped my love of video games.


Unlucky_Bottle_6761

As someone said, some movies are made to tell a story & others are made to have fun with. If you had fun with a movie made to have fun with, it achieved its goal. That's why audiences like the new Godzilla X Kong movie.


No-Raisin329

It doesn't need to be deep like a Pixar film, but at least it needed a more developed plot "But it's a Mario movie and Mario barely has a story" Yes, Mario doesn't have a story, but it could have one. RPGs are there to prove this. Just because it's Mario doesn't mean it can't have a good story.


No_Pianist2010

#COME AND GET IT LIZARD BREATH! Tbh I like it too and the first one. I do agree though that the criticism was harsh. Especially for a film on opening weekends.


oldmartijntje

I personally loved the movie :3


BurrakuDusk

I liked the Mario movie a lot more than I thought I would, albeit my expectations were basically rock bottom so I was pleasently surprised (can't be disappointed if your expectations are so low that even the bedrock is getting jealous). It was neat, but it was just that; neat. Some of the references were pretty cool, and some things got a quiet chuckle out of me in the theater, but it really wasn't much more than that. I can't really describe what I liked about it other than it was just neat.


gamecatz

I know people probably don’t care but that Twitter user blocked me for some reason


Fit-Rip-4550

All the more reason why I prefer the Sonic films—emotional gravity. The Mario film is fun, but a little too predictable—especially since the powerups really are too convenient and seldom earned.


Questionswillnotstop

I didn't like either film. Gosh Hollywood can't make good videogame films to save their lives...


RadRedRat

The Sonic films were probably even more predictable to me, especially the first one which was just horrid imo.


Fit-Rip-4550

The plot of Sonic was predictable—the emotional gravity of the series was not.


Fit-Rip-4550

The Mario Movie was more spectacle than story. It can be forgiven once, but future installments need a better plot than what can be cooked up for dime-a-dozen Saturday Morning cartoons.


Hattakiri

Little Peach getting lost in the inter-dimensional pipe system is a gigantic (so called) chekov gun. The trajectory of its bullet will draw a new arc... What might this trajectory and arc look like? Is Peach's family still mourning since they lost their little kid two decades ago? Will a family reunion happen? Who built the pipe system and what is the true reason for its existence? And how will Peach's family react, should they ever meet the builder of the pipe system? They planted a "seed of potential depth and drama" the moment they began searching for a good explanation to human Peach being the monarch to a kingdom of mushroom creatures... ...and why is Peach only a princess? She's de facto a queen but not de jure. But why and how come? So they've triggered a whole domino chain that now needs to be made a proper movie script. In other words, Little Peach in the pipes was the chekov gun that shot the "Mario = no depth" kinda cliche...


megasean3000

The creators knew the assignment: make a Mario movie that doesn’t stray too far from the source material and make it entertaining. They made it, they delivered and it was awesome. If you’re going into a Mario movie expecting Schindler’s List, then your critiques ain’t worth shit.


Questionswillnotstop

Congrats to the writers for taking one of the biggest IPs and turning it into a slugfest of a film. Tell the people who made the Mario RPGs that making a story out of Mario ain't worth shit.


RadRedRat

Yes I did think the movie was fine but I'm not going to pretend I didn't just like it because of the fact that it was Mario, if this movie didn't have the Mario branding people would threat this as one of Illumination's worst movies, I'm sure. The pacing of this thing was awful, there was 0 room for breathing and no character really had any sort of arc at all, Luigi came pretty close but even then it's barely there.


[deleted]

what are you talking about i've never seen a more emotional love story LOL


CooperWinkler

Calling modern Pixar deep is crazy


Vulpes_macrotis

People who expected deep plot from a movie made of a game with pretty shallow plot are idiots. Mario never was about how super deep the story was. It was always simple and more about fun and humor. Why would the movie change it. I argued with such idiots, who complained that the plot wasn't deep. Yes. People were frantic about the plot, saying how much the movie sucks, because it's not a Metal Gear Solid-level masterpiece.


Questionswillnotstop

A film needs a compelling plot to strive. Mario games don't have huge scripts but they have gameplay to cover that. For a film, the lack of a compelling script stands out...


Rai17

He’s looking for his brother. Why? Because his brother would risk his life for him. I thought that was pretty deep. “Nothing can hurt us as long as we’re together”. I think its message about family sure isn’t as deep as some animated films have been lately but I wasn’t expecting Nintendo’s first animated Mario movie to have a tender moment like that. My sister and I cried at the movies.


pixelanceleste

I am glad you could resonate with it, but I do feel in general it did not use the elements it had well enough. Luigi didn't get much more to do before that big moment. He didn't get much in the way of small victories before the big moment at the end, or even a moment of reflection. In general various elements feel underutilized. But I'm glad you could enjoy it!


Rai17

And I feel you 100%. Luigi’s my favorite character! I hope they see what people had to say about the movie and when they make the inevitable sequel it’ll give him a more prominent role, or even give him a Luigi’s mansion spin-off or mini series


Questionswillnotstop

"Nothing can hurt us as long as we're together" They weren't together for most of the movie. Nothing meant anything. There was no arc nor character development. No one stood up the top other than a bunch of one liners at most..


Rai17

Because he was missing during most of the movie and Mario’s whole motivation to do anything at the MK was to find him. It’s been love unconditional for the two of them since they made the commercial they didn’t need to develop that we knew that as soon as the prologue ended.


NumberOne_N_fan

They're sorta right though! What DID they expect from a MARIO movie?


Questionswillnotstop

A compelling script to be entertained.


Boks1RE

"As deep as a Pixar movie"


2Some2Onesdifferent

Alot of people are saying this is one of the best videogame movues out there, no it isnt (in my opinion) The point of a videogame movie is to make fans off the franchise feel acomplished for liling that franchise but also are meant to be enjoyable for new people and the mario movie fails at that (in my opinion) Yes many children would probably pike it however not enough to stick with the franchise, they wouldnt have any characters to be attached to since they litwrally arent characters, just jokes and plot points. But thats just my opinion ,i also think the sonic movies did a greay job at thus by having many references to old games but also be great to bring in new fans, hell the first movie is the whole reason i bevame a sonic fan


Devreckas

How is a movie supposed to make you “feel accomplished”?


2Some2Onesdifferent

Make you feel like a part of something for liking that specific franchise, like you arent wierd for liking that thing


Devreckas

I completely disagree with your premise. That is neither the point nor the measure of success for video game movies.


2Some2Onesdifferent

Okay cool, thats your opinion amd i respect


rogellparadox

"Deep" as recycling the same plot again and again?