The New Super Mario Bros. Movie Isn’t Very Good Except For When It Is

Urban Infrastructure Reform

The plot is set in motion whilst the brothers Mario and Luigi are investigating a severe water main break in their native Brooklyn, New York. In the bowels of the city below the street, the brothers traverse obstacles while piping and bits of concrete crumble and burst around them. This is a far cry from the types of house calls for leaky faucets in the homes of New York’s elite they believed they would be fixing to support their recently launched small business as plumbers. It’s clear neither the city nor its independent contractors are equipped at all to handle a break of this size.

Their quest to seal the leak is cut short when first Luigi, then Mario fall into a mysterious green pipe that sucks them to the land of the Koopa/Mushroom Kingdoms thus triggering the main adventure of the film. I just want to say that had this public utility catastrophe been avoided with preventative measures or contained with experienced workers we all could have saved 92 minutes of our Sunday afternoon.

Anti-authoritarianism

The authoritarian emphasis is clearly personified by King Bowser, the villainous leader of the Koopa Kingdom. In past iterations of the Mario Bros. franchise, Bowser has been portrayed as a one-dimensional tyrant, driven solely by his desire for control. In the 2023 movie, however, he is given a more nuanced and complex characterization, revealing a deeper motivation behind his actions. He even sings and plays the piano as an expression of emotion in one scene.

2023 Bowser is driven by a genuine belief in his own righteousness. He sees himself as a visionary leader and hopeful romantic determined to reshape the world in his own image beginning by taking Princess Peach as his bride. This puts him at odds with the Mario Bros., who reject his authoritarian worldview and champion the idea of individual autonomy and freedom.

Environmentalism, i guess?

Their charge is to defend a land known as the Mushroom Kingdom, idk.

Closing thoughts

This movie was colorful, whimsical and fun. No-doubt great for kids. But I wouldn’t go so far as to say this was one of those movies for kids that also has a separate, more lofty appeal, for adults. Principle among my complaints would be the dialog, there was hardly any sense of “show don’t tell.” Seth Rogan was great as Donkey Kong though.

Of course there was an intense feeling of nostalgia for me personally viewing the film and below are some more positive musings:

The representation of gameplay from various games featuring the titular characters (Mario Bros., Mario Kart & Super Smash Bros. Melee) was excellent, including an all too brief tribute to the 2001 GameCub launch title Luigi’s Mansion. I guess I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t a real Mario Party reference from what I could tell but that is perfectly excusable.

Second, all faults of this film are remedied by the licensed music which must have cost a significant portion of the production budget. 80s and 90s chart toppers such as “No Sleep till Brooklyn” by the Beastie Boys, “Take On Me” by a-ha and “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC were all featured in the movie. I praise the film for using popular music from the early years of the character and games and not just forcing some clean 21 Savage track in there or something.

Finally, as I’ve written before I’m a sucker for anything that (in this case vaguely) takes place in New York so it was well worth the price of admission just to see a few shots of an animated Brooklyn Bridge.