Daniel Rodriguez

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a great movie! That being said, there are still flaws to be pointed out in this movie. Spoilers ahead! Luigi: You probably didn't know he was a character in this film, even if you watched it. Luigi has such low screen time that sometimes you could forget that he was even in the film. The only times he was really relevant was at the start of the movie and at the end. Although it is pretty close to his personality, he has a lack of bravery and has little to no moments where he actually does something for himself. An example of a good way to make a sidekick character would be Tails from the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 film. If you’ve watched it, you probably know what I'm talking about. The writers and directors of that movie did a really good job of making Tails fit the sidekick role and I feel that the problem with Luigi in this movie could have been fixed if they tried harder to make him fit the same role. The plot: Now, I’d say the plot was a little bit all over the place but it fits with the Mario games. The levels are extremely random with how it is ordered and I feel like the Mario movie does a good job of making it feel like Mario is going through different levels. With this, the random plot is not good for a movie that feels like it should be very straightforward. I also feel that the plot should have led to what Bowser was going to do if he was successful, other than kill a bunch of random people and Luigi. What I mean is that there should have been an ulterior goal than “marry Peach” and “take over the world” that could've been hinted towards during the time of the movie. I feel that the plot could have been better but it was good nonetheless. Now for the good stuff. Simply put, the soundtrack for the movie was beautifully orchestrated. I am an avid fan of Video Game Music (or VGM) and the amount of amazing songs that were picked from the various Mario games were amazing, especially the Mario Galaxy and Galaxy 2 songs. I’ll definitely need to add some of these songs to my Spotify playlist soon. The start of the movie, or the Brooklyn Arc, was good for initiating the backstory of Mario and Luigi. It shows how they start out as the underdogs with their plumbing company. The next part of the movie, the Mushroom Kingdom/Training Arc, was short and sweet. The showcasing of the attention that the modelers put into the kingdom was a good segment, but the training segment of the movie was pretty bland. Next, the DK and Mario Kart arc was honestly my favorite part of the movie. The bits with the various power ups during Mario’s fight against DK was so pleasing to see and I loved the Mario Kart part, probably the best part of the movie (maybe I’m a little bias since I did wear my Mario Kart shirt to the movie lol) from the kart selection being the same as Mario Kart 8 to being able to hear the Rainbow Road theme remade by the orchestra to all of the Mario Kart references, this whole arc was just amazing. The last arc with the last two fights was good, the first one was great with showcasing more power ups that have gone underappreciated and the final fight finally made Luigi good for something and let him act on his own! Honestly, I’m just surprised that this movie was done well and I didn’t expect this much from Illumination. This movie is great if you want to just go out with some friends and watch a good movie. I'm looking forward for the second Super Mario Bros. Movie! TLDR; Luigi could have been done better by Illumination, the plot also could have been better, the music is amazing, and the movie was great. - a 10 year Nintendo fan