The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)

Look, whether we want to or not, we can all remember the last time that The Super Mario Bros. were presented in movie form. It wasn’t exactly great, and it wasn’t exactly embraced by audiences. So trying again, but this time in animated form, isn’t a bad thing. And my opinion on this is already fairly redundant, considering the amount of money that this has taken at the global box office. But here it is anyway.

The plot is quite simple. Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) are two New York plumbers who end up heading down a pipe that takes them through to a whole new world. Luigi lands in the Dark Lands and is almost immediately imprisoned by goons working for the warmongering Bowser (Jack Black). Mario, having landed in a much nicer area, the Mushroom Kingdom, befriends Toad (Keegan-Michael Key), who ends up taking him to Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy), the person who may be best-equipped to help him reunite with his brother. Meanwhile, a major battle is looming. The odds for our heroes might be boosted if they can enlist the help of Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen).

Although there’s only one man responsible for the script here, Matthew Fogel, due credit should go to everyone who has every helped develop any of the multitude of Mario videogames. While squarely aimed at a very young audience, with the animation style, bright colours, and cute characters, a lot of little references are sprinkled throughout every scene to appeal to those well-versed with the history of the most famous adventuring plumber in the world. The plot is simple though, as simple as most of the games, and really just feels like an excuse to put together some moments that feel like sizzle reels or adverts for the latest instalments in the series (watch Mario attempt an obstacle course run, watch Mario jump up various platforms and use pipes to get quickly to the top of a new area, watch vehicles drive along in a Mario Kart section).

It’s surprising that four people are named as directors and co-directors on this. Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic have some fun Teen Titans Go! in their recent past, and Pierre Leduc and Fabien Polack seem to be loyal Illumination staff being rewarded for their work on other projects. All they really have to do is cut and paste things together, or so it would seem, and the real highlights come from the times when the score references some videogame music cues (any time Bowser is at the piano is a real treat).

Pratt and Day are fine in their roles, I guess, but they’re certainly not overflowing with authenticity, from the accents to the shoehorned-in catchphrases. It could have been anyone in these roles, which makes it irritating that Pratt and Day landed them, however you feel about both movie stars. Things are better elsewhere though, with Key and Taylor-Joy feeling much better suited to the characters they are voicing. Black is the star though, so much fun as Bowser, in terms of both the dialogue he gets and how he delivers it, that it’s enough to make up for Seth Rogen playing Donkey Kong as Seth Rogen. You may already have heard the song about Princess Peach, but it’s the best part of the film, and one I could happily watch repeated on a loop without having to revisit anything else here.

I can see why this has done so well, and there are a few wonderful supporting characters that I have failed to mention (including one hilariously nihilistic, but cute, prisoner held in a cage alongside Luigi), but this just felt too bland and uninventive to me. As flawed as the live action movie is, and I would never make a case for it being any kind of misunderstood classic, it at least had people working on it who didn’t just throw together a “greatest hits” selection of gaming moments. And I will remember the weirdness in that film more often than I will remember anything from this.

5/10

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Teen Titans Go! To The Movies (2018)

Since enjoying a number of the animated WB superhero movies, I have become familiar with the Teen Titans. I was not, however, familiar with Teen Titans Go, the more child-friendly version of the heroes. But there's not exactly a lot to figure out, as long as you are at least passingly acquainted with the DC superhero universe. You just need to get used to the unique style of animation on display here. And tolerate a few fart gags.

The plot is fairly simple. Our heroes don't seem to get the respect they think they deserve, an issue that becomes clearer to them all when they find themselves unable to get a movie made about them, despite every other superhero being given adventures on the big screen. Robin (voiced by Scott Menville) is the one taking it hardest of all, but that doesn't stop him from leading the team in a brave battle against the nefarious Slade Wilson AKA Deathstroke (Will Arnett), who has a cunning plan to steal a powerful crystal from S.T.A.R. Labs (Scientific and Technological Advanced Research Laboratories) and take over the world.

Having both worked on the TV show, directors Aaron Horvath and Peter Rida Michail are a safe pair of hands for this movie incarnation, assuming a certain familiarity with a lot of the main characters while also introducing the actual Teen Titans with a mixture of gags and fun song lyrics (yes, there are a couple of musical numbers here). Horvath gets extra credit, thanks to his fine work co-writing the script with Michael Jelenic, a script that often gets the biggest laughs from the idea that, yes, the market for superhero movies may be a bit oversaturated at the moment.

Although I am unfamiliar with many of the voice actors, they all do well in their roles (having played incarnations of the Teen Titans for over fifteen years now). I feel I should namecheck them here, at the very least. As well as Menville playing Robin, you get Greg Cipes as Beast Boy, Khary Payton as Cyborg, Tara Strong as Raven, and Hynden Walch as Starfire. The fun is helped along by the performances from Arnett (between this and his LEGO Batman work, he's arguably my favourite DC performer), Kristen Bell, Stan Lee (it's hard to pick his best cameo but this gets extra points for using him in a DC movie), Nicolas Cage, Michael Bolton (yes...Michael Bolton), and Greg Davies, as well as Jimmy Kimmel, John DiMaggio, Patton Oswalt, and a few others.

It's bright, it's lively, it's got a brisk runtime to ensure it doesn't outstay it's welcome, Teen Titans Go! To The Movies manages to be a fun superhero comedy that cares for many of the main characters while simultaneously skewering them with glee. This is fun for all age groups, as long as you don't mind some of the toilet humour, and I enjoyed it so much that I am hoping to check out the cartoon series it stems from.

7/10

You can buy the movie here.
Americans can buy it here.