I need to be honest. I’ve never been a huge Nintendo guy. I’ve never played any of the Zelda games. I played one Mario game, and my kids had a Wii, which I didn’t play very much. I’m not excited for this movie. Is anyone excited for this movie?
The trailer starts out with Luigi (Charlie Day) in a cage suspended over lava. I don’t recognize this from any of the games, but I assume it is, because every other scene looks like it was taken from a game. A glowing star gives Luigi some dark advice that the only escape is death. I didn’t expect this to be so nihilistic, but it is 2023.
Next, the pumping trailer music kicks in and we meet the movie’s villain: Bowser. He’s pumping up the troops to destroy the mushroom kingdom. Why? I don’t know. Maybe he thinks death is the only escape.
| Reviewinator | |
| Trailer | YouTube |
| Starring | Chris Pratt Anya Taylor-Joy |
| Director(s) | Aaron Horvath Michael Jelenic |
| Official Site | Link |
| US Opening | April 5, 2023 |
| Rated | PG |
| Genre | Video Game to Movie |
| Explosions | 4 |
| Weapons | Lava, spears, spikes, hammers, cannon, turtle launcher, rocket launchers, turtles |
| Man Quotient | 9.3 |
| Trailer Déjà Vu | Super Mario Bros The Game |
| Geek Factor | 85% |
| See Trailer? | No |
| See Movie? | No |
Princess Peach arrives and she’s ready to defend the kingdom with Mario and her hordes of mushroom minions. It doesn’t look like a fair fight. Unless the mushrooms are like the fungi from The Last of Us and turn Bowser’s fighters into infected. Now that’s a movie I’d go see.
The trailer then switches to video game mode. Donkey Kong and Mario get a power up token then start through a 3-D platformer. Then they switch over to playing Mario Kart. I don’t remember there being much a plot in the one Mario game I played, so hopefully this isn’t just a video game brought to life. I don’t have much hope for that though.
Side note: Is it a new thing that movies have 2 directors? This is the second one in a row with two people at the helm. Usually, that isn’t a good sign, but maybe it’s a new trend that I’ve missed. Maybe Scorsese and Spielberg will direct the sequel to this one.
The trailer ends with an action sequence from the Mario Kart game on the Rainbow Road, so it looks like they’ve written off half the country by including that piece of colorful propaganda.
Ending Prognostication: Mario saves the mushroom world, but the Princess is in another castle. Lame.
Fun with IMDb: From the director of Teen Titans GO! To the Movies and featuring the voice of the guy who played Radio DJ Danny on Welcome to Mooseport.
Conclusion on Trailer: High production value, but not much to get excited about unless you’re 9 years old or a huge Mario fanboy. Even then there’s not much to see.
Conclusion on Movie: There’s lots of star power, but that doesn’t always translate into good movies. I’d use your extra life on something else.