Went to see the Mario Movie today. It was good, not perfect at all, but it’s still an enjoyable watch.

THE BAD

The movie’s first half was okay, but think the pacing was a little too fast, but I’m not sure if it was because of the fact that the first half consists of pretty much all the clips they showed in the trailers or if it was just fast, I think it was both. Another criticism I have is that I think Mario is set up to be a more complex character than he really turned out to be. I don’t expect Illumination to make the next Travis Bickle or anything, but their setup for Mario is inconsistent. I think they try to set him up as being a bit of a coward, but he doesn’t show that in the movie at all until the very end, and even then it’s just he’s scared for 20 seconds and then comes out. His friendship with Donkey Kong is also very basic, like DK doesn’t like him because he wins and then they talk about their parents a bit, nothing comes out of it except more fighting, and then they get out of the Maw-Ray and somehow they’re friends now???? It’s somewhat jarring, but oh well. I think that’s honestly my biggest criticism of the movie, they set up stuff or there’s scenes that have potential to be awesome, but they end up being very basic and by the book. Mario as a character had more potential, they could’ve given him at least a little bit of an arc, it seems like they were going to but just sort of forgot about it. I also wish Peach got more background or an arc, it seemed like they set up some stuff and did nothing with it, just like Mario… Seeing a pattern here.

The several 80s songs they played felt out of place, but IDK I guess they were okay, but I wouldn’t have put them in if I was them. The humor was okay though, but it still had some mid, like the whole “OOHOHOWOWOH WE’RE SO ADORABLE” Toads and stuff, shit reaks of Minions.

THE GOOD

The movie looks awesome, the visual style, despite having that Illumination look, still looks stellar in my opinion.

Bowser in this movie was awesome, easily the best part of the movie. I thought Jack Black did a super good job, and the little jokes with Bowser were funny. I really liked him.

The references are good, but I guess for a movie like this, it’s a given. Lots of references and callbacks to old games.

All the voice actors are good, even Chris Pratt. I’m pretty happy with the casting, I always thought Chris Pratt was a weird choice, but I didn’t entirely hate it, and after watching the movie, I gotta say, he did a good job.

I don’t really think there’s anything else stellar about the movie, but it’s definitely not bad.

CONCLUSION

If I had to summarize my main criticism with this movie, it would be “missed potential”. The movie isn’t horrible, but it definitely could’ve been better. However, I think it’s still a decently enjoyable watch, and definitely a little treat for fans of Mario.