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Peaches and Product Placement: Let's Discuss The Super Mario Bros. Movie || Mario Month
14 Plays29 minutes ago
In 1985, Super Mario Bros debuted on the NES. Now 40 years on, two podcasters from Scotland don their finest denim overalls to deep dive into what makes the series so iconic today. Let's a go!
In this episode, Satsunami and Martin MacAlistair discuss 2023's Super Mario Bros. Movie! After its rocky announcement, the film was a commercial and financial success. But two years on, how has this film held up? Does it deserve to stand proud amongst the rest of the successful video game movie adaptations? Or is there more that Illumination could have done to power up this entry? Without any further ado, welcome back to Mario Month!
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Transcript
Introduction: Pitching a Mario Movie
00:00:00
Speaker
Satsu, I've got it. The perfect idea for a Chatsunami film. Oh god, not you too. Look Martin, last time I let Andrew make a live action version of Chatsunami, I got a lot of hate mail. Well, I say hate mail.
00:00:14
Speaker
More like really angry rants from the Podpat Collective. Yeah, but that's where he went wrong. We don't do live action. I have an absolute foolproof strategy. Go on then.
Casting Choices: Chris Pratt as Mario
00:00:26
Speaker
Alright, firstly, animated. Secondly, massive actors. Thirdly, full of references. Just pack it full of references, nothing else. You know, they Panda lawyers, your PayPal donations in the mail, I've not seen Citizen Kane yet, let's eat the internet. Lots of jokes, only appeal to people in the Colorado market. I don't know, Martin. It all feels very forced.
00:00:44
Speaker
I mean, what next? Play catchy pop songs alongside minion memes. Oh my god, you've already they just started this, haven't you? Trust me, you would not mind when the money comes rolling in. Right, now get me Chris Pratt
Mario Month: Expectations and Skepticism
00:00:56
Speaker
on the phone.
00:00:56
Speaker
I think our audience is a little bit smarter than that. And it's the highest grossing film of 2025. How in the absolute... You know what? Never mind. Welcome to Mario Month.
00:01:10
Speaker
Hello everybody and welcome to the second episode of Mario Month. My name's Satsunami and joining me today is none other than worldwide actor and renowned voice actor, it is Chris Pratt.
00:01:24
Speaker
I was not expecting, didn't have a follow-up for that at all. I mean, ah let's go. Perfect, 10 out of 10 impressions. No, jokes are aside, I'm joined by the one and Chris Pratt impersonator.
00:01:38
Speaker
ah Martin McAllister Martin, welcome back Thank you, thank you so much having me on i honestly did not know this was going to be a bit So I'm completely unprepared for any Chris Pratt references I fell in a hole That was like a sign from Parks and Rec Something something passengers, yeah oh That was a film. Let's talk about that. i yeah I'm very looking very forwardly. Passengers month win.
00:02:01
Speaker
Chris Pratt month. Now we're talking. Somebody get Chris Pratt in the phone seat or something. If he wants to be part of us, he can't be. How are you today?
00:02:12
Speaker
Oh no, he's gone. I'm dying. I'm dying, Maston. I'm not going to lie. That's all right. This is a tough episode to get through. and No, otherwise, jokes aside, I am just dandy. We are indeed diving into our second episode of Mario Month with the Super Mario Brothers Favon. And before you say it, no, not in the 1993 version. If you want to hear our thoughts on that, you can check out Adam and I's thoughts all the way back in season one, which I can't believe it's all the way back. I actually bought the Blu-ray of that for that episode. Did you know that? was in a CEX and it was just there for like a fiver. And I'm like, oh, I don't know, but it's good content for the pod. so
00:02:53
Speaker
You know, when in Rome or when in a CEX in the west side of Scotland, you know what? Just go for it. So today we are going to be talking about the slightly better version, the animated version, Illuminations, Mario Brothers, Hull and Witch. Yeah, this is going to be an interesting one to talk about. Before we dive into
Adapting Mario: Challenges and Comparisons
00:03:12
Speaker
talking about what we think of the film and the various controversies that would make a Sonic fan blush, Martin, what were your first thoughts about this film? See, when it was announced and everything, and especially the fact that it was going to be done by Illumination, who, quite frankly, is one of your favourite studios, no doubt. yeah we kind of mentioned i'm not like the biggest mario fan but was like yes this is gonna be good and typically i'm a bit of a i don't want uh actor versus voice actor apologist yeah but i do know one of the things it kind of sprang to my mind when it got announced and people were like oh it's gonna be naff it's gonna be like a heartless tie-in is it i thought about like the lego movie met with very similar cynical thoughts and again also chris pratt being in that that was kind of what i assumed this film was gonna be without dropping too much into what actually it is but that was my assumption was gonna be like the lego movie and obviously it came out and it made a billion dollars whatever it was 1.5 billion or something oh there's a Ridiculous, yeah.
00:04:01
Speaker
Some obscene amount of money, so yeah, I wasn't excited for it by any means, but I wasn't online poo-pooing it. What were your thoughts when it got announced? Yeah, the announcement came out at a very, very odd time, I remember, because the Sonic film had just come out, I think it was 2019, 2020, Detective Pikachu came out before that. There was almost like a renaissance of video game films, but nothing as big. Don't get me wrong, Sonic's big, but compared to Mario, come on now. The fact that they were not only going to be doing a Mario film, but the fact that we're going to be doing it after the absolutely, I was about to say abysmal, but that's not fair. It's unique in its own way.
00:04:39
Speaker
The live action adaptation of the 90s, which I genuinely think put off a lot of people from ever touching this franchise with a barge ball for obvious reasons. I wouldn't touch it if I was. Yeah, I mean, don't get me wrong. I'm obviously not a esteemed director or anything, or not that you know, Martin Martin.
00:04:57
Speaker
You know, I would not touch this with a barge pole. So I think whoever was going into this film would have some very big glimmer boots to fill here. And they would have to make sure that there wasn't any overlap with the old film, which again, we'll get into. There kind of is,
Plot Critique: Disjointed Story and Character Development
00:05:13
Speaker
not in a bad way, but just, it was interesting to see. But unfortunately, after it was announced, and I can't get that picture of Chris Pratt out my head. You know, the one, it's like the black and white. Yes. Headshot that Nintendo kept using and oh my god, every time this film came up they would just put that up and they were like, oh Chris Bryant and everything. I'm gonna be honest and slight spoilers for our discussion later on, I don't think he's the worst in this film. I was a bit sceptical, even though it was good in the Lego film as it little bit sceptical, but i thought, you know what, give him a chance. I still find it quite weird that they replaced him for Charles Martinet, purely because, and this is something i brought up in last week's episode, that although he is the very goofy Yahoo!
00:05:59
Speaker
voice of Mario. At the same time, he can do other voices. You know, he can tone that voice down a bit. And everyone's like, oh, that would never work in a Mario film because, oh, it'll get too annoying. And again, your honour, I refer to my previous point of he can tone it down because he has Parthanax, he has a big dragon in Skyrim. And obviously he's not going to do that voice in the Mario film, but he's also in the film as, think, two characters. He's in the film as the guy at the very beginning who is playing Jumpman, and he is the dad.
00:06:32
Speaker
And again, see, when you listen to Mario's dad in this film, it actually sounds really good. So you're like, well, what was wrong with that? Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they kept him in. And I know this is a huge controversial topic within the voice acting community that, you know, they want to have voice actors rather than big celebrities come in and obviously to varying degrees and success. But honestly, I feel as if relatively bar one or two very major examples. I feel as if for the most part, a lot of the voice actors in this did a good job. but it's just a shame that there wasn't more proper voice actors. Like again, I don't want to diminish the work that the voice actors in this film did. But do you know what I mean though?
00:07:14
Speaker
Yeah, it's a tough one. And I think we're in that era just now where films won't get made unless there's a star attached to them. And know that's always been the case to degree, but you
Voice Acting Trends: Celebrities vs. Voice Actors
00:07:22
Speaker
look at the top 10 highest grossing films of any year and typically it's a tie-in to something else. You don't have studios taking big risks.
00:07:28
Speaker
And this is just one of the many ways you try to alleviate these risks. On the one hand, at least Chris Pratt has other voice acting experiences. It's not just someone brand new. on other hand, yeah, it's a weird one where there's like a whole voice acting profession out there who just aren't working.
00:07:41
Speaker
It's a really unusual split at the moment. Yeah, because I know there was that controversy, and this is going way back to the 90s with Aladdin when they got Robin Williams in, and apparently that was one of his big sticklers where he was saying, okay, you can promote the film, but don't use my character primarily to promote the film. And then, of course, Disney said, I see what you're saying, but...
00:08:02
Speaker
And then they went ahead and of course they advertised to which he wasn't very happy at. Again, there's a massive discussion there about that. But in terms of what we got, because the reason I'm spending so much time on this particular topic is just purely the fact that that was the discourse. That is all I heard about this film. If it wasn't about the Peaches song that was leaked, then... It was all about how bad the voice acting was going to be. They dubbed over Mario with Parks and Recreation or other things that Chris Pratt was in. especially the clip that I can't get out my head is see when they had the trailer. And it's the clip where Mario's like, Mushroom Kingdom, here we go. and everybody, oh my God, you could actually feel the fire from the torches and pitchforks. On the internet, the vitriol the film got for that was just insane, but it was all right. It was serviceable.
00:08:56
Speaker
It was a thing. him But seeing that note, will we just jump into this and find out, yeah, what worked, what didn't. And of course, Mushroom Kingdom, here we come.
00:09:07
Speaker
It is. Let's a move. This is our review of the Super Mario Brothers 2023. twenty two twenty three Welcome to Chatsunami, a variety of podcasts that discusses topics from gaming and films to anime and general interests.
00:09:21
Speaker
Previously on Chatsunami, we've analysed what makes a good horror game, conducted a retrospective on Pierce Brosnan's runs James Bond, and listened to us take deep dives into both the Sonic and Halo franchises. Also, if you're an anime fan, then don't forget to check us out on our sub-series, Chatsunani, where we dive into the world of anime. So far, we've reviewed things like Death Note, Princess Mononoke, and the hit Beyblade series. If that sounds like your cup of tea, then you can check us out on Spotify, iTunes, and all good podcast apps.
00:09:50
Speaker
As always, stay safe, stay awesome, and most importantly, stay hydrated. First impressions can take only six seconds to make, but if you're neurodivergent, those quick judgments about you can be misleading.
00:10:02
Speaker
Because of most people's ignorance around learning disabilities, people think it means you're intellectually incapable. i'm not Rain Man. Every autistic person is a Rain Man. I thought I was talking to people who understood dyslexia and ADHD, but they did not.
00:10:18
Speaker
They freaked out
Plot Overview: The Isekai Story and Criticisms
00:10:20
Speaker
and were like, well, if you've got Tourette's, if it's going to be a problem, then we can just fire you and get someone else. I'm Carolyn Keel, and I host Beyond Six Seconds, a podcast where neurodivergent people share their lives and advocacy.
00:10:33
Speaker
One of my goals is making autism not something that's scary. I really want to help people understand dyspraxia a little bit better. Get the real life of Trette Syndrome out there.
00:10:45
Speaker
Stop thinking we were nothing but a joke. Let's shatter misconceptions and celebrate neurodiversity together. Listen at beyondsixseconds.net or wherever you get your podcasts. And we are back after that very long warp pipe journey, as it were. Yeah, I hit my head a couple of times, so I'm a little bit woozy. Martin, I'm going to turn it on to you, because I feel as if I rambled a bit in the intro there.
00:11:10
Speaker
What is this film about? you're going to hate me for asking this, but genuinely... In a paragraph or less. What is this film about? So I was not expecting this. This film is like an isekai, right? Yes.
00:11:22
Speaker
I woke up in the Mushroom Kingdom as an Italian plumber, so what? It's wacky that they decided to do this. So the plot of this film is Mario and his brother have quit their stable jobs to become plumbers. They can't seem to get any work until eventually they think they're going to rescue Brooklyn and go into this fantastical world of the Mushroom Kingdom. They get split up and it's all about Mario trying to find his brother. Exploring this weird world, he's like a passenger in this sort of big earth conflict between Peach and Bowser And eventually he rescues his brother they all go back to Brooklyn And then he's sort revealed at the end that they both now live in the Mushroom Kingdom That was like a very skim of the plot I was not expecting this plot, I was completely blind going into this film I had idea this was what they were going to do. I assumed it was going to be very much like, I'm going to probably compare this film a lot, but Detective Pikachu, I think, is a very similar concept of a film, where it's like, video game come to life, and you're in this wacky world. But the Detective Pikachu was just like, no, no, if everyone lives in this world, that you're going to get dropped in it, and you have to discover how it works as you watch the film. Whereas they very much did the hand-holdy thing here of, we're going to drop you in the world, and we're going explain everything to you. Yeah, very confusing idea for a film. A very confusing thing for a Mario film, I should say. And the lesson at the end of the film, Mario saves the day and everyone now accepts him Brooklyn.
00:12:35
Speaker
And so he just moves out to the Mushroom Kingdom, I think. I don't know what this film is about. A lot of stuff happens and I point at the screen and do the soy face a lot. And then it ends. Is that the plot? Yeah, but i just want to warn you, I'm not making that the cover art for this episode. you Just Barton Soyface that's the Mario film.
00:12:54
Speaker
It is a very disjointed film. Yes. Say what you will about the 1993 version. The 1993 version is terrible. Not gonna lie. I'll say one thing, so just for you to start. Yeah, yeah. The 1993 version has the same plot. Yes, uh-huh. The thing is, at least in the 1993 version, it's at least more... Coherence is wrong word. But, you know, at least there's an overarching goal there, and at least there's some kind of consistency throughout. Whereas for this one, this one's obviously the better made film. Yeah, 2023 version, no denying that. But it feels very disjointed. And as you said, the whole pointing at the screen going... Oh my god, it's the thing from The Thing. blowing this cartridge. ah Kind of. ra
00:13:41
Speaker
It's a weird, weird film for that because it's just packed with nothing but references. See if you don't believe me. See if you think, ah, Satsune, you're being too critical on this. Obviously, it's filled with references. It's a Mario film. Go to IMDb right now as you're listening to this, right? Ha ha ha! Go to IMDB and look up the trivia for this and I guarantee you that 90%, if not a huge percentage, is nothing but explaining cameos of each thing. It's like, oh, Mario eats a mushroom. This was first introduced in this game in 1985. You're like, huh?
00:14:16
Speaker
What? Well, I obviously know that. What about the production? What about the voice acting? My favourite one. In case anybody's wondering, I brought this up to you yesterday. At the very bottom, there's a guy saying, despite being a Super Mario film, Mario never touches the fire flower or the frost flower, but he touches and then lists all of the other power-ups.
00:14:38
Speaker
And what's funny is, not so much that, because it's relatively true, but it's the fact that 49 or so people listed that as an unhelpful The hate! It was all the other ones. All the other ones were just... Again, can't remember exactly how many the others got, but it was all just, oh, this is a cameo. Oh, when Luigi answers his phone, it's the GameCube theme. Oh, Mayor Pauline is in this. To if you be fair, Mayor Pauline was my favourite part of this film. Yeah, right. That popped huge for her.
00:15:08
Speaker
Yeah. Pauline! Whoa! Jump up, Superstar! Bob, you're so much... No, seriously, though. I loved that. I was surprised that they included her in it, but I suppose with the... Again, go back to what we were talking about last week with the popularity of Super Mario Odyssey, that this character was so popular that they decided to put her into this film as a cameo, and absolutely loved that bit. But what was funny was... And again, you're completely
Character Roles: Peach's Leadership and Mario's Outsider Status
00:15:36
Speaker
right here. This film and the Mario Brothers film in the 90s, they start in exactly the same way. Because I remember how serious they take it. See, in the 90s one where it's like, oh my God, you've got to help. The Spitelli brothers are damaging the pipes. And Mario has this murderous look in his eye as Bob Hoskins. And he's like, the Spitelli's.
00:15:57
Speaker
What the rage in that? Is he going to fix a pipe or is he going to murder these poor brothers? I don't know. You're kept on the edge of your seat. Whereas it's a very similar thing here where they end up going to this underground pipe. They get sucked into the pipe and then they get, for some reason, I can't remember why, they get split off. And Luigi, he gets the really bad end of the Isekai. For those of you who don't know what an izakai is, it's like a term for anime where character or a protagonist, they get sucked into a fantasy world and then they have to live with modern day knowledge or from our world knowledge and then they come in as an outsider. So we have to learn from their point of view. Like in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Exactly.
00:16:40
Speaker
I can't believe that's an izakai. Of course, Lewis's famous genre. Don't quote these anime tropes to me, witch. I've never been there when they were written. Sorry, go on. That's all had. I can't get that in my head now. With this one, Luigi gets the really bad end of it, whereas Mario gets the kind of whimsical element. And it's a really weird thing, because for a film called The Mario Bros, I get Mario's there because he wants to save his brother, but there's not lot of attention. After Luigi gets sucked into the, think it's the dark, or something after he gets captured and kidnapped by bowser there's not really much else that happens with luigi until he breaks out prison later or rather he gets rescued and the rest of the film feels very disjointed again when you jokingly said oh i don't know what happens in this film you're right because he goes to the mushroom kingdom he goes into the middle of a war committee meeting
00:17:41
Speaker
with Peach. And again, this was another headache of a complaint that people were saying that, oh, Peach was girlbossing it, blah, blah, blah. You know, the usual, she's not wearing a dress. It was like, it was really weird. Again, internet being internet, it was like a really weird discourse around the whole thing. And they were complaining that she was too competent at her job as a governor of the whole kingdom. Although, see, to be honest, and someone else brought this up, what did they do without Peach beforehand? every time they explain stuff in this movie it makes it worse yeah we were joking about people in my odyssey the last episode and very much because they don't bother explaining them you can't ask any questions because it's just existing right it just so happens that there's real people that my husband to act with and you can question it but the other day the answer is you playing the game or not right but then peach explains our backstory that she just turned up in a pipe yeah one day that the toads brought her in and then made her a princess and that's you know women falling out pipes is no form of government
00:18:38
Speaker
It's not how you start a government, right? I mean, true, but yeah. They never explain what other skills she has. And um this isn't a girl bossing thing that I'm perfectly happy with. Why they made her a princess, not a queen. So in the games, Princess Peach, you go, okay, she's a princess, and Mario's there. And you never really have to wonder too much about the king and the queen. You know, that's fine, because they don't ever ask the question, so you don't need to answer them. This movie asks so many questions of you. takes to explain so much, but leaves so much out that It just gets so... Yeah, the more you think about it, the more it just starts to disjoint. And that's a great example of it. It's like, why is she in charge? Why did the Toads put in charge? What were they doing beforehand? Were they a separate nomad people and then she brought them all together the big city because she has all these skills they didn't have? They just never have explained it and they shouldn't explain so little. Does that make sense?
00:19:18
Speaker
But that's the thing, though. It's like they over-explain the wrong elements yeah of the film. In the first third of the film, we get a training montage with, again, the pop music where Peach goes through the obstacle course to show Mario how to do it and she has the power-up and everything.
00:19:36
Speaker
And she's like, oh there's power-ups in this world and blah, blah, blah. Which, again, as you said, you put it perfectly there, that play the damn game for us. You know, this isn't a lesson. This is for fun and everything. And again, people might say the same thing. I'm being far, far too critical, which probably I am. But at the same time, they over-explain things like that.
00:19:55
Speaker
But then there's a whole Game of Thrones-esque political scene, you know, they're talking about. And there's even like a toad with a bow tie. And he's like, the Kong kingdom won't ever help us.
00:20:07
Speaker
What is this like Mario Dede about to happen or something? Is there toads going to be storming the dark ones? Like, what is going on here? It's an interesting way to put it. That's all I'll say. It's an interesting way, and I know it's different, but the thing that annoys me about this particular genre, and I don't know how you feel about this with other video game films, but one of the things I cannot stand right now, and it's the same with the Sonic films, is the fact that they are so non-confident about setting it in their own world.
00:20:39
Speaker
So you know Sonic has his world with Green Hill Zone and all of them and don't get me wrong they're in the films as well but the way they frame it is oh he's an alien and he comes to our world and learns about our ways like some kind of weird ETS creature. Again Sonic's not the first one to do that but they do exactly the same thing with Mario where it's like oh he's a fish out of water but he's also literally from another world and they never explain it. I just wish they had the confidence to say here's Mario's worlds deal with it. And that's something I think like said the two films that I compared this to and I couldn't stop in my head after I'd watched it compared it to was the Lego movie and Detective Pikachu and I think they both do really good job of this is the world and you just kind of have to accept it. Now I know obviously Detective Pikachu is kind of set on Earth-ish the same kind of rules apply but there's Pokemon everywhere you know what mean not like it's set specifically in Kanto I don't it is but you know and it's not specifically set a Pokemon place from the anime for example it's something that you would recognise and obviously the Lego movie is set within the whole world of Lego those two films I kept thinking about them the whole time because the we'll obviously get onto this later but they also do the references so they do so many references to other things but it feels more integrated so yeah this film doesn't feel like it can stand on its own two legs because you're constantly oh Mario's doing this we need to explain this and Mario's doing this and we need to explain this and Donkey Kong is in it but also we have to explain his relationship to his dad
Visuals and Humor: Highlights and Critiques
00:22:01
Speaker
what is going on it's such a ah wacky amount of stuff that they have to focus on it does feel what you said it does feel unconfident it does feel like they're constantly like Like, we have to explain to the audience what this is. I mean, the parallels between Donkey Kong and Mario not getting on with their dads was, like, really wild. Like, completely left the field. Yeah, was like, my dad never loved me. Yeah, that's one of the few exceptions-y. Cranky Kong and Donkey Kong, those two. I wasn't a fan, I'm going to be honest. A, of the characters or of the voice actors.
00:22:30
Speaker
It was Seth Rogen for Donkey Kong, but I can't remember who his dad's played by, but I did not appreciate either of them, I have to say. No offence to both of them after saying such a horrible thing, but genuinely, I just didn't think it suited. A lot of heat was on Crisp crap for his portrayal of Mario but after watching the film he is fine. All of them are fine. Genuinely every single person. The only one that I would say stands out and was perfect casting was Jack Black before he yearned for the Minecraft film. By the time you listen to this it will be coming out next month I want to say. So come back to us after Yeah, come back to us and listen to the episode about the second highest grossing video game film of all time. Exactly. Other than Jack Black, I think Jack Black did a fantastic job as Bowser. I didn't expect to enjoy that as much, but everyone else is just serviceable. You know that way, where it's like, it wasn't bad, but it was alright. I don't know how I feel about that, watching a film on and being like, he said that really cool, or oh, he did that. But when you're listening to Chris Pratt saying, oh, why am I a cat?
00:23:31
Speaker
Oh, why am I a tanuki? Oh, why am I this? They never said Tanooki. Well, they said Raccoon. I just want highlight that there. Because that was another thing that they were too scared to say the word Tanooki. Yeah. Because was waiting for it. Yeah, I noticed that when I was like, say the line, Donkey Kong. Oh, that's Raccoon. All of a Tanooki. Yeah, that was strange. What i will say is, for the positives, I do think that this film looks amazing. Graphically, it looks absolutely fantastic. 10 out of 10. The renders that they have, even when they're in the quote-unquote real world with their plumbing shenanigans, and have to admit, the advert that they use for the plumbing business, I adore. This was one of my favourite bits of the film, weirdly enough. See the actress that they hire for it, and it's like her saying, oh, Thank you, Super Mario Brothers. It's like the look of disgust on their face as if, what am I saying? She does deca the kind of shake of their head as if, what? I love that.
00:24:28
Speaker
thought I thought that was hilarious. I actually thought, see the sequence in the bathroom at the start? Yeah. That was actually one of the highlights of the film. I think that's so funny because the film is allowed to kind of stand on its own two legs for a wee bit. You mentioned the visuals and stuff. The other sequences that are really visually impressive is the platforming sequences. So there's three of them in it.
00:24:44
Speaker
There's the one at the start where they're trying to rush over to the people's house, which is like a 2D sequence, a 2D Mario sequence, should say. And then there's the training montage and there's one at the end with the Donkey Kong. And those sequences are very impressive visually. I'm a big action fan. That was the bit where they're like... here's all your endorphins for the day. You know, like that that's like the bit that gives you the juice. But the bathroom scene at the start, thought was really funny, and it it kind of shows off the relationship between the two. Having seen that film and having all of the ridiculous over-the-top battle sequences, the bit that sticks in my mind is this weird sequence there's dogs trying to get out a shower. Yeah. By using the flood and water to get over the top. and like, why is that the bit that stuck out in my head?
00:25:16
Speaker
What i' will say is the very first sequence when the penguins are fighting against Bowser and there's like that huge ship that comes out of the ice and everything and the big flames coming out. I think that was visually that was so stunning. The only thing that spoiled it for me was the fact that when they were promoting this film it was everywhere. This whole sequence it was always played in repeat. have to admit the voice actor for the penguin was hilarious. so He was phenomenal. Oh, that is another highlight where he was like, do you yield That is just a taste of our power. Yeah, that was amazing. I loved it. And then, of course, you got Jack Black going, do not. And you're like, oh. See, that was fantastic. And you're like, oh, I'm so hyped for this film. And then they drag you to Brooklyn. No offense, Brooklyn, but like, oh, not Brooklyn. Why are you dragging them to Brooklyn? This is how you got into this mess in the first
00:26:09
Speaker
but it's what the other oh well That's what's so funny to me is they've had so many years of this Mario movie being out and across the board everyone thinks that's a terrible movie. Yeah. and And I know we love it for different reasons but it's not a good Mario movie and I think that's a fair assessment. I love the film and I think if it was called Two Brothers Save New York and they both happened to be called Mario the film would have just been forgotten. It's a weird 80s sci-fi film but the fact it's Mario is It seems like a very weird choice to be honest.
00:26:34
Speaker
gonna vma the famously terrible film like i don't know were they trying to redeem it were they trying to prove they could do it i don't know why that was the route they took it seems like a very weird choice to be honest yeah and the thing is as well, it's so weird that they borrow a lot from the games, like Bowser's infatuation with Peach and everything, and normally this is something I would say you don't have to explain because you need a villain, you need the person to save and whatnot, or the place to save, but for the most part, something that made me raise an eyebrow and again this isn't against Peach being competent to be honest but one of the things I find weird was see the scene where Peach has her quote unquote wedding because she gives up very quickly one of her toads is getting tortured and she's like okay I'll marry you can you imagine if she was like a Roy Crow leader and said like I've got a thousand more of them
00:27:28
Speaker
ah told your remark a thousand more will strike up it's like the last of us all over
Character Dynamics: Mario and Donkey Kong
00:27:33
Speaker
again but my fan fiction aside yeah she marries him and then she's like haha i would never marry you she pulls out the frost flower actually someone brought this up and i don't know if it was intentional or not but i want to assume it was that when she was speaking to mario and she's showing off the power of the flowers she touches the fire flower and that of course suggests warmth and affection, that kind of thing. Whereas when she touches the frost flower in Bowser, it suggests obviously she's cold and indifferent to what, well not indifferent, but cold towards Bowser's advances for obvious reasons. You know, that is a pretty cool catch in that regard. yeah, she seems as if she could have handled that all on her own, to be honest. Yeah, I did laugh at that. Mario was so late to that entire sequence. I felt that myself because they needed a time, obviously, for Donkey Kong and Mario to bond over their dads. It felt like that sequence plays out the exact same way, but Mario and Donkey Kong arrive five minutes earlier.
00:28:29
Speaker
Yeah. You know, and then they get knocked off the platform. Then they have to do the big scramble up and then it all goes to hell. It felt like she had it in hand, really. Everyone else was the ones that messed up. Because the thing I'm getting at with that is i don't want the filmmakers to make Peach less incompetent or to be more of, as I said before, the stereotypical damsel in distress. I just want more Mario in a Mario film. Yeah, the exact same sequence works, but they turn up to the wedding. Peach is like, oh, no, actually, lads, I had this. Hits the ice and then the sequence starts and then they fall off the thing and they have to climb back up to get back up in time. save well You know, you can still do the same sequence. It just felt really weird that she'd kind of saved herself and then they just turned up.
00:29:07
Speaker
You know, it was a very weirdly paced thing. But I think, again, this is this thing I mentioned before. It's like the more you think about the film, the more questions you ask, the worse it gets. Because, I mean, even Shrek did that type of scene better. Yeah, Shrek's a great example of I objected.
00:29:21
Speaker
the thing is as well it's full of references to the games and again i'm not expecting them to be like oh this is yoshi's island and blah blah blah or oh this is rainbow roads like i thought the rainbow road sequence was very cool and everything but and this is going to sound like such a weird thing to say but it felt very much like a nintendo commercial oh you want to be playing mario kart right now it's almost like hypnosis oh you want to be playing Mario Odyssey right now oh you want to be playing Yoshi's Island you know it was like a paper thin plot but they were just putting the game iconography over it so Lego Movie's packed full references and it is
Music Choices: Pop Songs vs. Game Music
00:29:59
Speaker
to sell Lego toys and ultimately that is the point of Lego Movie but they've made these original characters and it's a plot that I think is a very good plot the references feel earned so think one of famous sequences in that film is the Spaceman guy's going on about rockets and eventually gets to make one it's very obvious but it's like a great wee sequence and he gets it and it Well this is like, we've joked before about the soy point thing right?
00:30:19
Speaker
But that's what this film is, it's just sugar. You see the thing you point at it and then the next thing comes up and you point at it, and the next thing comes and you point at it, but it doesn't really flow in any way. Again Lego movie, so the spaceman character's got a broken helmet, that's a funny touch because everyone's spaceman character's broke their helmet, but he's a character in his own right and he's three dimensional and he's got a personality and then he's he gets his own wee arc it pays off but then you've got like Pauline's in it and we point at her and then there's Jumpman and I don't know why he isn't related to Mario but he looks like him but it's okay just point at him and then there's a bar called the Duck Hunt and you point at that and they turn up in Mushroom Kingdom and the guy talks about selling in the S card you say You know, and and it feels like none of the sort of references matter. Well, I feel like Lego movie isn't the perfect movie, but right by any means, right? But it's one I keep going back to because it feels like they carry those references through the film and they very much got a grasp of what makes Lego fun, which is the whole building exploration and the whole master builder joke. And it feels like Mario movie doesn't understand what makes Mario fun. Do you know what it reminds me of? And it's something we were talking about last week with Odyssey, that Mario's strongest point in and the games is its gameplay. You know, you play Mario for the game, you don't play it for the story as such. And whenever they've tried to make it into a big sweeping adventure, it always runs into the same problems of how do we characterise Mario? Because either he's like a gruff Brooklyn-y, is hey i'm mario here either that or he's let's go i'm mario etc it's like a rock in a hard place in the shape of an italian plumber it's really weird to see them try to say oh we want this three-dimensional character no pun intended but you know we want this character to stand out in his own right but i feel as if he took him out of most of the film not a lot changes from it i mean again he's pretty i don't want to say useless because he does a lot in the film but there's a lot of scenes where it's like he's not as capable and obviously has to learn throughout it but in a film called the super mario brothers one of the brothers is kidnapped for half the film and just never seen again until the end the other one is constantly getting his buck
00:32:24
Speaker
He gets blown up in Rainbow Road, he gets his butt kicked by Donkey Kong, which I know he wins eventually, thanks to a cheap power-up. That's essentially the Mario Party experience, I think.
00:32:36
Speaker
You're beating someone and then they beat you the last minute, you know. It's a weird kind of sequence of bits, because even at the end you've got the cameo with the Yoshi egg. That would all be fine and good, but they've already been to Yoshi Island, so it's like, well, okay. Yoshi running around and I know in the grand scheme of these films this is so small pickings but oh yeah they turn up in Brooklyn at the end and Mario saves the day and that's great and then the crowd all kind of come out and start cheering right but they're looking at Donkey Kong and Toad and all the other wacky things that are there just to compare it to like the Avengers for example right when they save New York No one's coming out and applauding the Hulk because they're scared of this thing. So imagine you looking out the window and all these explosions are going off and then the guy saves the day and you're like, great. But then there's like a giant ape next him. You wouldn't be like, oh, you guys are great. You'd like, what's going on here, lads?
00:33:21
Speaker
And I know it's a kid's film and I know in the grand scheme it doesn't matter. But these are the things that do matter. You know I'd like to be? For this film to work, everyone can't be just okay with the mushroom kind spilling into the outside world. because that's the whole story that mario has to go through himself it's just so everything's so superficial in this film it's such just a sugar rush film and i think this might be my fault because the
Illumination's Approach: Formulaic Storytelling
00:33:42
Speaker
last film i watched before this was the pussy boots movie because i that on again recently last wish which i think is like one of the best animated films ever well this is the total opposite where it's so superficial that's the kind of thing that shouldn't be happening in these films it shouldn't be that skin deep you know i mean it's just feel everything feels unearned and very it's like eating a donut Because ironically enough, bringing up The Last Wish there, we are indeed going to be talking about that film for our animation month all the in May, as well as Wallace and Gromit. Two examples of how to do animated films right. And the thing is, I don't know whether this is a Nintendo problem or if it's an elimination problem. Because don't get me wrong, I enjoy elimination films relatively so, but a lot of them either follow very similar beats or they're just kind of there.
00:34:28
Speaker
I mean, I like Despicable Me as much as we joke about Minions. I do like the Despicable Me films, but I wouldn't say they're great examples of animation splendor or anything like that. You know it has its nice moments, but for every Despicable Me you've got, you've also got, I don't know, The Secret Life of Pets or or something like that again it's a studio that i think is a little bit outdated in some regards because they're always like oh we're gonna have this catchy pop song and no we're gonna have this and that is something that they do a lot in this film which is such a double-edged sword because on the one hand see when they use the game music oh my god they use it it is so so good that is probably the highlight of this film for me is the music they've done this thing where they've taken a lot of the original soundtracks and then
00:35:14
Speaker
This is like the sort of the sugar and the snails are done right I think where it's like they've taken something and they've expanded on it and I love there's a couple of ones in the movie where they have the sting of the music from the games but then keep getting bigger and bigger and bigger and it turns into like a big orchestral piece which obviously can never do in the early games and stuff that's really really clever and then it goes into Fatboy Slim right here right now I've liked whatever song it is but the soundtrack is loaded with tons of these rock songs and pop songs I don't mind one or two the movie but it felt like there was ten in this there wasn't but felt like a lot Because I mean, even when they get to the Kong Kingdom, you've got Take On Me. think you've got I Need A Hero at one point.
00:35:49
Speaker
Aye, there's a lot of ones where you just kind of sit there and think, did we really need this? I feel like they didn't tie the music in particularly well. Yeah. Because it's not like it's music that are associated with the era of early Mario. Like maybe they could have gone for like a really 80s theme, or maybe they could have gone for super modern theme. and done Sabrina Carpenter and Billie Eilish and they've gone like a very this is 2024's music or 2023's music whatever and I feel like the selection of songs is completely random as far as I can tell there's no decidable theme to them unless they all came out in the same year and i'm I'm completely wrong in this part but I do feel like they're all all over the place in terms of genre and feel
00:36:21
Speaker
It actually reminds me of something that Adam and I talked about when we reviewed the second Sonic film. And there's a scene where they break into this, I want to say Siberian bar or something like that, and they have a dance-off. And it's a dance-off to Uptown Funk. Incredible.
00:36:36
Speaker
I think Uptown Funk came out probably when we were in university. So, you know, kind of mid-2010s, whereas this film came out in 2022. Again, but we're seeing things like, well, kids aren't going to recognise this song, and even if they do. You know, it's quite a relatively old song in comparison.
00:36:55
Speaker
So why are they using it? And it's the same here. It's like, well, I used Take On Me when you've got all the songs from Mario Kart and you've honestly got so many you can use. And when they use the song at the end when they get the Power Star and it's the... did did did it did did it did did That is fantastic. That's such a good sequence.
00:37:15
Speaker
This sounds really weird to say it feels like you know how the film's going to end. Because you know obviously Mario and Luigi and Cole, they're going to win. They're going to defeat Bowser. Even though it's a bit weird that they shrink him down and put him in a jar. I don't quite like that, but... Is that a reference to Super Mario Galaxy 2? Is it actually? I have no idea. I think it said it on IMDb.
00:37:34
Speaker
Is that you scrolling through? No, I was before. had a look the other night. It's just kind of like, cat oh, right, it's their end. They get the power star, they defeat the villains, and then it's just like, oh, okay, that's fine. Go back to
Film's Ending: Audience Reactions and Future Impact
00:37:46
Speaker
your business. It's like, you know in Attack of the Clones, when they have that scene... Remember that scene where Obi-Wan just chops off, well, no, he doesn't chop off her arm, but he like slices the shapeshifting assassin with his lightsaber, and then Anakin turns around and goes, Jedi business, go back to your drinks. That's what it feels like, like this catastrophic thing just happened in front of you, and you're like, nah, nah, it's fine, okay. We save Brooklyn, and Mayor Pauline's probably having a meanty bee in the background, like, what the hell?
00:38:15
Speaker
How do I explain this? Things happen, the film. That's genuinely how it feels. It feels as if it's full of cameos, it's full of nostalgia, and there's nothing wrong with a film doing that, but I wish there was just a bit more meat on the bone with this one. And I'm not expecting a serious biopic with subtitles or something. Mario singing Dammy, Dammy, and then... or some losing picture or anything. Because at the end of the day, I do understand that as a children's film, we have to cater to that audience, but you can also cater to them in a smart way. And going back to what you were saying, you know, there's Puss in Boots, there's Wallace and Gromit. Look at any Studio Ghibli film. You know, most of them are geared towards kids, except for Grave of the Fireflies kids. Do not watch that on your own, please, for the love of God.
00:39:00
Speaker
But, you know, you've got all these films that target kids as a demographic and they manage to tell a compelling story in quite a smart way. For this one, and again, some people might argue as well, oh, it's just a video game film, it doesn't matter. It does matter though because video game films are in such a precarious position and I think it's genuinely thanks to the Sonic films and Detective Pikachu as well which I'm surprised we haven't got another film of that but those kind of films that are holding this genre up as it were. think there's been a few others over the years recently but The Mario Brothers film isn't a bad one, but it was starting to become dangerously close to being bad. At times where you were like, okay, I'm losing interest, and then, of course, they jangle the keys. Oh, look, it's Rainbow Road. Oh, look, it's the Donkey Kong Kingdom, and we've got the DK rap. Again, it's there, the film. It's a safe film, and I think, on the one hand, It's something they needed to do to kind of dispel the fact that, oh, this is a Mario film and everything, and we have to just make sure that this succeeds so that we can make more of these. But yeah, on the other hand, I feel as if they could have gone further with it.
00:40:14
Speaker
Yeah, I don't think they needed it to go crazy. yeah I wasn't expecting the twist at the end of the Lego Movie Spoils, where it turns out it was all a dream. Oh yeah, it's all the real world and stuff and that kind of stuff. Sorry if you've not seen Lego Movie, by the way. Pause the podcast and forget I said that go watch it. They didn't have to go that mad. But like the tiniest thing of, I'm thinking off the head like Star Wars Rex, you mentioned it. So you get this fantastical world, but Luke Skywalker already lives in it. And he learns about the world as you're there. And I feel like they could have done that with Mario without having to do the whole, his family in Brooklyn disappointed in him.
00:40:42
Speaker
But the film is just sugar. That's the best way can think of describing it, it's just you get a little bit of sugar, you get a little high, a little bit hype on it, as soon as she starts to wear off, well he's in a little bit sugar like they do, he says Django the keys, and it's not a bad film in terms of, would I watch it again? No, did I enjoy watching it? Sure, but I don't think it made me feel anything, apart from like I said the point and stuff, after Mayor Pauline was on the screen I felt very little about the film, I mean it's true, she is pretty awesome. Yeah, like the whole film is just a thing happens. It's like the subway surface of film. If they see if they put two banners on either side, one's playing like Minecraft footage, the other one's playing subway s surface, i've probably enjoyed it more.
00:41:13
Speaker
You are going to get such hate mail for this episode. Bring it. I'm ready for this. But like, that's what it was. You know that way when you heard people talking about the Pokemon film back in the day and they're like, this is a mindless film, there's no substance, and you thought, oh, how could they say that? It's Pokemon, of course it's going to have no substance, blah, blah, blah. But when you're looking at this film from an adult's perspective, and as we said last week, you didn't really...
00:41:38
Speaker
play the games as much growing up and I kind of popped into it every so often with my last game being Mario Odyssey which came out 8 years ago so I'm not going to say I'm a super fan I know about Mario I know all the iconography you know oh it's a mushroom oh the platforms oh the catsuit blah blah blah But at the same time, again, I completely agree with you. It's the jingling of the keys. And I think the best parts were, see, with Bowser, when he was trying to take over things.
00:42:07
Speaker
And again, we have the iconic Peaches song, which I will not be singing back to you, ladies and gentlemen. Peaches, Peaches. There's a wee teaser. Listen to the rest of it in Patreon. ah But yeah, at the same time, after it kind of wears off the, oh yeah, that's the thing. Oh, there's another thing. There's another thing.
00:42:24
Speaker
It's not a bad film, but neither would I say it's a great film or, oh, it's amazing. I think if you're a Mario fan and you've been waiting for this for the ages, I can understand why people love 100%. And I don't want to take away from
Future of Video Game Films: Original Storytelling Needed
00:42:37
Speaker
that by saying, you know, oh, I didn't enjoy it as much as you. If you enjoy this film, then absolutely go nuts.
00:42:42
Speaker
I don't know, I just, again, I feel as if it could have gone further in a lot of places, it could have been a little bit more, again, not experimental, because they didn't need to do that, they just had to put their foot in the door with this one, but hopefully, if they continue these films, then... Maybe they'll do something a bit more or better. But again, I am not a huge fan of the, oh it's a video game film, but it mashes with our world. You know, if I wanted to watch that, I'd watch Pixels with Adam Sandler. You know what?
00:43:14
Speaker
I mean, I don't want to watch Rexro's for reference, but that's the kind of thing I think of. You know, oh, it's video games, but they've come into the real world. It's almost like the Page Master. And again, I'm showing my age here. All the millennials out there gasp saying, I know that! I'm pointing at the screen. We forgot the very thing we said we didn't like. I know, very true. It'll be interesting to see what they do in the future because I know there was talks, very loose talks about, oh, what happens if Sonic and Mario cross over? And I'm like, I don't know how they would do that, to be honest, if would be the same continuity, if would be, I'm assuming it would be a different continuity, but it'll be interesting watching the future of this particular film franchise I would say it's still a positive thing for gaming films after your Resident Evil's Alone in the Dark and as much as we enjoy it the Street Fighter franchise Mortal Kombat Don't you dare You know What mean though is adaptations, these films were ridiculed for years. The video game film genre as a whole was just absolutely lambasted because of it. Would I show people this though as an example of a good gaming film? Maybe.
00:44:30
Speaker
if they had a child or they were younger, but for me personally, no, I genuinely, I can't see it being that great. To summarise, it's a good film. If you're a super duper Mario fan, then you will enjoy all the references and things. As a casual Mario fan or just a casual film goer, it's there, the film starring Chris Pratt as himself. Other than the visuals and the soundtrack that pulls from the games, not the take on me stuff, there's There's anything that draws you to it. That would be my kind of closing thoughts. What about yourself though?
00:45:02
Speaker
Yeah, really similar. When you were talking about if you're Super Mario fan, as in a super Super Mario fan, would this film be incredible because of the references? And I was trying to think of an example
Conclusion and Audience Engagement
00:45:11
Speaker
of a film that maybe is that for me. there a film that's full of wrestling like this Is there film that's full of Pokemon like this I feel like there's not anything I've ever watched That's so jam packed With references to itself trying to think of any other big franchises I like But I've never really seen a film that is like this To try and compare notes And I don't regret watching the film I didn't come away going that was terrible But I can barely remember the plot And not because I did watch the whole thing I'm pretty sure I did There's a sequence of events that all happened But yeah, I don't regret watching it. If you're bored one day and it happens to turn up on a streaming service that you've got for free, then I'm not going to say don't watch it, but I'm not seeking it out, I don't think. I would particularly recommend it to someone over and above other films that out there. Especially nowadays, everything's vying for your attention. Go watch Puss in Boots of Last Wish instead.
00:45:54
Speaker
Or the less cynical cash grab that is Lego Movie or Barbie is another example of these things that are made to sell product that are full of references that tend up to be really good films. I mean, even look at, although I haven't seen it personally, but from what I've heard, it's great. Look at Transformers 1. I mean, that's and entirely, that was a show that was just made to sell robots that transformed into vehicles. But from what I've heard, that was an excellent film that got absolutely snubbed. And again, think that's what puts off these creators, that they don't want to set it in their universe, as it were. They want to do the Michael Bay thing as well of, oh, let's shove a giant robot in the city. Oh, here's two robots letting them fight, and Shia LaBeouf is like going, oh my god. They don't really want to explore the story and the world and things, they just want to have it semi-relatable with us as an audience to try and ease them in. Or the poor parents that took these kids. This feels like the most I've appreciated my parents going the cinema with me. Like I've ever seen a film, like this is the first kids film that I've really been like, wow my parents must have sat through some crap. You know, this is the first one I've ever been like that with. Other kids films I'm like, okay I get it. You know, and I enjoyed that film. This is the first one I've been like, okay my parents must have had to sit through some absolute rubbish when was a kid. So you thought about it for this but not the Pokemon film? The Pokemon film is too nostalgic for me. And I do think the Pokemon film is bad. We also watched that back and I do think that. At least that was trying to say something.
00:47:18
Speaker
It didn't do a good job of it. But at least it was trying something. Well, true, true. At least it wasn't Ash woke up in our world and then he got filled with a portal and taken out a pipe and... Anyway. On that note. ah Martin, thank you so much for, yeah joining me in this review of the Super Mario Brothers film. You're welcome.
00:47:37
Speaker
Thank you for letting me have a complaint for now. No problem at all. It's what we do here best at Chatsunami, but before we wrap up, where are can these lovely listeners at home find your content? If you're looking for more of me as I navigate the wacky world of wrestling, nerdy stuff, talk a lot about Pokemon and everything else get up to, can find me usually at Martin McAllister across TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. And if you'd like to check out more episodes starring our lovely selves, then you can check us out at our website, Chatsunami.com, as well as all good podcast apps.
00:48:07
Speaker
I also want to thank our amazing Pandalorian patrons, Robotic Battle Toaster, Sonya, Posty, and Cryptic 1991. Thank you so, so much for supporting the show. And if you would like access to exclusive episodes, early access, behind the scenes, as well as our... other thoughts on and the film, and of course me singing peaches on Patreon, you can indeed check us out at our Patreon page, patreon.com forward slash chatsunami. I also want to point out that this podcast is a member of the Podpack Collective. For more information, check us out at our Twitter slash X handle, Podpack Collect.
00:48:39
Speaker
But until next time, stay safe, stay awesome, and most importantly, please don't fall through a warp pipe, but please stay hydrated.