Super Mario Bros. Movie, The (4K UHD Review)
Director
Aaron Horvath, Michael JelenicRelease Date(s)
2023 (June 13, 2023)Studio(s)
Nintendo/Illumination (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment)- Film/Program Grade: B
- Video Grade: A+
- Audio Grade: A
- Extras Grade: C-
Review
The bad taste left in the mouths of Nintendo after the complete disaster that was 1993’s live action version of Super Mario Bros. forced the company to abandon the idea of adapting their popular video game characters to other mediums. Coupled with this was their then-recent allowance of other companies to make video games based upon the Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda franchises. This worked out very poorly as well, and it wasn’t until the 2000s that they began to toy with the idea of making films again. Teaming with the animation studio Illumination (responsible for the popular culture-invading Despicable Me series), the result was one of the biggest and most successful films of 2023: The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which earned nearly $1.4 billion dollars at the box office upon its theatrical release.
Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) are two down-on-their-luck plumbers trying to make a go at their own business with little to no support from friends and family. Attempting to close a flooding water main, they accidentally stumble upon a warp pipe, which transports Luigi to the Dark Lands, home of the evil Bowser (Jack Black), while Mario winds up in the Mushroom Kingdom. There he meets Toad (Keegan-Michael Key), who takes him to meet Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy), who’s fighting against Bowser and his Koopa army before he takes over the Mushroom Kingdom and forces her into marrying him. Mario must learn to navigate this new world and adapt to its ways, recruiting the mighty Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen) to help rescue his brother and defeat Bowser. Also in the cast are Fred Armisen, Sebastian Maniscalco, Kevin Michael Richardson, Rino Romano, John DiMaggio, Jessica DiCicco, Scott Menville, Eric Bauza, Khary Payton, Juliet Jelenic, and the original voice of Mario and Luigi, Charles Martinet.
Walking into this film, I was expecting more of a mess. A fun mess, but a mess nonetheless. What I discovered was that the film’s main characters actually had goals, obstacles to overcome, and aspects of their lives that adults can actually relate to. Mario and Luigi wanting to prove themselves to their family is admirable, and something that many people can identity with. Them being thrown into the Mushroom Kingdom and becoming heroes, which spills out into their reality for their family to see and appreciate, is good writing. It may be a little on the nose and perhaps a bit generic, but there’s some structure there, and I wasn’t necessarily expecting that from this film. After all, how do you make a movie out of something like Super Mario Bros.?
For one thing, the filmmakers draw upon the entirety of the video game franchise, and not just the first couple of games or so, which they go more heavily into in the sequel(s). And since Mario got his start as a protagonist in the Donkey Kong arcade game, it’s only fitting that he appear in the film as well (as portrayed in the later Donkey Kong Country series). As far as references are concerned, they’re myriad, but they don’t necessarily interfere with the plot. Most of the action is kind of run-of-the-mill and there are some tonal issues as to be expected, mainly when things get a little too lighthearted in what are supposed to be more serious situations, but nothing ever feels too forced or overwrought... aside from Bowser.
There’s definitely been some Jack Black blowback happening since some moviegoers are seemingly tired of seeing him pop up in everything, and this may have been where that trend started. Bowser’s love song to Princess Peach became a viral sensation, but it also feels like a Tenacious D one-off. The film goes a little too over the top with its main villain, even making him a figure of fun and cutting the legs off any seriousness we’re supposed to be feeling when he does bad things. But can you really take this film that seriously? No, you probably shouldn’t, but since the core mechanics of the story are there, it’s too bad that the villain is more of a figure of fun than a threat. It’s just something that big budget franchise movies are frequently guilty of.
Nevertheless, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is harmless fun. It’s definitely better put together than its 1993 counterpart, that goes without saying, but one would argue that it’s less interesting by comparison. Even so, the 2023 version is enjoyable with some clear thought put into its narrative, and that’s about as much as you could hope for from something aiming for such mass audience appeal.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie was animated digitally and finished at 2K resolution, then framed theatrically at the aspect ratio of 2.39:1 (with some minor TV-based segments framed at 1.78:1). Universal’s 4K Ultra HD release of the film upsamples its 2K Digital Intermediate source, grading it for High Dynamic Range in HDR10 and Dolby Vision, and encoding it to a triple-layered BD-100 disc. It’s a perfect presentation top to bottom, with maxed out bitrates and more precise textures and details over its Blu-ray counterpart, which itself is no slouch either. This film is so rich with splendid color and background subtleties that it almost requires the largest container possible to showcase all of it, and this UHD release fits the bill. The real advantage over 1080p, which is the case with many UHD releases, is the HDR grading. The finer details of objects and characters are given enhanced dimensionality, from the various locales in and around the Mushroom Kingdom to the shadowy backdrops and landscapes of the Dark Lands. Then there’s the colorful jungles and the gorgeous hues of Rainbow Road, all bursting with deep shades of color. Contrast is perfect with inky deep blacks in darkened environments, but also daytime sequences that are awash in saturation. There are also no encoding issues or another anomalies, making this a home run visually.
Audio is included in English Dolby Atmos, Spanish 7.1 Dolby Digital Plus, and French 5.1 Dolby Digital (the Blu-ray contains a Descriptive Video Service track, as well). Subtitles include English SDH, Spanish, and French options. The Dolby Atmos track is mostly a stellar surround experience with frequent directionality and overhead response, but it’s mixed a bit too low, requiring a volume adjustment. Dialogue exchanges are clear and Brian Tyler’s and Koji Kondo’s score is symphonically sweeping. Sound effects are given a gargantuan amount of attention, working all around the sound space, with plenty of deep bass response to back them up. Aside from the track needing to be cranked up a few notches, it’s a powerful track.
The 4K Ultra HD release of The Super Mario Bros. Movie also includes a 1080p Blu-ray and a Digital Code on a paper insert. The main Power Up Edition is housed in a standard black Amaray case with a slipcover, while there are also a couple of Steelbook variants, all of which are hard to come by now. Regardless of which version you own, the UHD and Blu-ray discs both contain the following extras:
- Getting to Know the Cast (18:26):
- Chris Pratt as Mario (2:31)
- Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach (2:42)
- Charlie Day as Luigi (2:10)
- Jack Black as Bowser (3:29)
- Keegan-Michael Key as Toad (2:26)
- Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong (2:16)
- Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong (1:21)
- Juliet Jelenic as Lumalee (1:30)
- Leveling Up: Making The Super Mario Bros. Movie (27:32):
- Level 1: Inspiration (4:54)
- Level 2: Design (6:18)
- Level 3: Music (2:48)
- Level 4: Locations (5:57)
- Level 5: Power Ups (4:01)
- Level 6: Easter Eggs (3:32)
- The Super Mario Bros. Movie Field Guide (6:41)
- Peaches Lyric Video (2:08)
- Leadership Lessons from Anya Taylor-Joy (3:07)
The majority of this material is super fluffy and doesn’t get into the nitty gritty of the production, but there are some items of interest. Getting to Know the Cast (which really should have been called Getting to Know the Characters) and Leveling Up: Making The Super Mario Bros. Movie speaks to most of the main cast and some of the filmmakers about various aspects of the film, including its cast, characters, source material, design, score, story locations, power ups, and Easter eggs built into the film for fans. Participants include Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key, and Seth Rogen; as well as directors Michael Jelenic and Aaron Horvath, co-directors Pierre Leduc and Fabien Polack, producer and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto, editor Eric Osmond, writer Matthew Fogel, head of story Ed Skudder, production designer Guillaume Aretos, art director Matthieu Gosselin, layout cinematography supervisor Lorenzo Veracini, character designer Shigehisa Nakaue, animation directors Ludovic Roz and Christophe Delisle, CG supervisors Mathieu Le Meur and David Pellé, character animator Charlotte Kristof, head of computer graphics Milo Riccarand, composer Brian Tyler, Nintendo music composer Koji Kondo, and founder and CEO of Illumination Chris Meledandri.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie Field Guide, hosted by some of the cast, takes us through various aspects and worlds of the film. The Peaches Lyric Video is introduced by Jack Black, while Leadership Lessons from Anya Taylor-Joy offers fives tips drawn from various lessons learned in the film by the characters.
Color me surprised that The Super Mario Bros. Movie works in a way that I wasn’t expecting, while also paying homage to the entirety of its franchise without feeling overly nostalgic or too overstuffed. It’s a fun movie and though I’m late in getting to it, as well as its UHD release, it should belong on every Nintendo fan’s shelf, as well as the shelves of those who enjoy simple but well-made movies, regardless of age.
- Tim Salmons
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