I thought every major aspect was good overall. The animation and music speak for themselves, but the story was also good, and I like everyone’s characterization with some minor exceptions. They do the whole fish-out-of-water thing with Mario, but they also emphasize that he’s a quick learner who never gives up, and even before entering the Mushroom Kingdom, he’s surprisingly agile by normal human standards. The whole “girlboss Peach” thing doesn’t happen. She’s highly competent, but it’s presented in an “I’ve been here my entire life so of course I know what I’m doing” way, and it only takes a single training montage for Mario to more or less get on her level, then he continues to improve after that. She never has any sort of “I don’t need no man” vibe, and she’s even receptive to Mario’s light flirting. For what it’s worth though, her personality would still be better suited for Daisy.
There are plenty of references - both basic and obscure, both in-your-face and in the background - but the movie doesn’t expect you to get all of them; it basically just expects that you’ve played a Mario game in the last 15 years. In particular, I’ll say that the kart racing segment doesn’t feel forced and actually fits into the story. Probably the most forced reference was Mario playing Kid Icarus on an NES early on (interesting how Nintendo games still exist here, just not Mario games).
I don’t have any major complaints, but if I had to pick some:
- The original music is great, but the soundtrack relies a little too much on licensed music. There aren’t any bad choices per-se; it just feels weird hearing Take On Me and the Kill Bill theme in a Mario movie.
- The blue luma from the trailer is kinda funny at first but overstays its welcome.
- I’m not a fan of Bowser’s song, or songs in animated movies in general unless they’re really good. But hey, Jack Black does the best he can with what he’s given.
- The sequel hook is just a Yoshi egg being left behind in Brooklyn. Kinda underwhelming; I was really expecting something Galaxy-related, especially with Peach saying she doesn’t know what world she’s from or how she ended up in the Mushroom Kingdom.
Overall, great movie. I was pleasantly surprised.
