Super Mario Bros. (Film)

"This ain’t No Game"

- Tagline

Super Mario Bros. is a 2020 American Computer Animated Action-Adventure Comedy film based on the Super Mario Bros Series which is published by Nintendo and is produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures. The Film is directed by Phill Lord & Christopher Miller from a story by Lord & Miller with Alex Hirch, Mike Rianda, Jeff Rowe, The Hageman Brothers and Matthew Fogel Cowriting. The Film stars Danny McBride as the titular role of Mario while Paul Rudd plays Luigi. The film also stars Charles Martinet, Gina Rodriguez, Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Willem Dafoe, Kevin Hart, Sarah Silverman, Josh Gad, John Cena, Gabriel Iglesias JK Simmons as Main Roles with many more supporting cast members. It follows 2 Brothers, Mario & Luigi, who are Plumbers working for their abusive Uncle/Boss and Cousins are they are sent to another world where they have an Adventure of a lifetime having a sense of self-discovery, self-worth, destiny, morality and fulfilment.

The film released on March 10th 2020 in 2D and Real 3D formats in Cinemas and for Mar10 Day and also temperially released on September 13th on Netflix for Mario’s 35th-anniversary. The film received positive reviews from Critics and fans alike for it’s faithfulness to the games, the humour the writing & performances (Mario getting the highest praise out of all of them), Action Sequences and Animation but some criticised it for the film’s pacing and length. The film however, initially underperformed in the Box Office from Universal’s and Nintendo's expectations due to COVID-19 which lead to mass closures for cinemas, only grossing $89 Million with a budget of $100 Million. However it gained a Cult following due to it being released on direct to streaming services such as Netflix and Peacock and being rereleased in Cinemas on September 13th 2021 for Mario’s 36th-Anniversary, the final box office result of the film is $540 Million after the cinematic rerelease, making it the highest-grossing Video Game Movie.

The movie was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and a Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film, being the first Video Game Movie to do so along with the first video game movie being nominated for any awards, but lost both awards to Pixar’s Soul.

Synopsis
The Mario Bros live a quiet, simple yet boring and lacklustre life in New Donk City, while Luigi is somewhat content with this life, Mario strives for more in his life as he seeks for fulfilment as the firstborn Son of a Worldwide Hero, which he does many odd jobs to find his calling on life, including finding more about this weird land of Mushrooms when he was a Baby but none of them came to fruition for him. At 30 Years Old, They now work for their abusive Uncle/Boss Spike Scapelli along with their cousins (Wario & Waluigi) and in turn the rest of the workers also being mean to the Bros. One day after a mishap with a giant ape with his girlfriend, Mario & Luigi are sent to Plumbing duty in the sewers where they find a Pipe that leads to the Mushroom Kingdom. From there, Mario (Who is prophecied to be a long wanted Hero) & Luigi (Who is having severe doubts about his self-worth and esteem due to being neglected from the prophecy) are quickly wrapped up in an Adventure of a lifetime where they must save Peach (The Ruler of this land) from Bowser (an evil, strong yet dumb Koopa) and his army (The Koopa Troop). Along the way, they meet some unlikely yet helpful allies and gruelling, powerful yet wacky foes as they journey across this weird new world. Will this Adventure be a spring breeze? Or will this magical yet challenging Adventure take a mental toll on our Heroes?

Plot
The Movie begins with a narration (done by Charles Martinet) about who and what the Super Mario Bros are, the narration states:

'”Do you know who the Super Mario Bros are? Of course you do! They’re are the most popular video game icon in the planet, starring in many Games, TV Shows, Comics, Merchandise and uh, a less than stellar movie I will say. The Super Mario Bros have struck the heart of many with their fun gameplay and with his wacky array of characters, But I will ask you this question, do you know where the Mario Bros came from, their Origins, how they became Super? Well, I know, so strap in folks as today I'll tell you the Story of the Super Mario Bros.”'

Yoshi’s Island
It then shows a Stork carrying Baby Mario & Baby Luigi (who the narrator introduces) to their Parents. It then shows that the scene we’re watching was from a cauldron which is owned by Kamek, Kamek gets angry as this is the thing that’s stopping Bowser ruling the world. Kamek sends an army of Toadies to capture the 2 Bros and kill them so Bowser can rule the world. The Stork flies through the sky when the army of Toadies attack the bird, leading to both Babies and the stork falling down to a Island below. This Island is, of course, Yoshi’s Island. The 2 Babies fall into a basket of fruit, which is being carried by a Yoshi, who is collecting fruit and giving them to the Villagers in the Island, when suddenly he takes out the babies to one of the villagers, The Yoshi screams and wonders what it is.

Word got around about this weird new “fruit”, leading to a island wide panic, eventually the Yoshi Chief to call a meeting to deal with this new “fruit” We get a court scene inside a tree where the Yoshi’s wonder if the fruit is safe to eat.

Before they can go on a final judgement, Kamek and his Toadies attack the island, looking for the babies, the Yoshi Chief tells the other Yoshis to fight, while takes the Green Yoshi to tell him something, he tells Yoshi that there was a prophecy from the superstar in the Island that a Baby in red will be the saviour of the Mushroom Kingdom and that they may be a star child (a person who have unlimited power), which come once in a generation.

Yoshi tries to find the stork while the Chief distracts Kamek. Unfortunately it doesn't go very well as he’s then paralysed from the feet. Luckily, Yoshi found the stork and gave the Babies to him, flying away to his destination. The narration continues, saying during Mario’s journey he saw this wonderful land filled with giant mushrooms, Luigi was asleep at the time so he couldn’t see it. They finally make it to his destination, which is New Donk City. The Stork delivered the baby to the Bros mother (the original design of Pauline).

New Donk City
The narrator then says that Mario’s Father father died from his injuries after an heroic fight with a family of apes. He managed to defeat the largest ape which quickly became imprisoned and the rest of the monkeys were forced to perform in a nearby circus, The City was named New Donk as a tribute to Mario’s Father and it’s most popular attraction, the Monkeys.

Mario always wanted to look up to him and live to everyone's expectations as the ape killer’s son but never really did. Mario says school was rough for the Bros, he tried telling everyone that this weird mushroom land but was bullied and made fun of, mainly by Wario & Waluigi, their cousins. He also looked up to Mighty Plumber, Popeye and Dirk Drain Head, thinking anyone can do anything if they put their mind to it, and that to Mario was being a Hero.

Throughout the years Mario says did multiple odd jobs while roping Luigi in to them, these include Doctor, Carpenter, Athlete (In Tennis, Football and Golf), Racer, Circus employee as a Juggler, Bartender, Cement Factory Worker, Freelance Artist, Toy Maker, Boxing Referee, A Shop Clerk and Soldier, although he was good at those Jobs, he says he quickly became bored of them and quit, he wanted to know where his place in the world is as all of these jobs felt like he hasn’t lived up to his true destiny, feeling like he hasn't accomplished anything in life as the son of the Ape Killer and something even more. Despite this, Luigi was always right by him supporting him on whatever zany venture he was going to, He also had a girlfriend, Pauline (Modern Pauline) who he met during his circus job, calling her everything in a great girl you could hope for but feels like he doesn't deserve them.

It cuts to when the Bros are around their late 20s after their mother's death, working for their boss/uncle, Spike, who doesn't like them at all, in a construction site. On September 13th 2015, It’s Mario's 30th Birthday as we see from an Alarm Clock, he chooses Red Overalls with a Brown undershirt as Mario is not allowed to wear his father’s clothes, Luigi also wakes up and does their daily routine also getting Green Overalls and Brown Undershirt. The Bros say goodbye to their Landlord, Mr Arnold Regale, they then have birthday breakfast at the local café, get supplies for his party in the local grocery as a reference to the anime which is run by Mr Miyamoto himself and bump into the mayor of New Donk City, Reggie. However it's all disrupted when the Bros are late to work and face being fired. Mario & Luigi go in their company van before realising it's suspiciously out of fuel, Mario sees Wario & Waluigi running away, laughing as they have an empty bucket of garlic juice. Luigi is breaking down at the fact of being late and getting evicted while Mario has an idea to go onto the rooftops as the fastest route, Mario gets out of the Van and up on the rooftops while Luigi reluctantly follows.

The Bros platform their way through the rooftops and try to make it work on time in a high octane action sequence as they team up to platform their way through the rooftops. Spike welcomes all the workers in the company and notices Mario & Luigi are absent, he has a malicious grin and takes out his stopwatch counting from 5. Before he says one Mario & Luigi roll down on the ground and perform a jolly dance.

Spike gets disappointed and angrily tells the Bros to get to work and put on their uniform. After Wario & Waluigi try to hinder their performance with orders from Spike to finally have a legitimate reason to fire them and mess up their work in a montage. Spike eventually gives up and decides to call for lunch and for Wario & Waluigi to go to his office. Luigi brings a healthy cheese sandwich while Mario brings a plate of Spaghetti. Mario tries to invite people to his party but they decline, making up an excuse not to go to it. Wario & Waluigi come to the table and tell everyone to go to the party to see how much of a failure and disappointment is just like Mario is to his father.

Ape Attack!
Before Mario can rebuttal, Pauline is captured by a nearby ape who came out of his zoo. Mario rushes into action, while Luigi watches in awe and fear. A cinematic sequence filled with action plays which follows Mario climbing an unfinished tower while the Ape is throwing Barrels onto Mario. Mario saves Pauline and pushes the ape down from the building, wrecking everything in the process. The builders and Wario & Waluigi then boo at Mario for destroying their hard work. The ape gets so angry and starts destroying everything in its path. It got so bad that Stanley's exterminator group calms the ape down. Deciding it's too dangerous to live here, they send the ape and monkeys to their natural habitat.

Spike gets so angry and decides to call the Bros in after work. At the end of the day, the Bros enter Spike's office. Wario & Waluigi are also there. Spike has a long speech of how he had always hated Mario & Luigi and has longed the day to fire them both as in his opinion, he lost his Brother and Sister in law in favour of 2 Bumbling idiots who talk about weird mushroom lands, saying he only hired them to fulfil his sister in law’s final wish of wanting the Bros to be happy. He was excited that today was the day of him firing Mario & Luigi as they're not a wrecking crew, but realises that there is a better way. He then sends the Bros to plumbing duty under the sewers to torture them.

Mario is excited at the fact of a new challenge while Luigi is scared at the fact of doing plumbing due to the Monster sightings from talking to Stanley as anyone there would die. Wario & Waluigi tell him that Stanley is always on the permacide too much. Spike then gets angry at the fact that Mario is excited but quickly calms down as he soon realises that Mario won't be excited when he is working in the sewers. Spike congratulates Wario & Waluigi for unleashing the ape and promotes them further despite des, Wario then says that he only did this to get closer to Pauline.

The Date Disaster
Mario & Luigi, disgusted, leave to go home. Luigi laments at the fact of doing plumbing in the sewers, wondering if he’ll be killed while Mario instantly goes out without a thought in a suit for a date with Pauline leading to Luigi to set up the party by himself.

Mario & Pauline go to Candy Café for the date, Mario talks about his day about saving Pauline from the ape. Pauline tries to ignite a spark of talking about her upcoming career as a singer with her new song Jump Up Superstar. Mario, looking sad, then says that when he saved Pauline from the Ape and being late in the morning and finding a way to get there he felt like he accomplished something meaningful in life. Pauline asks what this means, confused, and tells her that he's breaking up with her as he wants to figure out what to do with his life not wanting it to be meaningless, hoping that they can just be friends at the moment, Pauline then gets angry at Mario and pours water on him, leaving and shouting she never wanted to see him again.

Mario returns to his apartment and Luigi is basically finished setting up the Party with Mr Segale and Miyamoto present, Mario looks sad and tells Luigi to stop the party, the 2 of them try to pack it up but it goes to chaos. Before the Bros can properly discard the party Wario, Waluigi, Spike, Stanley and the rest of the people in their work come to the Party, laughing at it. Wario says that this is Mario's biggest blunder and that his parents would be ashamed of him. Mario getting angry punches Wario and tells everyone to get out, Wario could be crying like a baby while the rest of them could either be scolding Mario for getting angry or helping Wario become better. Spike walks up to Mario and tells him that his father would never do this and that he could fire him right on the spot but is excited to torment them in sewer duty tomorrow.

Meanwhile back in Bowser's castle. Kamek uses the cauldron to see the future if Bowser will rule the world. The cauldron spouts that Bowser will be overcome by Mario, who is closer than ever to defeat Bowser. Kamek asks if there is a way to make Bowser rule the world, the cauldron says that the True Love could give Bowser unlimited power with a Princess which will create the Chaos Heart, a vessel of unlimited power.

We see 2 mushroom shaped mysterious spies, one red and one pink, looking into the castle and arguing what to do, Kamek hears them and tries to capture them with Burt the Bashful. The 2 spies keep arguing until the red one says that they should use the Green Pipe. The pink one says that they should only use it for emergencies. The red one ignores them and uses it anyway and brings them into the Warp Pipe without closing it. Kamek then assembles a few enemies and the Elite Trio to capture the spies.

Mario Bros Mayhem
It cuts back to Mario & Luigi waking up and going to work while wearing the same clothes as yesterday, Spike, Wario & Waluigi show the Bros where they'll be working, Mario gets 2 Bags with 2 Hammers that were his father's, a Wrench, 2 plungers and plumbing snake and jumps down in optimism while Luigi seems more weary and decides to go home. Unfortunately, the group pushes him down to the sewers, locking them away the 3 of them last as no one has apparently survived in the sewers due to the Monsters in there. Mario & Luigi further explore the sewers as Mario sings the pipe song and finds a Giant Piranha Plant in there, they then see Captain Toad and Toadette being chased by a few enemies such as the Elite Trio, Koopas, Goombas, Sidesteppers, fighter flies and more.

The Bros enter a high octane battle calling back to Mario Bros with its music and setting. They quickly manage to defeat them using teamwork. Luigi wants to continue their work while Mario saves Captain Toad and Toadette and Captain Toad explains the situation. That Bowser and His army is planning to rule the Mushroom Kingdom and eventually the world, Mario says he's heard of the place before that they’re talking about (lying to the Toads) while Luigi tells him to stop telling himself about this place that doesn't exist and tells Mario to continue their work, Nonetheless Toad tells the Bros (as Mario is “The Chosen One”) to come with them into another giant green pipe as they seemingly enter through another dimension screaming their heads off, ending Act 1

Mushroom Kingdom Chaos
The Bros, Captain Toad and Toadette fall through and end up in the Mushroom kingdom we all know and love, Mario & Luigi sluggishly walk out of a cave are chased by a few Piranha Plants, They manged to escape and arrive in Toad Town while they are looked at funny from the Toads, while Captain Toad treats them as celebrities that shouldn't be seen. Luigi looks worried and wonders if he’s dead while Mario keeps on boasting, saying that this was the place he was talking about all his life and saying that he was right and all that stuff.

It then cuts to Princess Peach waking up and doing her daily routine, waking up, playing her guitar, checking her Phone, eating her Breakfast all doing it in a messy manner all in a Musical Number, When Toadsworth arrives, she tries to put on a posh facade while stuffing Toast and Orange Juice. Toadsworth tells her to get ready for her coronation as the true ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom as her Parents have been missing for a few years at this point. Toadsworth walks to her and sees she seems sad, She answers that she’s very nervous and scared as she feels like has a lot to live up to, plus her pompous nature isn't her true self, wanting to be honest with her Subjects. Toadsworth answers that they all have to do stuff that they don't want to do in life and that she’ll be a great Princess despite her unruly nature. Peach, more confident, leaves her castle.

Before Mario & Luigi could investigate further in this weird world, a loud bell with eye rings and all of the Toads rush forwards while Luigi accidently gets caught up in the crowd while Mario follows. He asks Captain Toad what they’re doing and answers that the Princess of the land is getting her coronation, Mario follows the crowd to the Castle and Jumps on the Toads' heads to get there.

Meanwhile, Bowser looks sad while Kamek prepares to kidnap a Princess as Kamek tells Bowser of their plan while Bowser cries loudly, interrupting his plan, Kamek angry but holding his anger and asks what’s wrong. He says that he feels like he’s gonna fail as he always does but doesn’t want to. From here we get a musical number as to why Bowser loves being a villain and why it’s so heart-breaking that he always fails his plans in the universe without Mario and due to his own incompetence. Kamek tells him that this time, they will not fail the plan of ruling the world as they’ve got unlimited power on their side, consulting Bowser from his feeling of disappointment, Kamek tells the Elite Trio to bring his magic cauldron.

Kamek & the Elite Trio make a bachelor show as we have Bowser choose any one of the Princesses which would include Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Rosalina, Pauline and Princess Shokora. Bowser chooses Peach and decides to capture her and go on a date with her to spark true love.

Full Frontal Assualt
We see Bowser preparing an assault on the Mushroom Kingdom with the Airships, Soldiers such as Goombas, Koopas, Hammer Bros etc. Bowser then sees that Bowser Jr isn't there. Bowser runs through the castle and breaks into Bowser Jr’s room who is playing a Nintendo Switch and grabs his tail. Before long the invasion is nearly ready and we have a discussion with the pair of them, Jr, seemingly distant while Bowser says that he’ll need to take this over one day like he did with his father, and his father and so on and so forth. Jr seems anxious and feels like he won't do a good job, while Bowser confronts him and says that he’ll be a good king in making in due time. Bowser & Jr board the Main Airship and ride to the Mushroom Kingdom.

Meanwhile, the Crowd eagerly waits for the coronation to begin. We see Peach coming out, a bit nervous out of her castle and we see her servants in chaos due to setting up the afterparty, while 2 Guards Join her, Before she even starts her speech a Bullet Bill hits her while several of the bullet bills hit the Toads as well as Bob-ombs, Thousands of Goombas, Koopas, and Hammer Bros drop down and take away the Toads. Kamek turns the Toads who run away into Stone including Captain Toad (who fled away like a coward) and Toadette while the Elite Trio gather up the Toads who have been kidnapped to the airship.

Princess Peach seems horrified at this and tries to save some of the Toads by diving head first into the action discarding her posh facade despite Toadsworth dismay, but fails. The 2 Guard Toads try to protect her from the last Airship, the biggest of them all. The Airship doors open up to see Bowser and Bowser Jr standing. Bowser walks down and starts saying something until Bowser Jr on purpose trips him up leading him to fall down humorously, Bowser is obviously angry and tells him he’ll destroy his switch while Peach and the 2 Guard Toads laugh, Bowser glances angrily but still goes on with asking Peach for his hand in marriage and if she declines, He’ll take her anyway. Peach willingly accepts marriage and is taken by Bowser.

While all of this is going on, Mario & Luigi hide in a nearby Bush away from any danger and see that a Goomba found them, Mario & Luigi quickly dispose of them and continue watching. Luigi is freaking out and is obviously scared while Mario vows to take down Kamek. They exit out of the Bush and see the Kingdom in ruins.

They hear an old toad screaming for help, The Bros go into action and help him before he heckles the 2 Bros saying that they should have helped before he quickly remembers the prophecy that the Yoshi Chief told him about in a flashback. It then flashbacks to the past to a Younger Toadsworth and the Yoshi Chief from the beginning, now being disabled using a wheelchair. Toadsworth is caring for Baby Peach, while The Green Yoshi pushes the chief, they have a strawberry cheesecake and tea. The chief explains the events that happened in the beginning, he says that the babies were Star children, which are babies that have special and strong powers and can harness the Superstar.

It then goes to the present and Toadsworth’s realisation and rushes the Bros to the Castle and tells them of the prophecy, of which a man in Red will defeat the Mushroom Kingdom from Evil. Luigi asks of himself and says that it said nothing about Luigi, Luigi gets a bit sad before Mario quickly cheers him up and goes back to Toadsworth not giving a care of the world for his Brother. Toadsworth tells Mario that he’s been waiting for this day for a long time and tells him that he knew that an Evil from Bowser was brewing for a long time and he needed the right person to stop it and today is that day.

Mario takes this all in and tells Luigi that he’s the person in that prophecy while Luigi says that they shouldn't lie of not being what they say they are, meanwhile Toadsworth buts in and says that Mario is the person, bursting Luigi’s bubble of doubt and grasp of normality. Toadsworth gives Mario 4 Small Yellow Item Boxes which temporarily power-up Mario And a Regenerating Super Mushroom, which explains can be used to heal the Toads. He tells the Bros to get the Superstar, located in Yoshi’s Island which Captain Toad has visited and knows where it is as the Superstar will mean a guaranteed win for them. Both they go, Toadsworth give the Bros updated Outfits, which give the Bros Blue Overalls (Mario gets a Red Undershirt while Luigi gets a Green Undershirt) and so the Bros leave on this magical quest.

Goomba Trouble
Meanwhile, Bowser & his army celebrate a win, drinking Chuckola Cola from the Bean Bean Kingdom. As this is going on Peach is stuck in the attic, relentlessly worrying about the Toads and tries to escape in a sidescroller segment but she’s then captured by Bowser Jr who has gone away from the chaos of the party as Bowser is still mad at him for tripping him over, telling him to check the Prisoner. Peach is angry at him for capturing and essentially killing the Toads while Bowser Jr rationally explains that he didn't want to do this and only was made to follow his father. Peach somewhat gets nicer to him. The 2 of them talk and bond together somewhat as mother and son.

Back to the Bros we see them walking through a few generic New Super Mario Bros Hills and get ambushed by 2 Goombas, Red and Blue. They tell off the Bros for killing a Goomba during the attack as all of them have a universal chill when one is killed. Mario asks what a Goomba is and they respond with the greatest species ever created and say it's a sin to kill one. Mario & Luigi laugh at them while the Red and Blue Goomba are confused and decide to unite all Goombas and capture the Bros.

The Bros are tied up in a Castle with all types of Goombas from the series including Paragoombas, Goombrats, Galoombas, Goombuds, Octogoombas and Micro/Grand Goombas, they also a see a brown bag who is being held captive by King Goomboss. He walks to the Bros and talks to the 2 Goombas and whispers to them, he laughs hysterically and shouts these are the people who committed a "hate crime" to all Goomba kinds. Luigi tries to rationally defuse the situation but Mario makes it worse by jokingly saying to Luigi that the Goombas look like turds. The Goombas comedically overreact to this while King Goomboss gets so angry he decides to fight the Bros in a battle with all the other Goombas which could be another musical segment. Mario & Luigi get beaten up by Goomboss until Luigi tells Mario to use one of the Yellow Boxes. Mario crushes the Box and turns into Fire Mario, with a white overalls and a same red undershirt. Luigi asks what changing the clothes will do and Mario shrugs, but accidently affects his fire powers.

Mario would run around screaming that his hand is on fire and accidentally throws a fireball, burning one of the Goombas by accident. This leads to Mario using his fire powers to defeat the Goombas while trying to protect Luigi. After the fight against the Goombas, the remaining ones put a new crown on Mario and are crowned King of all of the Goombas and tell them of their best price from the Mushroom Kingdom inside the bag, the mass killer of Goombas.

Mario thinks it's Peach and sees it's Captain Toad in stone and gets disappointed. Luigi wonders if they can use the Mushroom given by Toadsworth to help Captain Toad. He gives them Mushroom and breaks the spell put on by Kamek. Captain Toad says that iconic line we all know (and probably hate) of the Princess being in another castle. Mario gets frustrated while Luigi asks where to go to Yoshi's Island. Captain Toad says that they need to save Toadette and won't tell them where to go next unless they save Toadette. Mario tries to tell them that the Kingdom is in danger but says that he won't do anything until Toadette is rescued. Mario and Luigi accept that Captain Toad won't help them unless Toadette is saved. The Bros interrogate Goomboss to find out where Toadette is being held, he doesn’t budge but Mario threatens to destroy his Crown, he tells them that She’s being kept somewhere in Tostarena.

Tostarena Trouble
Meanwhile, it's after the party and we see Bowser Jr and Peach bonding. It's all stopped when Bowser busts open the door and the 2 of them become silent. He relieves him from his duties and wants to have a talk with the adults. Bowser says that they'll be getting married and he wants to know her. Peach doesn't open to him one bit as he caused the destruction of the Mushroom Kingdom. Bowser says that it was a tiny mistake and won't happen again, responding to how the destruction of a kingdom wasn't a mistake. Bowser loses his temper and tells Peach to either fall in love with him or face death. Peach responds that she will die for her kingdom to stop Bowser. Bowser gets angry, breathing fire everywhere and leaves. Slamming the door and destroying it. We see Kamek trying to consult Bowser and tells him to discard the whole wedding and add it to another list of the failures and says they should look for another Princess. Kamek tells Bowser not to give up, telling Bowser that he'll hypnotise her to love him, and Bowser tells him that he wants her to fall in love with him realistically. Kamek bursts out laughing and before long asks if he's serious. Bowser walks away and tells Kamek not to do the spell or else. Peach discards this and tries to escape once again, but The Elite Trio finds her and captures her.

Meanwhile we see our Heroic Trio walking through the underground. Mario asks more about Princess Peach to Captain Toad, Captain Toad call her the best person in world who loves her people and will do anything to help her, Mario asks if she’s single while Captain Toad says that she dated Prince Haru once and liked him but mysteriously disappeared, before the conversation can continue with Mario objections the Trio fall into a Yellow Pipe and end up in the Tostarena Desert, which is in the night now.

Mario & Luigi want to rest while Captain Toad pesters the Bros to save her. Mario asks Captain Toad if they know where to go and says they’ll check every Pyramid in the area. Mario & Luigi ignore him and go inside an Inn called the Angry Sun where they go to rest the lively and colourful nature all of that stops though and the Tostarenans stop what they're doing and look at them, leading to an awkward silence. Mario walks up to the counter with a bad western accent and asks for 2 orders of Spaghetti while Luigi facepalms, the Tostarenans get all of their weapons and tell the Bros that they don’t like outsiders. Before a fight ensues, Captain Toad with a Skull Hat rushes in and says that He’ll deal with them.

We hear Captain Toad shouting at the Bros and all of the Tostarenans look confused and see that Mario & Luigi are also wearing Skull Hats and the place continues as normal. Toad says that a guy may know where Toadette is as he has links to Bowser, Tubba Blubba. They confront Tubba Blubba and his Spike gang. Mario tries to intimidate to tell him where Toadette is Tubba Blubba but fails and eats him but instantly spits him out and says that he only eats Boos and hasn’t eaten one in a while. He then asks what Boo is to Toad, saying that they are cowards who run from anything tough, answering back “So basically Luigi!”. Luigi frowns and gets angry. Mario steals a Radish and Captain Toad tells him what it looks like using a black marker, while Luigi distracts Tubba Blubba by talking to him about his love life. Mario gives Tubba Blubba the fake Boo, Luigi sees the fake Boo and gets terrified from it running away from it. Tubba Blubba, despite first impressions, is duped and tells him that Toadette is in the Upside Pyramid.

It cuts to the Morning, Mario, Luigi and Captain Toad head off to the Upside Pyramid and are chased by the Angry Sun, Pokeys and Spikes. Eventually they make it inside the Pyramid and make their way through it while also being chased by Chinchos. At the top of the Pyramid, they see a few Stone Toads including Toadette. Captain Toad rushes forward when suddenly, Knucklotec grabs him and keeps him captive, saying if he’s the one who stole the Ring. Mario & Luigi team up and try to defeat it, but fail. Mario thinks using brute force will defeat it but even worsens the situation and makes him even more angry. Luigi thinks and uses the Hands to hit him, Mario then uses this strategy along with using the Metal Cap from one of the Boxes to defeat Knucklotec. Mario thanks Luigi for his thinking and uses the Super Mushrooms to free all of the Stone Toads, including Toadette. Mario expects thanks from the Toads but all of them go to the just woken up Captain Toad to the annoyance of Mario.

Return to Yoshi's Island
Meanwhile, we see Peach waking up in the Castle and ending up in a cage above lava, Bowser greets her and makes a deal. They’ll go on one date and will fall in love with each other and will let all of her people go, or if she declines she’ll burn in lava and all of the Toads will be stones and in captivity forever. Bowser gives her an Hour before making a decision. Peach accepts the first choice in order to let her people go. Bowser leaves the room before realising that Bowser Jr overhears this and tells Bowser that was a bad thing that he did, Bowser laughs this off, saying that’s what villains do, forcing Princesses to marry them. Bowser Jr says that True Love comes in time, before he can finish, Bowser cuts him off saying that when you’ve lived as long as he has, You need to make drastic decisions. Bowser Jr tries to argue with him before Bowser yells at him to go to his room.

Kamek overhears and goes to Bowser and asks what’s wrong, Bowser answering he feels like that he will disappoint everyone around him, no matter what he does. He knows that Peach won’t fall in love with him and that true love won’t come to him. Kamek tells Bowser that no matter what he faces, his parents and Kamek will always be proud of him, despite the hardships he faced during his life. Bowser hugs Kamek, crushing his bones. Kamek then tells them about the next phase of the plan, to steal the superstar from Yoshi’s Island with the help of Petey Piranha.

Back to the Bros, they return the Toads in Tostarena to the Mushroom Kingdom for safety and plan their next move to Yoshi’s Island. Toadworth says that they can use Peach's Private plane, The Toad Express, and that Captain Toad can  it, Mario asks if he knows how to pilot it, Captain Toad confidently answers Of Course! Then instantly in the next scene shouts I don't know how to pilot it. The Plane serves crazily all around the ocean near the Cheep Cheeps, which catches the attention of Gooper Blooper, who tries to eat the Plane but they manage to escape, in turn using up all the fuel. They crash land on the Island, destroying their Fruit tree/Super Happy Tree, and the Villagers look inside to see if they survived.

Mario, Luigi, Captain Toad and Toadette are arrested by the Yoshis on the count of destruction of property, they decide to call the Yoshi Chief to decide their fate. We see that the Yoshi Chief isn't the one from the beginning but rather the Younger Green Yoshi from the beginning. 2 of the Yoshis tell him to kill them or eat them and he decides against that. He frees them and hugs the group as they thought the Bros were killed by Kamek when they were babies. Yoshi gives a Tour to the group around the Island as the Yoshi’s playing around and fixing the Island damage caused by the group. The tour eventually ends with the statue of the Previous Yoshi Chief, saying that he was great leader and a very big Yoshi, telling him about his heroic deeds and how his actions live on, while the rest of The group were mourning his death, Mario sleeps throughout the story as a node to the RPGs as he always sleeps during long stories.

After the tour the Bros tell them why they’re on the Island, because of what Bowser is planning and that they need to get the Superstar. Yoshi takes the Bros to the Star Shrine in the Mountains, Mario sees the star and sees him in it but he vanishes, Yoshi tells them that Mario will need to prove he’s worthy of the star's power, first telling him to cut the Pasta. From here we get a montage of Mario training through the Islands' many locations, which could lead to many call-backs to the Super Mario World games with their aesthetics and enemies including running through an herd of reznors, using a skull-boat in a sea of Blarggs, Draggodons, Lava Bubbles and Magmaarghs/Charvaarghs, Running away from a Banzai Bill, Playing football with a few Chargin Chucks, Wrestling a Sumo Bro, Stealing back an Item from a few Monty Moles, Bench Pressing a few Lava Rocks, Spin-Jumping on a few Piranha Plants and Rexs, Swimming in waters full of Rip Van Fishes and Dolphins. The Montage ends with Mario in a side-scrolling sequence running through the Island and mastering all of the aforementioned things.

Petey Peril
It’s a day later and Yoshi deems Mario as worthy enough to harness the stars power, but before he uses it, Yoshi gives Mario a 1-Up Mushroom in case things go wrong, Mario asks what it does and before Yoshi can answer, the Yoshis scream as the Island is under attack by the Elite Trio who have planted a giant Egg on top of it which hatches into Petey Piranha who was apparently taking a Nap in there.

Yoshi tells Captain Toad & Toadette to get the Yoshi’s to safety while Mario, Luigi and Yoshi attempt to battle Petey. Petey eats all of the fruit and spits it out onto the group with Luigi taking the biggest hit and having to time out. The Elite Trio tell him to get the Superstar no matter what, Petey wanders his way through the Island, destroying everything in his path. Yoshi tells Mario to ride him, Mario has a funny/weird look at him which Yoshi shouts at him to do it, which leads to Mario trying to find the right position which he does at the end

Mario and Yoshi chase Petey through the Island while The Elite Trio give him the location of the Star, Petey shouts that he doesn’t need directions and spits his weird goop on them. Petey then flies up to the top of the mountain as that’s where he assumes where the star is, which is where it is. Mario asks if there’s a faster way up there apart from the elevator, Yoshi shrugs while Mario thinks of a plan, Mario hits Yoshi and makes him use his long tongue to stick on his pants. Petey tries to shake them off but it doesn't work. The group eventually make it up to the top of the Star Shrine and duke it out, however Petey eventually comes on top and makes a deal with Mario & Yoshi, he either destroys the entire Island and everyone in it if they take the Superstar or he takes the Superstar and leaves them be.

Mario initially leans towards using the Superstar for themselves but Yoshi tells him to let Petey take it to save the only species of Yoshi, Mario tells him that the Bad guys will win and destroy the world, just like they did with the Mushroom Kingdom. Yoshi tells him that small sacrifices will have to be made in order for a bigger reward, Mario accepts that he’ll have to leave the Superstar behind.

The Elite Trio use an Airship to pick up Petey and ride away to Bowser’s Kingdom. We hear Paraplonk saying that they got a promotion in the bag. Mario hits his hand on the ground while Yoshi consults him, telling him it was the best thing he could do in that situation. The duo return to the ground, seeing the Island even in more destruction and that Luigi has woken up. Mario says at least the Yoshi’s aren’t there and before Yoshi can agree with him the 2 Toads take the Yoshi’s to the Village and see everything in chaos. The Yoshi’s surround Mario and attack him, saying he was the cause of the destruction of Yoshi’s Island, calling him unworthy of the Star’s Power, saying that he shouldn’t rely on Yoshi to do his bidding and he’s not the saviour of the Mushroom Kingdom.

Before they can do anything worse to him Yoshi stops the crowd from doing more damage to him and tries to explain to the Yoshi’s. Yoshi saying that he may not look like it, but will be capable of saving the entire world in due time and will have to learn to be a Hero, Yoshi also reminds them that their Chief’s including him and the previous ones wasn’t always perfect and that they’ll and he needed to make sacrifices for a better outcome. The Yoshi’s ease up on Mario, understanding where Yoshi is coming from. Luigi asks if Mario is okay as he looks a bit sombre and says he’s fine, saying that they need to continue their adventure and save the Princess. Yoshi leaves and tells the Yoshis to find a leader as Yoshi wants to supervise the group on their journey, using a row boat to get back on track to the journey.

Meanwhile, The Elite Trio and Petey return to Bowser’s Castle and give the Superstar to Kamek. Sergeant Guy asks why they needed the Superstar and tells the group to follow him. Kamek tells them that he hasn’t told Bowser about this as he feels he’s going to Overreact to it and stop his plan. The Group walk to the basement and we see Prince Haru strapped to a chair, Kamek calls this a De-Evolution Machine which needs a strong power source to use.

He puts the Star inside the Machine and uses it to turn Haru into a Koopa. When it’s done De-Evolving him, Prince Haru turns into a Dog, Kamek looks confused and kicks the dog away, Kamek saying that he still needs to work out a few kinks, quietly saying that he’ll dock Egadd's pay. Private Goomp asks why he needs a De-Evolution Machine if he has his wand. Kamek says that his Wand, although powerful, is running out of magic over the years and will eventually be useless in a few days time. With the power of the Superstar he’ll have near unlimited and endless power, use the De-Evolution Machine to turn the Toads into an Unlimited army and with the Chaos Heart, he’ll harness Bowser in order to overthrow the Koopaline, take over both Kingdoms and eventually the world. The 3 of them seem confused while Paraplonk says he’ll snitch on Bowser saying he’s sure to get that promotion then. Kamek stops him and says once his plan is complete he’ll give him a Bottomless Coin Sack. Paraplonk says he’s sold and goes along with Kamek double crossing Bowser. Throughout this we see Bowser Jr hearing the whole conversation and wonders what to do next.

Soda Jungle
Back to our group, our Heroes regroup at the castle, wondering what route that they can take to save the Princess. Toadsworth tells the group that they’ll need to go through the Soda Jungles, Cool Cool Mountain, the Rock Candy Mines and finally through the Meringue Clouds then into Bowser's Domain. Mario still looks sad and Luigi catches on, asking if anything is wrong he'll be happy to help. Mario asks Luigi if he is capable of saving the Mushroom Kingdom, Luigi gives a nonchalant "sure" saying if you put your mind to it and focus on the task at hand then anything can be possible, He then goes with the rest of the group on their journey, Mario repeating those words and looks more optimistic running to the rest of the group.

Meanwhile, Bowser Jr tells Peach of Kamek’s uprising and conspires to make a plan as Jr wants to impress his father by stopping Kamek while Peach wants to save her Kingdom and her people. Through a plan Peach & Bowser Jr manage to steal the Superstar and replace it with a crudely drawn Superstar, Kamek goes to de-evolve his next victim and sees it doesn't work, Kamek gets angry and figures out that the only person who could steal the star his is either Peach or Bowser Jr. Kamek storms through the Castle and finds Bowser Jr running with the star, after a chase through the entire castle. Kamek corners him and tells him to give him the Star or else.

Bowser Jr tries to reason with him of why he’s planning to overthrow the Koopa throne, Kamek answering that this plan has been set in motion for a long, long time and that he needs to complete what his ancestors have started through time including turning Peach's Parents into Goombas. Bowser Jr says that he doesn't need to carry out his plan and that Kamek and Bowser Jr can change that. Kamek dismisses this and tells Bowser Jr that if he gives him the star, he'll tell him where his mother is. Jr contemplates this but, finally thinks that he's lying, breathes fire on him and continues his path. Kamek calls the Elite Trio to chase him, despite their best efforts to capture him. Jr manages to outsmart them and give the Star to Peach and manages to escape again. Peach then writes a letter to Mario, calling him the red knight in shining armour that Toadsworth always told her about saying that he'll save the kingdom from the chaos it's in and that this is a little gift for her appreciation. She gives the letters wings using her powers so that it reaches the red knight.

Meanwhile, the group walk through the Soda Jungle, Mario and Yoshi keep on talking about the fight and what being a star child can be like while the others look bored at this, especially Luigi who feels like he's been replaced. Up on the trees above, we see a giant ape with a red tie and a small monkey on its back. Nodding and pointing to Mario. First, Captain Toad mysteriously disappears and the group apart from Mario  wonder where he is while Toadette is crying her eyes. Mario says he's probably gone to the Toilet, Toadette answering that he never goes to the Toilet and says they need to look for him to repay him for saving her in Tostarena. Mario leaves while the rest of the group try to find him with her. Then suddenly, a coconut smoke bomb is used and Toadette is also  gone. Luigi and Yoshi quickly run to Mario and say that something weird is going on and that they need to stop to figure out where they've gone. Mario gets angry and says that Toadette has probably left to find him, Luigi and Yoshi looking confused just go along with Mario. Before long Yoshi and Luigi's heads collide and are taken. Mario looks around and says he can finally get some peace and quiet,  he sees the weird wonders of the land including a lot of enemies from these types of forest levels including Giant Enemies, small yellow caterpillars, Uproots, Piranha Plants and more, Mario is then hit in the face with the letter, he sees it's obviously addressed to him as it sees to the Knight in Red shining armour, the letter reads:

'"Dear Mr Red Knight, I am the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom and as you've possibly heard I've been captured by a giant turtle monster called Bowser who I am to be betrothed to by the afternoon tomorrow which I really, really and i mean really don't want and if we fail the entire kingdom, no the entire world would be in danger if we get married that's how important it is to stop it,  i think you are capable in saving the kingdom alone as I've heard great things from Toadsworth and the Yoshi Chief but in order to make you truly succeed in this quest I have decided that you'll need the superstar in order to gain your true potential as only you can harness its power as only you are worthy and you'll need to prove your worth or else it won't work. To prove your worth you'll need to be strong, focused on the task at hand and rely on your strengths. And also remember only use it for emergencies, don't use it for anything stupid or whatever as this star is given to us from the star spirits and it apparently takes a while to regenerate, no one has heard or seen it's power before but it's something I guess. So enter the garden of madness as you'll defeat the evil Koopa and save the kingdom from chaos as I’m holding out for a hero"'

Love Princess Peach

Mario Vs Donkey Kong
Mario reads the letter, takes the Superstar, sees that he finally sees himself at the star and doesn't disappear and gets flustered by the words of the Princess and continues walking, After a few seconds of walking we see the giant ape right in front of him. Mario asks if he can help him while the Ape silently punches him, knocking him out. Mario, without his hat as a monkey guard stole it, wakes up and is in a cage underground while the rest of the group is tied up on the ceiling. Mario takes his hat back, tells the people to free him and sees the entire place is filled with Ukikis shouting and calling for their leader. We see the giant ape and his smaller monkey walk down to the cage breaking it. The ape grabs Mario by the throat and slams him into the ground, while the monkey tells him that the fight hasn't started. The Ape makes a deal with Mario saying that he'll let Mario and his friends go if he eats the Banana of Doom, a Brownish Green Banana that smells terrible according to Mario or will have a fight to the death, which he then says that he doesn't want to eat it to the dismay of the group on the ceiling thinking that Mario won't win. DK laughs, putting TBOD in his tie and accepts that Mario will have to fight to the death in a wrestling arena.

The small monkey provides commentary for the match and introduces himself as Diddy Kong and the Ape as Donkey Kong the III, calling him the giant, brown, bongo loving yet somewhat dumb ape who in this continuity is DK's Cousin, everyone cheers for DK as we see DK waving and getting ready for the fight, he also pulls out a picture of Candy Kong saying this is for you. Then Diddy introduces Mario as a fat, New-Donkian 30-something nobody who moved the apes away from the City who the Ukikis boos, Mario asks Everyone for help apart from Luigi who he forgets, Captain Toad tells him good luck and he was the one who got himself into this mess and he's the one who should get out of it. Mario then realises that he was the one who made this happen and tries to explain that this was all a big mistake. But DK isn't having none of that and punches him, starting the fight. Throughout the fight we see Mario trying different methods of fighting but DK prevails, he then uses his hammer to beat DK but he manages to break it, Mario gets so angry he decides to pull him from his tie and everything in it of which DK appropriately responds to by a headbutt, we also have some dialogue with DK about how he hates Mario for making him leave New Donk City away from his banana hoard which hasn't been found and losing everything, we also hear that he'll will restore honour to the Kong Family from the Ape Killers as he's been training for this moment for his entire life.

We see Mario battered up with his clothes being partially ripped but he decides not to give up despite all the odds being against him which his friends tell him to just eat TBOD. Mario and DK jump and make a loud collision in the middle which catches the attention of Cranky Kong who's watching a show run by Swanky Kong, he runs downstairs and shouts at them to stop the noise, which everyone does. Cranky Kong waddles to DK and tells him what is going on, DK's tough demeanour is stopped as he meekly tells Cranky that he's fighting the person who sent them to his house. Cranky looks at Mario with a face of pure anger, hitting him with his cane and tells DK that he's finally made him proud, DK smiles and Cranky tells them to wait as he gets a bucket of bananas and he then tells them to carry on. The fight is one sided as normal with Cranky crudely and proudly shouting that his grandson.

Mario realises that his normal Power isn't enough and uses one of the Small Yellow Boxes to power him up. He then has a Blue shell, Cranky laughs uncontrollably and wonders what having a giant blue shell will do saying something about how dumb humans are, before Mario can shrug, DK nearly punches him, the shell makes him dodge the attack. After that we see DK chasing Mario but dodges each time, now the tables have turned, DK getting angry and agitated while Mario gets Cocky, a little too cocky that is as DK talks to Diddy giving him a Orange grenade which hits Mario, weakening him.

Luigi and Captain Toad talk about Mario and how this is embarrassing while Yoshi is sleeping, Captain Toad saying that this is the Star Warrior and the saviour of the Mushroom Kingdom. Toadette, meanwhile, is silent and wonders for a way for Mario to defeat DK, she then gets the idea to make Mario use TBOD and get it into DK's mouth. She tells this to Mario and Mario thinks it's impossible while Toadette says that nothing is impossible you just need to put your mind to it, so Mario grabs TBOD and shell-dashes on DK's Stomach and shoots TBOD in his mouth, DK about to punch Mario before his stomach gets upset and needs to vomit, so he steals Diddy's hat and well you know what he's gonna do to it

After that Mario, despite all odds, is named the winner of this gruelling battle. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong returns and the Ukikis are all disappointed and leave, but the most disappointed seems to be Cranky Kong saying that he showed promise in that fight but as always he was just a steaming pile of disappointment like he always is and tells him to leave his house and pack his things as he has further disgraced the Kong name. DK tells Diddy to free the hostages, the group congratulate Mario on his surprising win, Mario begrudgingly says thank you to Toadette before he sees DK crying with Diddy trying to make him feel better. Mario walks to the Kongs and asks if he's okay with DK's Quick response of a loud no. Diddy tells Mario that this was his big chance to prove himself to the world and more importantly his grandfather. This is were Diddy tells him of the backstory way back in 1985 of which the Movie has an 8-Bit art style now, Diddy explains that Mario's father did save the City from the raging ape however that isn't all the story,

You see Mario's Parents down on their luck as immigrants from the Luncheon Kingdom due to a giant bird creating chaos, especially his father not knowing his place in the world as he wasn't really a good cook compared to his peers and especially compared to his father, being in a similar situation to his son many years later who was stuck there for a year, that's when the circus was in town with a bunch of Kongo Bongo animals including apes, Mario's mother saw this opportunity and pressured Mario's father to steal one of the apes, of Which Mario Sr reluctantly does and steals one in a white tank top for their own nefarious deeds. Mario Sr and this Kong travelled around the world performing many tricks for the world to see.

A month later when he returned to New Donk City that his father found out as more animals from Kongo Bongo were brought in, It captured Mario's Mother and raged throughout the whole city until his son was brought back to him, on top of a building. Mario Sr tried to make a deal to the Ape that he would give back his son and he would be let free and give his wife back but the Ape wasn't having any of that and destroyed the entire building, while the Ape and Mario's Mother did survive, his son died in the process and Mario Sr would die from his injuries of the battle shortly after, The Ape was Cranky Kong and his son was of course, DK the II (AKA Donkey Kong Jr who would be a Teenager) with DK the III just being born. The incident was seen as potentially damaging for Newly built Metro City at the time and immigrants in general seeing as they needed more people to live there so the Mayor decided to twist the story in order to make it so that the Ape was aggressive to Mario Sr, they also decided that the Ape was to go back to Kongo Bongo along with his partner to live a peaceful life of which they would allow them to visit DK The III at least once a month (Now why is Cranky in the Soda Jungle and where is his wife? That's all questions for next time)

Back to CG now, Mario tells Diddy that all of this was a lie and that his father was a world renewed hero, Diddy calls Mario stupid and says that his father was clearly in the wrong and he should stop living in ignorance, he also says that he wanted to prove that Cranky Kong was wrong by saying all Humans act the same but he feels Cranky may be right. Not knowing what to do Mario brings Luigi and they both apologises to DK and Diddy for the damage he has done in both New Donk and here and while they can't undone the past of the Ape Tragedy of 1985, the least they can do is bury the hatchet of this long war of Apes and Humans and start over by inspiring change and teaming up, Diddy tells DK that this is a lie while DK believes that the both of them are genuine. Mario and DK shake hands which leads to DK crushing his hand Cranky Kong sees this and shakes his head and leaves, Mario asks if they want to crash at his place for a while and they accept with Luigi saying at this rate they don't even have a place to live in.

Mario and the gang go out of the cavern and see it's the evening, they walk through the Jungle and to get to Cool Cool Mountain and see there's a giant lake of "soda" as DK puts it which can put the end of Mario's quest to save Peach right? Well DK thinks of a plan as from stories of Cranky Kong of these Giant Caterpillars who would roam the land and were immune to Soda, they would always come when loud noises would be heard, so the gang makes the loudest noises to make a Caterpillar herd come. And it works with DK having the idea to tame the giant caterpillars and ride them to Cool Cool Mountain, every hops on a different Wiggler as Diddy likes to call and ride through the sunset, everyone's Wiggler seems fine, heck even Toadette gets a Flutter. Apart from Mario, which wiggler's is red and the leader and is really fast and uncontrollable due to Mario making it angry, nearly falling into the Soda and causing chaos to each of the group members.