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 that he 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 his iconic Brown Overalls with a red undershirt as Mario is not allowed to wear his father’s clothes, Luigi also wakes up and does their daily routine also getting Brown Overalls and Green Undershirt. The Bros say goodbye to their Landlord, Mr Arnold Segale, they then have birthday breakfast at the local cafe, 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 with his iconic Blue Overalls and Red Undershirt which Luigi as people tell them they are not allowed to wear them, Mario leaves, 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, also saying that wearing his clothes is an insult to his name. 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, Mario wears the same clothes as the party without the suit while Luigi wears Blue overalls and Green Undershirt. 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, 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 heartbreaking 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 Shokara. 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 quick flashback. 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 Toadsworh buts in and says that Mario is the person, bursting Luigi’s bubble of doubt and grasp of normality.