Super Mario Bros.

This is one of those films where it's more fun to hear about how it was created than actually watching it.

It's not as bad as people like to think, so let's just hope in the future they give the same sort of love to a Mario movie as they did for Mortal Kombat, or even Sonc.

Yes, this no classic, but it's not that bad. And yes it bears no resemblance to the video games that inspired it except for the jumpsuits that look like the heroes overalls, but it's not bad.

Mario & Luigi (Bob Hoskins & John Leguizamo) are the two down on their luck brother plumbers who get involved with a college student named Daisy (Samantha Mathis) who turns out to be a princess from an alternate dimension. Once transported there themselves, they must fight the evil King Koopa (Dennis Hopper) and save their world from being merged with Koopa's and the human race from being turned into monkeys.

It may be hard to believe that John Leguizamo is Bob Hoskins brother, but the two have good chemistry and John has a convincing Brooklyn accent (although Tom Selleck would have been a more convincing Luigi in some respects). Bob reprises his gruff detective persona from "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" to great effect. Samantha Mathis is cute as the princess and manages to feel less shallow than most heroines in these situations. Dennis Hopper hams it up as the film's villain. Lots of gags and good natured humor, and a beautiful song from Roxette, "Almost Unreal". Worth a rental.

Ok, it bears almost NO resemblance to the game, but that can be good. Like hearing bleeps and bloops for 90 minutes can be kinda nerve wracking. (O_o) That was one of the main reasons some hated it... I must say GET OVER IT! NO movie based on a game is EVER accurate. Then again, it would be kinda different having a short, plumb guy dressed in overalls and a tall, skinny guy dressed in green running around in dungeons and castles the whole time. I mean it would be a good idea for a cartoon movie, but live action? Uh uh. No way. It was good to improvise for a live action film. 8/10

The plot:Two plumbers who are known as the Marios, meet a strange young girl that has a rock on her neck. Two idiots from another world kidnap the strange girl known as Daisy, after kidnaping other girls from Brooklyn. The two Marios decide to rescue her from the Two Idiots that have taken her to another world ruled by an evil king known as Koopa.

The View:Performances aren't the major thing here, but the special effects and creations are to be noticed more. The movie itself isn't bad and as a comedy, will have a few(just a few)giggles. It's all really just a fun fantasy movie that just doesn't shine through and doesn't make any effort to make an historical movie, but the film is fun and you will enjoy it as a complete no-brainer. ***

Super Mario Bros. (1993), was another case of the source material, for a film idea, being too advanced for the cinematic technology of the day. CGI was just starting with Jurassic Park (1993), so the choice to do this film with practical, physical effects and live action characters was its major downfall. This prompted the story to be adjusted to fit the capabilities of the filmmakers of the day. It all culminates into a silly plot, that actually manages to make video game characters, caricatures of themselves. This however, isn't a knock on the special effects used in this film at all. The effects fit the pre-CGI era fairly well. They did a very good job with the special effects, art direction, set design and most of the costumes and make-up. There actually is a dinosaur in the film and the computer effects used for him are pretty good. For 1993, it is visually pleasant.

Dennis Hopper, as President Koopa (Bowser), looks ridiculous though. There also is this weird use of the fungus in the film. It looks bad technically and isn't menacing at all. Many of the characters are pail, empty and mindless, especially Samantha Mathis as Princess Daisy. It doesn't translate well, especially having to depict Mario (Bob Hoskins) and Luigi (John Leguizamo), running around Brooklyn. The attempt to make the film as real as possible backfires. I never got a chance to see this film when it was first released, but I had heard of the negative fallout that came after it was released. I remember when Siskel and Ebert gave it two thumbs down. Most film-buffs remember hearing, that Bob Hoskins hated the movie. This is probably why I never got around to seeing Super Mario Bros. (1993), until the 2023 film was announced. 30 years later I finally understood. This film is a failure, but I still recommend seeing it, at least once, as a curiosity, because you have to see it to believe it.

3.9 (F+ MyGrade) = 4 IMDB.