Cliches exist for a reason.
They’re a formula to success. However, anyone is entitled to change up a storyline for the sake of storytelling. The only issue with that is the fact some people can’t storytell. And that includes the people who wrote The Super Mario Bros. Movie. The only saving grace of that film is its animation, but not even animation can save the abomination of the plot.
For one, Princess Peach is a Mary Sue. She has no flaws whatsoever, and never makes a mistake. Her only “flaw” would be that she doesn’t love Mario right off the bat, as I’ve heard some people debate. Other than that, though, she doesn’t have to rely on anyone at all to get her out of trouble because she’s stronger than them. But that doesn’t make sense. She always had the strength to stop Bowser, but never did until Mario showed up. Having a flawless character creates too many flaws in the film. Rather than making her character something achievable, she’s an entitled, perfect princess. And it sucks to watch. I understand not making her a damsel-in-distress, hardly anyone enjoys that trope, but they put that trope onto Luigi instead. What’s the point of having that trope, then? Just get rid of it.
And that leads into the next issue: the theme of brotherhood is lost. Luigi makes no character development at all. The only thing that he learns is that he should always rely on his brother to get him out of situations, and not try for himself. When Mario and Luigi get separated, the movie separates itself, too. It’s not cohesive. It can’t develop brotherhood when the brothers never see each other. A simple word to describe this choice would be stupid, only because it sets itself up to fail achieving its own theme.
Lastly, all the character dynamics are copied and pasted over and over again. Peach and Mario have the exact same dynamic as Mario and Donkey Kong. The characters are 100% soulless. People only enjoyed the movie because 1) they’re incredibly young, and/or 2) the movie nostalgia baits them.
Overall, the movie is a great disappointment. It’s terrible hearing people try to defend it by saying, “It’s a kids movie!” But good films for kids have existed before. The defense, like the movie, is incredibly flawed. Why do kids deserve poorly made films? They don’t, they’re just victims of corporations who want a quick cash-grab. The Super Mario Bros. Movie captures everything wrong with people who want to be unique, but fail.
