2-3. 2-2 was the first water level
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The Movie of Mario
- Thread starter RT-55J
- Start date
I saw this on Wednesday in a theater with about a dozen other people, most of them in their 20s, but I was thinking about the way this movie engages with the audience, and the kind of audience it appeals to.
A big part of the reason I got into video games as a kid in the 1980s was because the medium was almost as young as I was. There was nobody around who knew more about it than I did, so nobody could use their superior knowledge as a justification to look down on me or boss me around. I understood, very young, that books, music, movies and sports had decades or even centuries of history and lots of old people who had decades more time than I had to learn it, and that's why I found those media to be off-putting. What made me happy as a kid was learning things nobody around me would even think to learn, but once I learned it and shared some of it with them in a way that showed I was excited about it, they found it interesting.
Today, the Mario franchise is 43 years old and the entire medium of video games slightly older. A huge part of this movie's appeal is the hundreds of references it makes to the series' history. As an adult who grew up with the franchise I appreciated all those references, but the kind of kid I was would've bounced off it had this come out back then.
A few of you brought kids with you. What would you say is their approach to learning new things? Do they prefer older things with older people who already know a lot, or do they prefer newer things where nobody else knows about it so they can be the smartest person in the room? Was the theater you saw it in pretty crowded? Did you see how other children reacted?
There are always new scientific discoveries, technologies being invented, and new art forms created with the new technologies, and these innovations create new social trends. Video games were accessible to children in the 80s thanks to their low cost, small form factor, and physical safety compared to other activities. What new technologies and trends are accessible to children today? Do they spend too much time on social media? Do they like the results they get by typing descriptions into generative AIs? Do they prefer Impossible Burgers to beef burgers? Do they appreciate the home charging and silent running of the parents' Tesla?
A big part of the reason I got into video games as a kid in the 1980s was because the medium was almost as young as I was. There was nobody around who knew more about it than I did, so nobody could use their superior knowledge as a justification to look down on me or boss me around. I understood, very young, that books, music, movies and sports had decades or even centuries of history and lots of old people who had decades more time than I had to learn it, and that's why I found those media to be off-putting. What made me happy as a kid was learning things nobody around me would even think to learn, but once I learned it and shared some of it with them in a way that showed I was excited about it, they found it interesting.
Today, the Mario franchise is 43 years old and the entire medium of video games slightly older. A huge part of this movie's appeal is the hundreds of references it makes to the series' history. As an adult who grew up with the franchise I appreciated all those references, but the kind of kid I was would've bounced off it had this come out back then.
A few of you brought kids with you. What would you say is their approach to learning new things? Do they prefer older things with older people who already know a lot, or do they prefer newer things where nobody else knows about it so they can be the smartest person in the room? Was the theater you saw it in pretty crowded? Did you see how other children reacted?
There are always new scientific discoveries, technologies being invented, and new art forms created with the new technologies, and these innovations create new social trends. Video games were accessible to children in the 80s thanks to their low cost, small form factor, and physical safety compared to other activities. What new technologies and trends are accessible to children today? Do they spend too much time on social media? Do they like the results they get by typing descriptions into generative AIs? Do they prefer Impossible Burgers to beef burgers? Do they appreciate the home charging and silent running of the parents' Tesla?
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Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
My niece is up for whatever. She's six and not really that interested in what I know about Mario except when she wants clarification of what's going on (she's a bit developmentally delayed and struggles with communication output so often she wants to clarify. Often watching movies with the whole family she keeps asking questions and we are trying to teach her to try to watch and figure it out and we can figure it out together after). Mostly, she's watching it on a mostly emotional level. She was good about not talking too much, quietly asking questions but mostly she was the loudest in the room. But in a way that's mostly acceptable, yelling "MARIO!" when he is hurt.
Violentvixen
(She/Her)
Huh, this is interesting because I kind of had the opposite? An NES was my first system and many adults who had Ataris or had been hobbyists for a while were there to explain it. Pong and arcades were huge in the 70s but maybe that was just people I knew, and the computer shops always had people talking about the next thing and I remember being fascinated by the plastic bags of parts for sale. I knew the names of the parts but never saw a soldering iron or anything like that.
Also like many of my friends my immediate reaction was to want to try and make one myself, and since I knew someone had made it I wanted to find that experienced person. It never got further than writing a letter to Nintendo (or maybe even just sending one of those postcards in the manual back?) or whatever like so many kids did back then, I think I just got a response to join a club but that's about it. But my cousins and I drew pictures and looked at those Nintendo Power maps and said how we could make maps better, etc. I wonder if I would have gone down that path if we'd known someone who could have taught us programming.
That's a cool reaction! Nowadays there's makerspaces that have piles of electronic parts and teach visitors how to wire boards, program Raspberry Pis and Arduinos. I wonder what there was back then.
As a kid I would draw made up Mega Man bosses all the time. For whatever reason, I remember the fruit ones best: Banana man, Grape man, etc.
Anyway I saw the Mario movie for the first time yesterday. I really enjoyed it. It was a Saturday afternoon showing and the theater was 75% full with families and children.
I think the decision to make this a 90 minute movie was the right one. Even though there are a ton of Mario games and history, the games are not large on plot. So I think keeping the movie short and sweet was wise.
I was bummed out that the Koopa Kids were not in the movie. Maybe they'll show up in the inevitable sequel.
Anyway I saw the Mario movie for the first time yesterday. I really enjoyed it. It was a Saturday afternoon showing and the theater was 75% full with families and children.
I think the decision to make this a 90 minute movie was the right one. Even though there are a ton of Mario games and history, the games are not large on plot. So I think keeping the movie short and sweet was wise.
I was bummed out that the Koopa Kids were not in the movie. Maybe they'll show up in the inevitable sequel.
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
I feel maybe but I also suspect the franchise will want to jump to Wario (and Waluigi please), though they could be more goofy side-antagonists rather than main ones.
Yeah, I was just telling Nadia the other day that Wario and Waluigi don't feel like they'd be well-placed as the villains of a movie to me. Even as the "bad" Mario and Luigi, their brand seems to trend more towards mischief than outright villainy these days.
And even at his malevolent peak, Wario took over Mario's theme park and hypnotized the inhabitants. Not exactly kidnapping the Princess for a forced marriage and turning her people into stone.
I think they could make great henchmen for another villain, though. Wart would be amazing, though that means classic henchmen like Mouser and Tryclyde might lose their chance to shine.
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
OK, I feel like whatever the second movie is, the third has to be a high-stakes sports movie.
"This" Mario seems to have a mugging "can you get a load of this weirdness?" thing going on, and the Mushroom Kingdom Toads are 99% sheep that imprinted on their princess. As such, I could really see a Super Mario Land 2 retelling in this universe as a random plumber rival accidentally winds up warping on over, takes up the mantle of Wario, and the Toads just hand over the whole place (maybe while Princess is visiting another kingdom). Mario spends the majority of the movie "proving" why he is a real hero over the insincere Wario, and we get about 10,000 jokes about Wario being a jackass, Toads worshipping every minute of it, and Mario playing to the real-world audience like "did everybody just see that?"
I'd watch it.
Why not a high-stakes party board game with mini games?
Becksworth
Aging Hipster Dragon Dad
Finally saw this last night. My son seemed to like it as much as a 4 year old who never sat down and focused on a 90 movie possibly can so that was good. Objectively, I can agree it was narratively light, but it excelled in other areas like audio/visually or in references, so it was still an enjoyable movie for me.
Still perplexed by some of the negative response, moreso in some cases even, as some of the specific examples now feel like they were being exaggerated. Like I heard complaints about license music being overused when in actuality it was like maybe 4 or 5 snippets and the movie was still like 95% mario music score.
Still perplexed by some of the negative response, moreso in some cases even, as some of the specific examples now feel like they were being exaggerated. Like I heard complaints about license music being overused when in actuality it was like maybe 4 or 5 snippets and the movie was still like 95% mario music score.
jpfriction
(He, Him)
I’ve been chalking most of the negative experiences to “I’m a childless adult who saw this children’s movie in the theater by myself and I somehow had a bad time”. If they saw it how it is intended to be seen, playing in the background in your living room while your 3-12 year old children run around screaming and you dick around on your phone, I bet the reviews would be much better.
They wanted The Hobbit and got Emperor's New Groove.
Violentvixen
(She/Her)
The Emperor's New Groove is possibly my favourite Disney movie so this is making me even more excited to see the Mario movie once it's streaming.
jpfriction
(He, Him)
It’s not as clever as Emperor’s New Groove, sadly.
Violentvixen
(She/Her)
Oh, I expect that. I'm just really happy to hear it's fun light romp rather than a weird epic slog with Mario characters.
You will be very satisfied then.
I saw the Mario. It worked, which is a lot to say for a collection of references. I can see why critics were baffled and why audiences gave it a billion dollars. It's an Illumination product; of course it has pacing, dialog, and humor issues. But when it wasn't being the worst thing ever it thrilled. It's conception of surrealistic cartoon action more than made up for the weaker parts and I had a big goofy smile on my face the whole time.
Illumination is owned by NBCUniversal, so I would say no.
I think Nintendo owns it, though?
...I have no idea whether that makes a difference.
...I have no idea whether that makes a difference.
Nintendo is a production company on it so I think it would be considered an American/Japanese co-production.