By Andrew Pelechaty
SUPER MARIO GALAXY
The new Super Mario movie (The Super Mario Galaxy Movie) continues the rise of video game movies: with the MCU experiencing a post-Infinity War/Endgame backlash, DC starting from scratch, and general superhero fatigue, video game movies have become the latest popcorn blockbusters.
While Galaxy’s plot isn’t ground-breaking (though, like any good sequel, it builds on the event of the first movie and introduces Princess Rosalina), the appeal is in the nostalgia: there’s countless references to previous Mario games and other Nintendo titles. Even if you’re not a fan of the games, it’s still an enjoyable family-friendly movie for the Easter holidays. While some may criticise the references as blatant nostalgia-bait, it adds to the movie’s watchability: it’ll take multiple views to catch all the references and Easter Eggs. And while there are references to the Galaxy video game series, you can still enjoy the movie without playing the games. The nostalgia has another advantage: gamers who loved Mario in the ‘80s and ‘90s can take their kids to these movies and show them the old games they grew up with.
THE BAD OLD DAYS
Gamers from the above eras will remember how bad video game movies used to be: the original Super Mario Brothers, Street Fighter (mainly remembered for being one of Kylie Minogue’s earlier roles and Raul Julia’s iconic “”But for me, it was Tuesday” line), and the Mortal Kombat series. The Tomb Raider series has been rebooted with Alicia Vikander replacing Angelina Jolie, the Prince of Persia movie was uninspiring, and Michael Bay’s Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series could also count as misfiring video game movies. And 2002’s Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever is one of the worst video game movies ever. While this isn’t a comprehensive list, it gives you an idea of the bad old days when video game movies were seen as a joke.
So, how did things turn around? A little blue hedgehog helped.
SONIC LEADS THE REVIVAL
Growing up as an enthusiastic gamer in the ‘90s, I was all about the Mario vs Sonic/Nintendo vs Sega rivalry. I was a Mario disciple and despised Sonic with the same passion that you reserve for rival football teams. Aside from a few fun years with a PSP and PS Vita, I was a Nintendo diehard, starting with the Game Boy in the early ‘90s and all the way up to the Switch today.
That rivalry has softened with Nintendo still one of the biggest video game companies and Sega seemingly focusing on the retro market (it’s wonderfully ironic that you can use the Sega Mega Drive library with the Switch’s online subscription now).
The Sonic movies looked doomed after the social media backlash over Sonic’s design. But for once the studio listened to the feedback, changed Sonic enough to keep fans happy, and launched a successful trilogy, with a fourth film coming soon. It’s the opposite of how Disney have stubbornly kept pumping out ‘woke’ reboots of their classic animated films, using the accompanying backlash as free publicity.
The Sonic movies work because they strike the balance between family-friendly action, comedy, and nostalgia. And the casting (both live action and voice) is excellent: James Marsden is an adequate human protagonist, Ben Schwartz’s improv background (he’s a regular on the Comedy Bang! Bang! podcast) is perfect for Sonic’s relentless energy, Idris Elba is so good as Knuckles (balancing his menacing moments with some ‘fish out of water’ comedy) that he had a spin-off TV series, and Jim Carrey seems to have delayed his retirement to keep playing Dr Robotnik: it’s the closest we’ve come to seeing Carrey in his prime again.
Sonic and Mario’s success has seen the Mortal Kombat series return (with a decent first movie and a second one coming soon) and a Street Fighter reboot.
LEARNING FROM MISTAKES
Returning to Mario, its success has started talks for future Nintendo movies. Though they need to pay attention to the mistakes of the MCU and DCEU. While the MCU was untouchable until Infinity War/Endgame, the backlash came when Disney got involved and fans were swamped with so many new TV series’ and movies that it was hard to keep up (nearly every series being connected turned watching everything into a chore; miss too much and you fall behind to the point it’s too hard to catch up).
The MCU’s attempt to diversify its casting led to the ‘the MCU has gone woke’ outcry on social media, with the divisive She-Hulk series copping most of the backlash, despite trying to do something different with more meta humour. Though the darker Daredevil: Born Again has been refreshing and squashed concerns that The Man Without Fear would be toned down on Disney+. Same with Deadpool: the recent Deadpool & Wolverine had all the swearing, violence, and meta humour that Deadpool fans love.
The DCEU was guilty of chasing the MCU’s tail and rushing into the awful Justice League movie. While Marvel took their time with multiple solo movies before the first Avengers movie, the DCEU crammed the JL setup into Batman v Superman. Though the JL Snyder Cut showed what that movie should have been, it was too late to save the DCEU.
The fact Nintendo haven’t rushed into other projects is a good sign. Keeping things simple and using the Mario series to gradually introduce new characters – and then launch their own movies – makes sense. Eventually we may get a Super Smash Bros movie, which will be the biggest blockbuster since Endgame.
