Change Your Image
indysmiles
Reviews
The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)
If the Super Mario Bros Super Show had a bigger budget...
...This would be the result.
A few years ago I wrote a review for the SMB Super Show which aired in 1989, the first film/TV adaptation of the Mario games. Then came the heavily criticised live action film The Super Mario Bros Movie from 1993, which was not received well, scaring Nintendo off from any future film adaptations of their games. Now 30 years later Nintendo have given film adaptations of Mario another go.
I have not seen the 1993 film, but I have seen the 1989 cartoon, and I'd say that this film takes quite a bit from the SMBSS and has the same cheesy factor as the cartoon.
The film follows Mario and Luigi, Italian American brothers who have a struggling plumbing business in Brooklyn. They find a pipe that somehow transports them to the Mushroom Kingdom. There they meet Princess Peach and have to save the Mushroom Kingdom from the villainous Bowser.
This film has all the cheesy fan pleasing references, including a nod to the 1989 cartoon in the form of including the opening theme song (The Mario Rap) to the cartoon. Many more Mario references abound, with sound effects and music from the games being reused in the film. 80s Nintendo references include Mario playing Kid Icarus on the NES, and a pizzeria called Punch Out.
In my opinion, this film has been unfairly criticised by critics for being what it is. Is it one of the best animated films ever? No. But is it a cheesy crowd pleaser? Yes. It has all of the silliness for families and all of the references for fans of the games. Did I enjoy it? Yes, in the same way I enjoyed the SMBSS, which also had all of the cheesy sound effects and references that you get a kick out of recognising.
In summary this film is very cheesy, and at times feels like the 1989 cartoon, but it's a lot of fun and was the perfect way to spend a cold April evening. Don't expect too much from it, and you'll enjoy it too.
Captain N: The Game Master (1989)
Honestly, I don't remember much of it...
Captain N is a show that existed to sell Nintendo. All the episodes and characters (execpt for Kevin and Lana) are based off Nintendo games, which makes this show more of a showcase for Nintendo products. Because of this, the writers didn't really put any thought into the episodes. The plots were generic, the villains were stock villains and because of this the show was very bland. Disposable. Forgettable.
In this series, a teenage boy called Kevin, is playing his NES, and gets sucked through his TV and transported to Videoland, where he meets Princess Lana, Simon Belmont (from Castlevania), Pit (from Kid Icarus), and Mega Man (from Mega Man) Kevin and Lana were alright characters. Simon Belmont had a vain, whiny, narcisstic personality and is jealous of the affection that Lana shows towards Kevin. Even though I've never played Castlevania, I don't think Simon is like that in the games. Pit and Mega Man had annoying speech mannerisms. Pit kept adding 'icus" to everything he said, and Mega Man added 'mega' to everything he said. Plus, they had annoying voices as well. In series 2 they introduced the character Gameboy. Yes, Gameboy was actually a Gameboy console that talked. Gameboy was added just to promote the Gameboy that was just released at the time.
I do have a positive. In a few episodes Link and Princess Zelda (from The Legend of Zelda) did appear in a few episodes, and those episodes were mildly entertaining. At least in this, Link no longer says 'Excuuse me, Princess!'
The show in general, is just an advert for Nintendo. Which makes it very boring. The writers are concentrating more on 'how can we show off the Nintendo products' than actually thinking of decent plots that would entertain you. It smacks of a cash grab that tries to get you to buy the latest Nintendo product. But out of all the Nintendo cartoons though, it's not that bad. It's slightly better than the Zelda cartoon.
The Legend of Zelda (1989)
Why? Just why?
What do you think of when you think of a Zelda game? Do you think of the story of a courageous young boy out on a quest to save the world and Princess Zelda? The amazing and detailed game worlds? Beautifully written plots? The puzzling dungeons? The epic boss battles? The great music? Well, I can guarantee that you'll find absolutely none of that here! This cartoon is nothing like the games we all know, and most of us love. This was originally aired with The Super Mario Bros Super Show! It would be aired on a Friday, when SMBSS was first run, replacing one of the two Mario cartoons usually shown. As a fan of the Zelda series, I was somewhat aware of the show's existence and it's notoriety. 'Surely it can't be that bad?' I thought as I found all 13 episodes on the internet. I thought wrong. By the end of the first episode, I was speechless. It was bad. Then I watched the rest, stupidly thinking this might improve. It didn't. However I did manage to find some good points.
The animation is noticeably better than the Mario cartoon. Less errors, continuity, etc.
The voice acting was good. They put effort into it.
Zelda is a more active character in this well before the games did. She actually fights. It would be a while until we see her pick up a weapon in the games. And have more of a part in the games.
So, uh, yeah. Those were the only good things I could think of. I'm surprised I managed to think of any! Now the negatives.
Oh, Link! Why did the writers make him so irritating? Here he is portrayed as a selfish, whining idiot who only saves Hyrule from evil so he can get a kiss from Zelda. What happened to the kind, selfless, courageous Link who saves the kingdom of Hyrule from evil because he actually cares?! Even in the first two games, (which this is based off as they were the only Zelda games released at the time this was made) it was established in the game manuals that Link would do anything to protect Hyrule and its people. Plus the writers of this cartoon decided to give Link the most annoying catchphrase ever; the infamous 'Well, excuuuse me Princess!"
Next, the plot lines. The games have original, imaginative plotlines. This doesn't. The Zelda games have always had a more serious tone than the Mario games but nope. The writers just made this into a comedy show, like the Mario cartoon. The 'jokes' aren't even funny. I did not laugh once. At least the Mario cartoon made me chuckle a few times. The plots themselves aren't even that good. It's mainly the evil guy Ganon, showing up attempting to steal the Triforce but then our heroes Link and Zelda show up and defeat him. Then Link tries to get a kiss from Zelda, but it fails. Then repeat. Of course, they throw in some inane elements to try and keep it interesting, like one reviewer mentioned that there was an episode where Link had to defend a water park. Hmm.
The character Sprite is irritating too. She was completely unnecessary. I'm not sure what her role was in this but she was very annoying and could probably give Navi from Ocarina of Time a run for her money as 'Most Annoying Fairy.'
In summary, do not under any circumstances watch this show. Do not waste your time with it. You won't be missing out on anything. I wouldn't make even my worst enemy watch this. There was so much the writers could've done to make this to its full potential but couldn't be bothered to. Play the games instead. They are so much better than this. In fact some of them are regarded as the best video games of all time. And I just remembered that there's also a manga series based on a few of the games. I'm not sure if it's still in print but if you do find it, pick it up as it's pretty good and it's really what this should've been.
44 Gatti (2018)
Cute kids show but English dub voices a no.
44 Cats is originally an Italian children's show which was picked up by Viacom and dubbed into English and shown on Nickelodeon in the US. Now it's made it's way back across the Atlantic over here to the UK. This has been shown on the channel POP for about the past two weeks. I like cats and children's shows so I watched it. And it was good. The animation was bright and colourful and the quality of the CGI was pretty standard for an animated children's show. The storylines, while not the greatest, were entertaining, if a little weird at times. But then again, most children's shows have strange plots. But if you're a small child, you'll find it entertaining. Now we move on to the main part of any show, the acting! Now, I have only seen the English dub so I can only comment on the English voices. When looking at the cast for this I was most surprised to see that most of the voice actors were also in the Pokemon Anime (Pokemon fan here) I was more surprised to see that the reviews on here at the time of writing this thought that the voice acting was bad as the actors are generally good in Pokemon. I thought the voice acting was good, but the problem was that the voices didn't fit the characters as one reviewer said. They sounded exactly like their characters in Pokemon. For example, Lampo, voiced by Sarah Natochenny, who also voices Ash Ketchum from Pokemon, and has done since 2006. She is just doing her 'Ash' voice for Lampo. Another example are the characters Neko and Zoe are voiced by Alyson Leigh Rosenfield, who voices Sophocles (From Pokemon: Sun and Moon series) and Bonnie (From Pokemon: XY series) respectively. Neko sounds like Sophocles and Zoe sounds like Bonnie. Yes, it may seem I'm nitpicking here, as I'm sure a large amount of the target audience for this haven't watched Pokemon. But honestly it kind of distracts from the show itself, when most of the characters sound like they're in the wrong show. I kept expecting Lampo to suddenly say 'Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!' It doesn't help that both Lampo and Ash wear baseball caps.
English voice dub aside, the rest of the show is good and would probably entertain children for a bit. But if you've watched Pokemon, you may enjoy it a little less.
The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! (1989)
A fun cheesy kids show
Let's start off with that I am a Nintendo fan. Having heard of this series and how bad it is, I decided to watch it. After finding it on the internet, I watched it. It was kind of fun to see what the TV cartoons of the 80s were like. (I'm 16, so definitely wasn't around when it first aired!) The show is divided into sections: the live action segments, Mario animated segments and the ending sequence with 'Do the Mario'. When the series first aired, every Friday there would be an animated Zelda segment in place of the Mario one.
The live action segments centred Mario and Luigi before they were transported to the Mushroom Kingdom. Here they are stereotypical Italian- Americans who live in Brooklyn and have a plumbing business. These segments were probably the weakest part of the show. They just weren't memorable or funny. Honestly there's not much to say on this.
The next is the animated segments. The Mario cartoon is the only almost decent thing about this show. Yes, the animation is not great but it was for kids. The writing isn't great either but again, it was for kids. There was a bit more humour in these segments than there was in the live action segment. The voice acting was good though. And then.... we have the absolutely awful Zelda cartoon. The less said about that, the better. As a fan of the Zelda franchise, it was painful to watch. But that's a rant for another time.
Then finally we have the credits sequence. This was someone dressed as Mario dancing in front of a green screen to the Super Mario Bros theme. It's hilariously bad to watch. Be warned, it is annoyingly catchy.
All in all, it's a kids show from the 80s, based off a video game, that was made to entertain kids for a bit, so you can't expect anything award winning here. But if you're bored and need to switch off your brain for a bit then, yes it's good cheesy fun to watch. But avoid the Zelda cartoon.