NFL
By: Lennox
When it comes to the wonderful world of entertainment nothing resonates more than movies and video games. Providing wonder, awe, and a form of escape; the magnitude of what video games and movies provide us cannot be downplayed or denied. Individually these two powerhouses have been our go to for years upon years when it comes to entertaining ourselves. Movies of course have been around for a lot longer (since the late 1800s in fact) with video games not really becoming a common place until the 1960s and 70s; even though the first interactive electronic game with an electronic display was patented way back in 1947. Well enough of the history lesson let’s get down to what this article is all about.
Let’s face it we love our movies and our video games and hold them very precious to our entertainment loving hearts; so you know it wasn’t gonna be very long until a bunch of geniuses decided that the two could and should be combined. With all the ideas and subjects that could be made into movies it seems logical to use video games as a source. After all a story is already there plus characters and their world also have been established. Of course not every video game could or would translate well to the silver screen so if you’re gonna take the calculated risk of doing so it makes all the sense in the world to choose a hugely known and successful one. Back in 1993 that choice was made and what bigger choice than the one and only Super Mario Bros.? The movie adaptation which was the first widely released movie based on a video game was not necessarily a movie adaptation of the original game of the same name which dropped on the Nintendo Entertainment System back in 1985 but the series itself. By that time 7 Super Mario games spanning multiple systems were already out and had no intention of slowing down. The series was not only popular but was a cash cow spawning everything from toys, a cartoon show and even a breakfast cereal. With that being said I’m gonna talk a bit about the movie itself and a few of the similarities and differences (including character and plot aspects) between it and the video game series it’s adapted from. Ready? Letsa go!
Again Super Mario Bros. the movie adapted aspects from the series and not just the original game pulling ideas from all of the games that existed at the time. Having so much material to work with might sound like a blessing but can in fact complicate the creation of the movie project and on that note the creators knew/found this out and made one hell of a noble effort in creating the final product. Anyone who knows Super Mario Bros. (the games that is) know a ton of the elements that encapsulate them as a whole. The Mario brothers themselves; Mario and Luigi navigate through various fantastical worlds (the most popular being the Mushroom Kingdom) with countless obstacles and challenges avoiding and dispatching enemies along the way to rescue a Princess and face the ultimate foe known as King Koopa aka Bowser. Sure this was the formula for the majority of the SMB games at the time and the movie adapted those aspects along with others that the rest of the games introduced making it into one big bowl of Super Mario stew.
What the writers and creators of the movie came up with was simply outrageous and very bold. Here’s a rough rundown on what the plot entailed. 65 million years in the past a meteorite split the earth into a pair of parallel dimensions. The surviving dinos from the impact escape into the new dimension and eventually evolve into a humanoid race. Fast forward to the late 20th century two plumbers fighting to stay in business known as the Mario Brothers meet an archaeology student named Daisy who is then kidnapped by henchmen under the orders of Dinohattan’s illegitimate leader President “King” Koopa. Daisy then later finds out she’s descended from dinosaurs and the long-lost princess of the other dimension all while the Mario Bros. attempt to rescue her. Did you get all that? As one can see the similarities between the games and the movie are there. We have the brother protagonists who are plumbers, a kidnapped princess, King Koopa and a separate world where the adventures take place. Those aspects being the most important and prolific similarities are in no way the only ones within the movie. There were indeed several others including characters that showed up in the film so letsa talk about them (in no particular order of course).
