The Super Mario Brothers film, also known as Super Mario Bro, is full of adventure and comedy. It is based on the Mario game series that was developed by Nintendo. It was written by a team consisting of Terry Runte`, Ed Solomon, and Parker Bennett. Similarly, it was directed by a couple-Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel. Walt Disney Studios made the film public with the assistance of Hollywood Pictures.
The idea to produce it was first suggested by Rolland Joffe`. Barry Morrow wrote the first screenplay to catch a fantastic combination of images and several other inputs. In his story, Mario and Luigi go on a road trip that is similar to the Rain Man film. However, Tom S. Parker and Jim Jennewein were other screenwriters that viewed things from a different perspective. Instead of using fairy tales, they decide to focus more on the relationship between the two brothers.
The film had a comedy and dark and weird nature like the Ghostbusters produced in 1984. The Wizard of Oz also inspired the setting of the Super Mario Brothers. Several elements were drawn from the game, and others from fairy tales and American culture. The production of the film also led to the discovery of various methods of producing films.
Despite the amazing special effects and the actors’ excellent performances, the Super Mario Bros. film was a failure upon the first release. The film had an inconsistent tone, confusion in the narrative, and no similarities with the original game. As per Shigeru Miyamoto, Mario’s creator, “the failure was because the creators tried too hard to copy the game, instead of focusing on producing a better film than the game.”
The Plot of the Super Mario Brothers
The story sets off with two main characters, Leguizamo and Bob Hoskins as the Mario brothers. Named as Mario and Luigi, they begin their adventure to rescue Samantha Mathis, who plays the role of Princess Daisy. She is trapped in a parallel world, ruled by a wicked President Koopa. Dennis Hopper plays a ruthless character.
It goes back to approximately 65 million years ago when a meteorite falls on Earth. Several dinosaurs were killed, and the universe was divided into two dimensions. The dinosaurs that survived left their land and settled and evolved in a new and safer dimension. Presently, a mysterious woman leaves an egg and a rock at an orphanage. In an attempt to flee, King Koopa ambushes her and demands to know where the rock is. Massive rocks fall on the woman, and the egg hatches into a baby girl.
Twenty years down the line, Mario and Luigi arise. The two brothers live in Brooklyn, New York, as plumbers. Their business is at stake because the Scapelli Construction Company wants to drive them out. Luigi falls in love with Daisy, who attends school at NYU. He meets her while she is looking for dinosaur bones under the Brooklyn Bridge. After their first date, they go back to the bridge to find two men from Scapelli Company breaking the water pipes. The Mario brothers try to repair the broken pipes. But, they are attacked by Koopa’s henchmen, Spike and Iggy. Koopa’s cousins kidnap Daisy. Mario and Luigi pursue the bad men and end up in Dinohattan.
Later on, Koopa’s henchmen notice that they had forgotten to carry along Daisy’s rock. It was the meteorite piece that the wicked president has been trying to get. Once he lays hands on the fragment, he will be able to merge his world with that of humans. It is then discovered that Daisy is the princess who got lost in the other dimension a long time ago. In essence, Koopa defeated her father, who was the King at the time. He turned him into fungus, and the Queen fled with the Princess to Brooklyn. The portal remained closed for a long time until Scapelli’s men blasted the cave. They reopened it, and Koopa saw another opportunity for merging the two worlds to dictate both.
Koopa decides to make his henchmen more intelligent. He subjects Spike and Iggy to one of his experiments. However, they realize his wicked intentions and opt to work with Mario and Luigi. Daisy is taken to meet Yoshi in the Koopa-Tower, located in a desert. As Koopa believed that she was the only one with the royal heritage to merge the two dimensions, he tells her that she is a descendant of dinosaurs. Eventually, Mario and Luigi meet Toad, a guitarist. He was transformed into a Goomba as a form of punishment. With his help, the Mario brothers manage to rescue Daisy.
Eventually, Koopa manages to combine the two worlds into one. He devolves Scapelli and turns him into a chimpanzee. He then starts to pursue Mario. However, Daisy and Luigi remove the fragment that Koopa put on the meteorite to facilitate the merge. The two worlds separate again. Mario goes after Koopa in Dinohattan. Together with his brother, they blast Koopa and finally defeat him. Koopa is transformed into an angry semi-humanoid Tyrannosaurus. He still tries to kill Mario and Luigi. However, the brothers end the battle ultimately by turning him into an actual Tyrannosaurus, then slime. Daisy’s father is also restored. He continues to rule his kingdom and demands everything under the influence of Koopa to be destroyed.
Luigi confesses his love for Daisy and asks her to accompany him to Brooklyn. She refuses, claiming that she has to stay behind until the destruction done by Koopa is repaired. She also wants to be around his father to make up for the lost time. Luigi kisses her goodbye and returns to Brooklyn with his brother. Daisy continues to watch them walk away until they disappear out of sight. Three weeks down the line, when the Mario brothers are about to have dinner, they watch their story on the news. The anchorman suggests that their bravery demanded more than appraisals. Their name is changed to Super Mario Brothers. In the end, Daisy returns to ask for their help on another mission.