The Super Mario Bros. Movie appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. While attractive, this wasn’t one of the best-looking animated Blu-rays I’ve seen.
Sharpness could be a minor distraction. Though most of the movie displayed solid clarity, a few shots seemed a smidgen soft. These were mild instances, but parts of the image lacked the tightness I expect from Blu-ray.
At least no issues with jaggies or shimmering occurred, and edge haloes were absent. Of course, the image lacked any print flaws, so it remained clean at all times.
Colors became a strong element. The movie went with a somewhat pastel palette – along with heavy orange/red tones in Bowser’s realm - and it displayed consistently vivid hues within its chosen range.
Blacks were dense and tight, and shadows were usually fine, though a few low-light shots seemed a bit dark. Overall, this was a good enough presentation for a “B+”, but that meant the presentation disappointed compared to the usual “A”-level computer animated effort.
As for the movie’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack, it opened up the film in a satisfying manner. Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the mix didn’t give us wall-to-wall theatrics, but it managed to use the spectrum well.
As expected, the film’s action sequences boasted nice breadth and activity, and the street or farm elements created a fine sense of involvement. While the soundscape didn’t stun us on a frequent basis, it provided more than enough to succeed.
Audio quality seemed consistently solid. Speech appeared natural and distinctive, and no edginess or other issues marred the dialogue.
Music sounded warm and full, while effects showed good clarity and accuracy. When necessary, bass response came across as deep and tight. All of this lifted the track to “B+” status.
Despite the movie’s massive success, the Blu-ray comes light on extras. We find four featurettes, and these start with the 18-minute, 26-second Getting to Know the Cast.
This domains splits into eight areas, each of which looks at a specific voice performer. We get notes from writer Matthew Fogel, directors Michael Jelenic and Aaron Horvath, head of story Ed Skudder, editor Eric Osmond, character animator Charlotte Kristof, producer/Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto, CG supervisors David Pelle and Mathieu Le Meur, head of computer graphics Milo Riccarand, and actors Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key, and Seth Rogen.
Across these, we learn about characters and the actors’ performances. Expect roughly 75 percent fluff and 25 percent useful material.
Levelin Up splits into six subsections, all of which occupy a total of 27 minutes, 32 seconds. Across these, we hear from Fogel, Jelenic, Horvath, Kristof, Pratt, Black, Rogen, Skudder, Key, Day, Taylor-Joy, Miyamoto, Osmond, Pelle, Le Meur, Riccarand, production designer Guillaume Aretos, Illumination founder/CEO Chris Meledandri, co-directors Fabien Polack and Pierre Leduc, animation directors Ludovic Roz and Christophe Delisle, Nintendo character designer Shigehisa Nakaue, art director Matthieu Gosselin, composer Brian Tyler, Nintendo composer Koji Kondo, and layout cinematography supervisor Lorenzo Veracini.
“Up” covers the videogames and their adaptation to the screen, story/characters, design and animation, music, sets, and Easter eggs. Like its predecessor, happy talk dominates, with a minority of the program devoted to worthwhile information.
A Field Guide lasts six minutes, 41 seconds and offers Day, Pratt, Key, Black and Rogen.
They give us a general overview of the movie’s characters and situations. It offers some background to explain some aspects of the film.
Finally, Leadership Lessons spans three minutes, seven seconds and presents comments from Taylor-Joy as she discusses the lessons she claims she learned via her performance. This gives us moral notes for kids and nothing more.
The disc concludes with a lyric video for “Peaches” by Jack Black as Bowser. Outside of a novel intro from the actor, this becomes a snoozer.
A smash with audiences, The Super Mario Bros. Movie leaves me cold. Little more than a predictable collection of videogame references, the film lacks creativity and heart. The Blu-ray brings positive picture and audio along with a fluffy collection of supplements. Maybe the inevitable sequel will take better advantage of the possibilities, but this flick flops.
