Super Mario Bros. Movie Review

A $42 million adventure fantasy based on the popular Nintendo video game. It's not half bad either, despite the Luigi character's having been turned into a twenty-something dude to provide the obligatory romantic interest. The brothers are in hot pursuit of Daisy, a paleontology student who's been abducted to an alternate Manhattan whose inhabitants are descended from dinosaurs. It seems Daisy is actually the princess of this weird world, exiled to Earth as a baby. Koopa, the evil tyrant currently in power, wants her necklace so he can merge the two dimensions. Dennis Hopper is wonderful as Koopa, basically doing a reptilian version of Frank Booth from Blue Velvet. Bob Hoskins makes a fine Mario, enthusiastically partaking in high-tech wizardry and many gags. Crazed rocker Mojo Nixon has a cameo as a street musician named Toad. The movie will please members of its target audience –elementary and junior high kids – though some diehard Nintendo addicts might have some quibbles about the way the game was adapted. Adults should be amused by the performances, special effects, and the cheerfully chaotic story.

1993 (PG) 104m/C Bob Hoskins, John Leguizamo, Samantha Mathis, Fisher Stevens, Richard Edson, Dana Kaminsky, Dennis Hopper, Fiona Shaw, Lance Henriksen; Cameos: Mojo Nixon; D: Rocky Morton, Annabel Jankel; W: Edward Solomon, Parker Bennett, Terry Runte; M: Alan Silvestri. VHS, Beta, LV HPH, BTV, TOU