Critics Don’t Like The Super Mario Galaxy Movie! So What?
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie movie is the latest video game adaptation to hit theaters. The film is beloved by audiences earning a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, critics haven’t been as favorable to the film with only a 40% with 149 reviews counted (that score will change when more reviews come in). The discourse and divide between critics and audiences surrounding this film has been very bizarre and weird. Here’s my thoughts!
My Thoughts/Weird Conversations
I think what’s frustrating is that the die hard Super Mario fans are unwilling to accept any sort of criticism related to this film. I find their central argument to be confusing because it makes no sense. The Super Mario fans seem to think that just because it’s an animated movie aimed for children that it gives the movie a hall pass from all criticism of the film which is complete and utter nonsense. A movie doesn’t get a hall pass just because adult critics aren’t the target audience for a movie. If you look at the critics that are negative on the film they’re praising all of the same things that the fans are praising, but criticizing the story and the script which is completely valid. Critics jobs are to CRITICIZE movies and tv shows, it’s literally in their job title to criticize movies. I feel like this is another example of audiences not trusting critics and being overly harsh on time for no reason what so ever.
If you (Mario fans) liked the movie, cool. The movie is designed to be a crowd pleaser for Mario fans filled with easter eggs and cameos, but don’t pretend like this a cinematic masterpiece that doesn’t warrant any sort of criticism. You have to acknowledge that the script and story here aren’t the best. If you love the movie, you should be able to acknowledge the faults, maybe they don’t bother you which is fine but other people are allowed to have their issues with a movie no matter how much you loved the movie.
Similar stuff was happening for the 2023 animated film where people were saying that critics hated the movie and didn’t understand it. The Super Mario Bros Movie has a 59% on Rotten Tomatoes, one percentage away from being fresh. A 59% doesn’t mean that the average critics gave the film a 5.9/10 or a 59/100. Critics are asked the question, do you recommend this movie, yes or no? The 59% on Rotten Tomatoes means that 59% liked the movie and recommended it. The whole narrative about “critics hated the movie” is stupid because it’s false and not true. 59% isn’t a great score, it is rotten but saying that critics hated it is so false.
The craziest aspect about the discourse surrounding The Super Mario Galaxy Movie are people wanting to turn it into a cultural war and tying politics into it. There was a guy on Twitter that said this…
“Now I understand why movie critics hated The Super Mario Galaxy Movie:
- The hero is a straight white man
- Peach and Rosalina are feminine and not lesbians
- There are no-binary or trans characters
- There are no color changes in characters
- There is no woke introduction, just fun for the whole family, especially for kids
So this guy was trying to turn this whole narrative surrounding The Super Mario Galaxy Movie into this cultural war indicating that critics only like movies that have some of LGBTQ+ representation in here which is even more stupid. The problem with modern day Twitter and social media is that I don’t know if they’re joking or not. They could very easily have been joking about this but at the same time they’ve could been dead serious. This is the ridiculousness of film discourse on social media that they’re trying to paint it as a cultural war, which it’s not.
Another guy posted a picture that said “F**k Movie Critics. Ignore what these negative people say. They just never played a video game in their shitty childhood. That’s all, thank you!” I find that statement to once again be so stupid and utter nonsense. They’re praising all of the same elements that you are but criticizing the story. That's totally valid and reasonably responsible to this film but critics and even audience members are being attacked if they say even the slightest word of criticism about the film, that’s ridiculous. If you’re reasonable to somebody not liking the film’s story is “well the video games don’t have a plot.” Right, but video games are a completely different medium than movies. Video games don’t need a plot to work. Mario Kart doesn’t have a plot, it's just you racing other Mario characters for fun. But a movie needs a plot to work. If your movie doesn’t have a plot that compels the audience then it’s not a good movie. My big frustration with The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is that it didn’t have a plot, it was just a string of scenes strung together to make a 90 film.
Comments