Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 29, 1993 TAG: 9305290254
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: B-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A few individual shots and sequences are interesting in a visual sense, but the story simply doesn't hold together. And the characters have no more depth and believability than . . . well, characters in a video game.
The plot has to do with two Brooklyn plumbers Mario (Bob Hoskins) and Luigi (John Leguizamo) who find themselves trying to rescue a princess named Daisy (Samantha Mathis) in a parallel Brooklyn. (Princess Daisy? Is this a Disney movie or a Judith Krantz novel?)
The other Brooklyn is ruled by King Koopa (Dennis Hopper) who wants to rejoin the two worlds so his people, evolved from lizards, can take over ours. The storyline provides an excuse for a series of car crashes and chases on impressive sets designed by David L. Snyder. Co-directors Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel toss in lots of bells and whistles and effects that are meant to be disgusting. But there's really nothing they or anyone else could have done with this transparent story.
After an unnecessarily slow and complicated introduction, frantic and pointless physical action is the film's sole point. Perhaps there's some hidden level of meaning that game-players understand. If so, they should clue in the rest of the moviegoing public. For the uninitiated, "Super Mario Bros." is a noisy, colorful bore.
Super Mario Bros.: ** A Hollywood Pictures release playing at the Tanglewood Mall and Salem Valley 8. 101 min. Rated PG for violence.
by CNB