The as-yet-untitled Super Mario movie will undoubtedly be very different to the recent live-action adaptation of Uncharted, but there are many things that the plumber’s animated debut can learn from the surprise success of Tom Holland’s smash hit. Almost 30 years on from 1993’s Super Mario Bros., the upcoming Mario movie is a collaboration between Nintendo and the animation studio Illumination. The Super Mario movie boasts an all-star voice cast including Chris Pratt as Mario, Charlie Day as Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, and Jack Black as Bowser.

Although Super Mario’s plot is currently being kept secret, there has already been a backlash on Nintendo’s casting announcement and list of characters who are likely to appear in the movie. Uncharted received a similarly frosty reception when the first reports of Holland and Wahlberg’s roles in the film were announced, yet it has since gone on to commercial success despite its poor critical reception. The film received an impressive $44 million at the US box office on its opening weekend – one of the highest ever seen for a video game adaptation.

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Despite the disparity between the two films, there is much that Super Mario can learn from Uncharted. Rather than following the narrative structure of a singular game in the popular series, Uncharted instead stands as a prequel to the videogames, exploring the origins of Nate and Sully’s relationship as they go on a quest to find the lost gold of Ferdinand Magellan. This approach to using an original story set in the video game’s world is a model that should be utilized by the Super Mario movie. Unlike the Uncharted series, the Mario games are not built around strict narratives – the princess is stolen by Bowser, Mario goes through a series of stages to get her back – yet the film would be best to use this narrative only as a framework into which it can put an original plot. Perhaps using characters and iconic locations would be enough of a connection between the Mario movie and games.

While Uncharted was successful, it can also serve as a roadmap of what not to do. For Uncharted, the originality in its characterization of the two heroes, is a lesson that Super Mario would do best to avoid. Fans were disappointed to see how Holland and Wahlberg’s characters differed from the Uncharted games and this is something that Nintendo cannot afford to do with IPs as iconic as the Mario playable characters. If the plot is going to be original, and Super Mario’s announced characters suggest that it will be, then the characterizations need to be consistent with the games in order to root the film in its videogame origins.

These roots to the original video games are what can lead to the film’s ultimate success. Uncharted provides several references to the games that are occasionally distracting but nonetheless serve as nods to those that have prior knowledge of the series. The Mario movie may wish to use a similar formula. Be it a reference to completists collecting all the large coins, or the frequency with which Peach gets captured, the film’s script should not seek to alienate but instead appeal to fans of the series and new audiences alike. By considering what worked and what did not for Uncharted, Super Mario stands a chance of leveling up to match its surprise success.

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