One of the things I love about Youtube is how you can find a real gem on the internet. And you can do it with little effort. From finding new music, to youtubers doing hilarious Let’s Plays or movie reviews and the like, you’ll find everything.
Among a recent find for me was the webseries, Mario Warfare. Under the Beat Down Boogie channel, the series follows the famous plumber and his brother as they fight a very rude invasion by Bowser and company.
This is a fan film based on several properties associated with the Nintendo company. Or at the very least they have been in a Smash Brothers game. Anywho, the series is a true labor of love and it shows throughout the project.
Something I was impressed was the writing in the series. Characters like Mario, Peach and Luigi had more life to them outside of what is seen in their respective games. Let’s be honest, Mario games are not known for hard hitting story lines, and probably never will.
Here there’s death, destruction, blood, and adult humor abound. And it’s great!
Mario is not a man to be trifled with and holds his own in a fight. Luigi, one of my favorite characters, stole more than a few scenes he was in. And it was great to see Peach take on role that didn’t require her to be a damsel in distress.
Fight scenes are well choreographed. And the pacing usually hits the mark. Though there were a couple seemed to draw on longer than the scene required. I still think the first scene with Mario taking on some bad guys was the best of the series. And Toad’s introduction was none too shabby either.
I liked how characters ranging from Link, Ness, Red/Ash, Kirby and others were used in the story that actually worked in the story. They didn’t feel forced and more importantly, it didn’t mess with the pace of the story.
I was also impressed with the cinematography, as most fan made projects tend to suffer from technical limitations. This was rarely an issue for this one, and helps to immerse the audience into the movie.
One issue I did have with the film was the treatment of Peach’s atory arc. While I was thrilled with seeing her being more than a goal for a male lead, I found her arc to being a little stifled near the climax of the film.
We see her go from a proper princess, to a warrior trained in combat, to winning the respect of the other protagonists in pugilist combat. She wins their respect by her own skill, which was why I was little bummed when her big fight at the end ends with her being rescued by another character.
It felt anti-climactic, and seemed to undermine her growth as a character, which I loved.
I also loved the music as it didn’t feel like it was hastily thrown together to the lowest bidder.
All in all, this was a web series I really enjoyed watching. Which is a feat since I’ve never been a fan of Mario. If you’re looking for something to watch in lieu of the recent crop of summer flicks, I would highly recommend you check Mario Warfare out.
