Easily the best video game adaptation I’ve seen, which I know is not a very high bar to beat. Personally, after watching a 3 hour briefest called Avatar 2, I found the pacing perfect. Mario loves to hop, sprint, and fly through his levels and that was the kinetic energy I felt from this movie.
If they really wanted to they could have slowed down many parts, like him running the training gauntlet. The quick nature of the editing actually made the depth of his suffering that much more palpable. There are implied moments of time duration that serve not only as an abridged look at his growth, but also carry much more humor than watching the same exact run 15 times.
I also thought the existential crisis of the chipper sounding luma was unexpected and also added a heavy weight to the story that didn’t need to be there, but I was glad to see. While many animated movies tend towards the raunchy to make the adults laugh, Mario Movie went high brow and a little “Waiting for Godot.”
One thing is for certain: I am beyond excited at the prospect of seeing other films from Nintendo (with Illumination or from other live action studios). We are finally in a time where the movie industry can treat these IPs with the dignity they deserve and having a fun respite from the MCU is welcome indeed.