The Mariofall Protocol (Mighty Cawl review)

From Gnomon Chronicles
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Earliest known poster for The Mariofall Protocol (Mighty Cawl review).

"So falls the house of Mario", a line that haunted Mario fans for years, as it was the line that followed one of the darkest entries in the entire Mario franchise: The Mariofall Protocol.

Itsa Me, Snyderio!

In 2010 Nintendo wanted a reinvention of their brand: gone were the days of colourful mascots and chirp characters; they wanted a new blade of edge brough to their image, and so they brought in the king of dark cinematic reinventions himself: Zack Snyder.

Snyder wanted to tell a new story in the Mario universe; he wasn't interested in the classic "plumber saves Princess" approach. In fact, he went on record saying "this isn't going to be your average Mario flick; I'm going to deconstruct the character to his fundamentals, work out what makes him tick, and then craft a narrative designed to pinpoint every nerve in that system; I'm going to break Mario".

Thus, Snyder set off to work with the animation studio Animal Logic, alongside key animation industry leader Karl Jones and his elite Gnomation studio, to craft this character piece on everyone’s favourite Italian plumber, and ultimately it released to a very mixed reception: some praised it as the next Lego Story, others compared it to Shrek 7. Me? Well, I just think it’s a damn good movie.

So Falls The House Of Mario…

Earliest known poster for The Mariofall Protocol.

The film begins with the final defeat of the legendary tyrant, King Bowser, as Mario finally foils his grand plan to unite the 10 power stars of the divine galaxy, plunging Bowser into the black hole created by his actions. With the Mushroom Kingdom at peace, Mario finally settles down… until a chilling announcement covers the Kingdom, one that would haunt Mario till the very end: the dawn of the Mariofall Protocol.

Bowser JR wants revenge for his Pop’s demise, and has created a grand plan to decimate Mario’s entire life through a series of attacks designed to tear him apart both mentally then physically. He targets his loved ones, destroys key areas in the Mushroom kingdom and gradually ruins Mario's life until the hero is a shell of his former self, and the only two left alive in the Kingdom are Mario and JR, destined for a bloody and tired battle.

Snyder utilises his distinct visual style and penchant for character deconstruction to truly deliver a film that truly hammers the pain down upon Mario fans in a way they didn’t think was possible, leaving toddler's crying and grown men a shell of their former selves. It pushes the limit of video game adaption, and delivers the most bold innovation in the franchise since the critically acclaimed live action movie in the 90s. Whilst it may not have gone down as well as Snyder's Avengers or V For Vendetta, the film has garnered a cult following over the years of Mario fans who yearn for a time where the franchise was willing to innovate in a darker manner…

In the News

Fiction cross-reference

Nonfiction cross-reference

External links

Social media

  • Post @ Twitter (22 April 2023)
Retrieved from "https://gnomonchronicles.com/w/index.php?title=The_Mariofall_Protocol_(Mighty_Cawl_review)&oldid=143078"