I must be the only one who liked that Mario movie. Save for that stupid ending (which I guess they thought were gonna get a sequel). I thought it was pretty imaginative with the whole dino world and mid evolution theme.
And what the hell was the big deal about the Thwomp boots, Fungus, Bob-bombs with Reebok shoes on,
Um references to the game with some tounge in cheek humor added. :P
Really though they tried to stay a bit true to the source (fantasy theme, the heroes being pumbers, power boots, mushrooms, overthrown kingdom, kidnapped princess, Yoshi, Mario facing Koopa….). And it was one of the first movies to play with digital effects. I mean c'mon, at the time they didn't have much to work with. It wasn't like Mortal Kombat which had a story in the game to back it up. They were going off a 2-D game where you basiclly just bop enemies on the head and go after Bowser. If anything it could've turn out like that Masters of the Universe film or worse.
I'll admit the designs for the koopas and the goomba could've had a little more thought put into them and they got a little cheap near the end of the climax (plus SNES super scopes for weapons? They must've been on a limited budget). And yeah I would've liked to see Mario get the girl rather then Luigi (well he did, just not a princess). But overall I thought it was a cool movie with some well thought out parts (the prison scene, the bit in the dance club, that sled escape from Koopa tower) and Dennis Hopper actully did a decent job with what he had to work with. Still thats just my opinion.