There’s been a lot of talk aboutIllumination and Zelda. The animation studio just had a mega hit on its hands withThe Super Mario Bros. Movie, and so with talk of another team up in the works, it made sense thatZeldawas next in line. It’sNintendo’snext most recognisable mascot (given thatPokemonis owned jointly with Game Freak and The Pokemon Company), and even after decades of pop culture dominance is at its peak right now after following upBreath of the WildwithTears of the Kingdom. As soon as a Zelda movie was suggested by the aether, it was shot down by the fans. I’m with them - Zelda x Illumination is a terrible idea. But Nintendo x Illumination could be great.
Zelda is a slow, soulful experience where everything is contemplative and methodical, where you solve puzzles and experience events in your own way at your own time. It’s a more ethereal journey than Mario, and as a result has no place fitting with Illumination’s house style. But Zelda is the exception to Nintendo’s catalogue, not the rule.
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Illumination teaming up with Nintendo is not just a question of Zelda. TheMariomovie was not universally beloved, and the prospect of getting a) more movies like it, or b) another cinematic universe right at the point when we’re getting sick of them might not be that appealing to many of you. That’s understandable. But a sequel at the very least is inevitable. With a billion dollar gross, a credits tease for Yoshi, and the absence of some keycharacters like Daisy,Wario, and Bowsette (Chris Pratt and Charlie Day already signed my petition), we’re getting Mario 2 sooner rather than later.
If you don’t like The Super Mario Bros. Movie, then you probably don’t care for the rest of Illumination’s work either. In that case, the studio working on Zelda isn’t the complaint - it’s the studio working on anything. And after making $1 billion, it’s going to make something again. It’s going to make lots of things. Nintendo could do a lot worse than a studio with a fast turnaround pace, strong box office record, and only one real dud (The Grinch, with an asterisk by The Lorax) in its catalogue.
I liked The Super Mario Bros. Movie enough, but there were still parts of Illumination’s plot-light, needle drop-heavy stylings that didn’t work for me. Elongated set pieces, limited character development, and Take On Me blasting during aMario Kartmontage were all very typical of Illumination’s work. If you’re a major Nintendo fan who found the Mario movie to be ‘only okay’, then I can understand the reluctance to see Illumination take the reins full-time. But you should maybe be honest about what exactly being a Nintendo fan means.
Nintendo is a video game giant with some legendary titles under its roof, but take Zelda out, and are there that many games defined by their plot? Part of the reason Mario had no character development is because it’s not Illumination’s forte, but mostly it’s because Mario has no character development. He never has. All these years later, his most recent game was about rescuing Peach from Bowser. With Bowser wanting to get married and Peach striking out on her own, those two developed more than our hero - and even then, barely.
Luigi’s Mansionwould be my next bet after Mario 2, and that’s not a game where fans will be demanding that all the rich plot beats be honoured. Put Luigi in a castle, make it scary but also funny. Job done. Same with aDonkey Kongadaptation. Even with Pokemon,Detective Pikachuis maybe the most plot-driven story of any game in the series, and there’s a lot of room for Illumination’s style. We’ve hadover 20 Pokemon movies following Ash’s melodramatic, Legendary driven arcs, so a movie that matches the more casual flow of the games might be a good fit.
I’m reluctant to fully go to bat for Illumination, because I think ‘only okay’ is its ceiling and I’m all for different studios with fresh ideas over a conglomerated cinematic universe. But ‘only okay’ is, like it or not, also a common threshold for Nintendo storytelling. Nintendo and Illumination are made for each other, and with the first attempt grossing $1 billion, it will be hard to find any decision makers who disagree.
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