Because of that, I thought it would be interesting to cut the movie a little bit to try to get it a little more serious and dark. There are quite a few sound effects, shots, scenes, and lines of dialogue that are pretty cheesy and unnecessary, so I feel removing them would streamline the movie and leave for a more serious experience. However, being here on this forum has shone the movie to me in a new light, leaving me unsure what would truly be an improvement if removed. I initially wanted to swap out the soundtrack entirely, but now I feel it's just fine. I also wanted to remove as much references to de-evolution as I could, and change it to "mutating" or some such, but that would be far too difficult, so I resolved to handle that in a different way. Here's a list of cuts I made and why, so feel free to point out if you agree or if you think it should stay in.
- 1.) Remove the god-awful animated-opening prologue, replacing it with a simple black screen showing the cast-credits, which then fades into the first scene of Daisy's mother. This allows us to figure things out on our own rather than being told, and starts the movie off on a more dark mood.
2.) Cut the driver saying "Hey lady!" when he almost hits Daisy's mother. Silence makes the mood more effective.
3.) Cut the ominous 'Duhh" sound on Koopa stepping out from the shadows, which is a bit comic. Silence, again, makes the mood more effective.
4.) Remove the shine effect of the crystal shard, replacing it with a more traditional fade-in to the present. It's just cheesy.
4.) Cut directly to the shot of people walking on the street. The skyline view of New York is unnecessary.
5.) Shorten the shot at the beginning of the movie where the host of Our Miraculous World is speaking to the person claiming to have visited another world. The person's facial expression and the way he speaks make him seem to be kinda white-trashy, so I clipped right before it shows him. This makes it less of a joke, and by shortening the shot, provides for more subtle foreshadowing of parallel dimensions.
6.) Remove Mario's dialogue as he and Luigi drive to the job. This probably takes place five to ten minutes after Luigi talking about "believing" in their house, so why is he just now responding?
7.) I wanted to make Iggy and Spike seem more intelligent and dangerous, so I thought I'd remove the entire scene of Iggy following Daisy, only to hit his head on the glass panel. This is pretty slapstick and does nothing, so removing it and having Daisy look back at them in the car makes it seem like they never left it, and were biding their time. More sinister this way, I think. Unfortunately, removing most of that scene left the shots from Mario telling Luigi to check their messages and then Mario walking into the story too much of a jump, so I thought I'd move Iggy and Spike's introduction between these two shots as a replacement for the slapstick scene. It works, but I'm not entirely sure if the pacing will be thrown, and they should keep where they were. A fair compromise is leaving the scene as-is, but at least removing the part where Spike is creeping behind, stopping beside the building. It comes out of nowhere, ruins the pacing, and he's right back at the car afterward. Makes no sense... Any thoughts on how to handle this?
8.) I'd like removing the bit about Luigi sucking his own thumb to make him more serious, but it doesn't mesh well with the soundtrack. Might as well leave it.
9.) Cut the final shot of Mario and Daniella grinning at each other over having "hooked up" Luigi and Daisy. Transitions directly to Mario and Daniella leaving the restaurant. Thought it'd make the scene a little more on Luigi's side, so Mario doesn't have to baby him entirely. Transitioned perfectly, no pacing issues.
10.) Remove Iggy saying his own name when Spike wakes him up in the car. It's really quiet, and I have no idea why he's saying his own name. Shouldn't it be Spike? It's also really quick, so seems almost like it was inserted after.
11.) When Daisy is forced into the holding-cell with the missing Brooklyn girls, she and Daniella say each others names. A lot. Cut the last "Daniella", which is almost a sigh.
12.) I kinda wanted to remove the entire jail-prep scene, transitioning directly from Mario and Luigi at the check-in counter to them in lock-up. The transition works well, but it's a lot to cut. I just felt it was a bit too slapstick, what with them being hurried around, being poured water on and "shot". It's not really necessary, but what do you guys think?
13.) When Koopa orders Toad de-evolved, cut the shot of him saying "See you later, alligator." It transitions really well, and makes Koopa seem more evil. However, it does make Mario and Luigi's quip at the end of the movie upon de-evolving Koopa come out of nowhere, but it's not entirely "Huh?"
14.) Also, remove the computer speaking in that cheesy voice. Make the scene more serious with silence.
15.) When Mario and Luigi escape and steal the police car, there's the short scene where Luigi is confused about "aliens" being on the loose. It makes him seem a little dumb, and really ruins the pacing of the supposed chase-scene. It's just a needless little joke. Cut it.
16.) Remove the short scene of Koopa asking what humans evolve from. Unnecessary, and really cheesy.
17.) When Koopa orders Iggy and Spike evolved, there's a shot of the machine-operator smiling and twisting the knob, the computer saying "Advanced". If the machine-operator is so sadistic, as he smiles when Toad was de-evolved, why is he smiling now? Also, why would Spike be so surprised after hearing it say that? Remove that shot, thus making the evolution a surprise for both Spike and us.
18. When Mario and Luigi have Iggy and Spike tied up, they turn their heads in rapid-succession, which is really goofy. I managed to clip enough frames so that they don't do that at all. It turned out surprisingly well, but could use some work.
19.) In the night club, remove the "whooon" sound effect when the crystal is thrown about. Really cheesy. Also, remove the worm screaming when Lena downs her drink. Really cheesy.
20.) Shorten the scene when Mario and Luigi escape from the elevator by making the Goombas dance. It ruins the pacing of the movie, so I very easily cut right as Luigi pulls his leg in, returning us to Daisy running down the hall. Worked well.
21.) Cut the shining sound made when the police officer presents Koopa with with crystal.
22.) The chase scene in the iced-out pipe was fine, but it turned into a really bad joke when the Goomba rides the other Goomba as a sled. The scene also had a "This is slow" feeling to it, so I cut out the Goombas after Mario wrenches them, thus removing the joke and making the scene seem faster.
23.) Cut the shining sound as the crystal falls and Lena tries to catch it.
24.) Remove the shot of Lena screaming maniacally as she runs down the tunnel. She just seems insane. I know she's supposed to be mad with power, but ultimately she's a woman-scorned by her love, so the shot makes her less sympathetic.
25.) Cut the joke Luigi makes when Lena is electrified and burned to the chamber-wall. Makes him seem really insensitive, as well as meshes badly with his facial expression in the next shot when he legitimately looks horrified.
26.) After Mario winds the Bob-omb, it falls down through a crack and Koopa, unseen, says "Failed again, monkey." (or something like that). It's just really cheesy and ruins the suspense, plus it doesn't mesh well with the next shot where we actually do see Koopa, and he just then grins. The grin itself serves its purpose, so cut the dialogue.
27.) I wanted to do away with the Koopa-de-evolving-Scapelli scene altogether, but it presented a continuity problem by making Mario suddenly on the ground holding the mushroom, as well as making the scene too short. A fair compromise would be at least removing everyone in the crowd laughing at a horrible thing... Thoughts?
28.) When the Bob-omb blasts Koopa into the Clown Car-platform, there's a shot inserted in the middle of his fall that makes it seem like he won't really land in it. Remove the shot, restoring his proper trajectory.
And, finally:
- 29.) Remove Mario's dialogue in the meteor-chamber scene, with him telling Luigi Daisy needs to "find where she belongs". This makes Luigi seem more mature in that he makes the decision for himself, as well as makes the scene more focused on him and Daisy.
Also, since it happens at several points throughout the movie, cut all references to Koopa ordering pizza. There unnecessary shots inserted throughout the movie, and I really don't get what the point is.
So, feel free to express your thoughts or give advice. I think this would really transform the film in a way that makes for a more serious and dark viewing, as well as balances the decent-goofiness. Hopefully you all agree.
