A new parody video reimagines the movie Mad Max: Fury Road, currently showing in theaters, as one of my favorite video games: “Mario Kart.” I thought I knew everything I needed to know about the Mad Max movie series. I was so, so wrong.
As you may (or may not) remember, “Mario Kart” is made up of a variety of characters who race endlessly around whimsical tracks in speeding cars and boats and other vehicles, crashing into each other as often as possible, and speeding dragnet-style across sand dunes, beach shores, industrial zones, mystery golf courses, lakes, lagoons, and anywhere else that looks empty or abandoned to pedestrian life. In other words, “Mario Kart” is set in a very similar environment to that of Mad Max: Fury Road.
The film’s expansive desert habitat — whose varied curves define the hurried paths of dueling villains — pretty much looks like a darker, scarier version of the video game.
Instead of vehicles flying into the air for melodramatic affect, they now collect adorable points:
In the parody video, cute and familiar villains are added into scenes to make sure we don’t forget this is a game:
The parody also recasts the film’s actors as characters in “Mario Kart.” While the video game had no actors, per se, it’s funny to imagine how the game might play out if we replaced the actors in Fury Road with its primary characters.
Mario, played by Tom Hardy, has changed his look quite dramatically:
Princess Peach, played by Charlize Theron, is less peach and more badass:
Koopa Troopa, played by actor Nicholas Hoult, has dramatically changed his look, too:
Watch the full video above.
