Every nerd conversation eventually wanders into the territory of “who would win in a fight?” Hence the rise of Super Smash Bros. which allows players to take on various Nintendo characters and have them battle it out. There’s a special geeky joy about seeing Donkey Kong mixing it up with a Pokémon, or Mario giving the business to Sonic The Hedgehog. But why relegate that joy to the video game world when you have access to fight choreographers, sound effects boards, and what appears to be a mostly abandoned scenic pass?
Tim Wang pulls double duty as director and “Dark Ness” in this short film which finds him battling it out with “Little Mac” (played by the film’s editor, Joseph Le). The fight choreography is on point, along with the particular noises and moves of each character, including the seemingly fruitless scramble to activate the SmashBall. There are some unfortunate attempts at humor that don’t quite land (fight puns!), but the verisimilitude of the piece is still impressive and the duo’s ability to pull off complex moves is equally cool. Stayed tuned after the video to see the various times the stunt’s didn’t work out as planned.