Honestly, I think it'd be a bad idea to copy WiR as a movie, and that Mario should be handled in a way that is conventional and timeless, not having to use references from other franchises, more on the Mushroom universe that we know..
Even if the story is average, the most I want is for the film to make a decent to good first impression, as that will get rid of the stink of Video Game Films on that level of context.