“The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” blasts audiences back into the colorful Mario universe, with new adventures and familiar faces. It is the sequel to 2023’s “Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which received mixed reactions upon its release. Some call it a bright compilation of generic clichés. Others, mostly kids and Mario fans, found the many callbacks and the beautiful depictions of the Mario world enjoyable enough.
Regardless of the first film’s overall quality, $1.5 billion is a convincing argument to keep a franchise going. So, with the same cast, crew and production company returning to the helm, are the results the same?
Well, it’s complicated.
On one hand, yes, it is another generic kids film. An hour-and-a-half distraction for kids that is packed full of references for fans to point and gawk at. But on the other hand, this film feels like it doubled every good and bad attribute from the first.
The film follows Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) as they defeat the dreaded Bowser Jr (Benny Safdie) and help Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) save Princess Rosalina (Brie Larson) from Bowser Jr.’s clutches. All the while, Bowser (Jack Black) is trying to break out of his mini prison and rejoin his son, whom he feels he’s neglected over the years.
Not mentioned in this synopsis are Star Fox, Toad, Yoshi, King Wart, Birdo and many others from within and outside of the Mario Saga that the film loves to flaunt.
From this, you start to see where the problems lie.
The movie spends more time showing characters meeting side characters and exploring new worlds than properly building an emotional story.
For example, the movie tries to build on Peach and Mario’s relationship, but then has them separated for most of the runtime. Also, the mystery surrounding Peach and Rosalina is resolved before Peach even finds her, making their “epic” meet-up feel anything but.
Bowser Jr. and Bowser, who are mostly free of the nostalgic burden the rest of the characters are saddled with, are the only ones fleshed out and given any dramatic oxygen.
Bowser being in the middle of a moral conflict gives Black plenty to chew on in the first act. However, the film downgrades him back to a generic villain so they can make more references with him and his son during the climax.
The one redeeming attribute of this film is its animation. The Mario Galaxy games were always visually impressive and the film clearly knows that. It milks every set piece and environment for all its worth and doesn’t let anything, not even basic character arcs, get in the way of its ambitions.
For a film based on an interactive, situation-based game, it feels weird to critique it as being such, since one could argue it’s a more faithful adaptation in that regard. However, the first film at least entertained all of its characters with arcs, even if they were cliche ones. So, a straight beat-for-beat recreation of Mario gameplay this time around feels not only off, but lazy.
Does it work as a distraction for kids under the age of 12? Sure, but so do the games. So treat them to those instead of watching a film recreate them level by level.
