Last week, Illumination released “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” the sequel to the 2023 film, “Super Mario Bros.” This movie was based on the Nintendo Wii titles: “Super Mario Galaxy” and “Super Mario Galaxy 2” but was filled with countless references to other games and characters in the Nintendo ecosystem. As a long-time fan, I really enjoyed spotting these easter eggs and references, which took me back to my childhood.
The premise of the movie is that Princess Rosalina is stolen and kidnapped by the turtle Bowser Jr., the son of Bowser who was previously captured and shrunk by Mario and Luigi in the prequel. Bowser Jr. captures Rosalina to drain her cosmic powers in order to power his “Boomsday Cannon,” a device capable of destroying the universe. Mario and his crew travel through the cosmos to stop this plan from succeeding. This differs from most Mario games because Princess Peach is usually the one in need of saving.
Let’s start with the highs; The movie was excellently animated with vibrant colors and characters in resolutions we have not seen them in before. This is one of Illumination’s strengths. Along the way, we capture Mario and his large team travelling from their home in the Mushroom Kingdom across starships and galaxies. All these environments and galaxies are brought to life. They are all visually stunning and filled with game references.
Another high in the movie was the soundtrack, something Nintendo always does best. It was filled with orchestral scores referencing and remixing tens of game soundtracks, creating excitement and tension. The highlight of the movie was its artistic elements from its visuals and cinematic soundtracks.
Now let’s talk about the issues with this movie. The plot was very rushed and bloated to fit as much content as possible. The storyline jumped around constantly as the scenery changed repeatedly. It does its job at keeping you engaged from the speed alone, but the plot comes across as weak under any observation. Illumination failed to create any real character development, a consistent theme across their movies. They tried to create some plot from the dynamisms between Mario, Bowser Jr., and Bowser, but they failed to build from that. If you are new to the franchise, I imagine it would be hard to follow what’s going on.
The voice acting cast is filled with big celebrity names that do a sub-par job. Chris Pratt as Mario hardly tries to sound Italian. Hiring more talented voice actors would have made a much better product. Another issue I have is that the film strays too far from the Mario Galaxy games. Tt would’ve benefitted to have more references to these instead of other games.
It is worth acknowledging that this is a “kids” movie meant to make as much money as possible, but it seems like it will not stand the test of time. I think “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” is still a fun movie with good visuals, so it’s worth watching if you are a fan.
Rating: 3/5