The Super Mario Galaxy Movie tests the audience with the limits of brand loyalty
Courtesy Universal Pictures
Movie sequels are often guilty of diminishing returns, but never more than when they’re following a movie that made a ton of money, but wasn’t very good to begin with. Case in point: The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, which (much like the original), mistakes Nintendo brand loyalty for an actual story and characters.
For anyone lucky enough to have missed 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie, events saw New York plumber brothers Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) falling into a warp pipe and winding up in the Mushroom Kingdom. There, they helped Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) thwart that dastardly Bowser (Jack Black), who wanted to force her to marry him.
The new movie picks up shortly following the last one, with Mario and Luigi still being heroes everywhere they’re needed. Meanwhile, Peach is having an identity crisis as the Mushroom Kingdom is bustling for her birthday celebration, which is actually the day the Toads found her and took her in. Just as she’s about to slide into depression, everything is interrupted by a message that Mario and Luigi need Peach’s help to save the kidnapped Princess Rosalina (Brie Larson), who has fallen into the clutches of Bowser Jr. (Benny Safdie).
For all intents and purposes, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is a giant ad for the games, with little regard for actual plot.
The pacing feels slapdash at best and dizzying at worst. Numerous times, the screen shifts to a 2D pixelated view, because that’s how the older games looked. Characters betray their established rehabilitation or values for seemingly no reason. None of this is explained; it just happens, and you accept it.
Beneath the numerous references and consistent winks exists the potential for something commendable. Princess Peach and Princess Rosalina consistently display resilience, bravado, and sheer badassery. Sadly, any legitimate character moments are few and far between, outnumbered by a cacophony of distractions.
The Super Mario movies do seem like they could be much better with just a little care. There’s even a precedent for that. Consider, for example, the Sonic the Hedgehog movies. Sure, there are numerous callbacks, but they’re organic and engaging, incorporated into the story rather than being there just to point at. They aren’t perfect, but the focus is still a coherent story about family and growth, which is more than the mustachioed block-breaking brothers seem capable of.
A film like The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is made in a way that aims to be critic-proof. “It’s for kids,” you may cry, “Why are you being so harsh?“ This is still a movie (in the loosest of terms) and should be held to a standard. We’re spending more than we ever have before on movie tickets, so you (and yes, your kids) deserve something that’s worth your money and time. If you must, maybe wait a few months to watch it at home when you remember you never cancelled your Peacock subscription.
Even then, the price might still be too high.
