The Super Mario Galaxy Movie

The Super Mario Bros are back in action when a Baby Star falls from the sky, begging for help to save it’s mother from an evil dictator.  It’s a journey that will take Mario, Luigi, Peach and friends both old and new to places once far beyond reach.  Waiting for them is an old enemy looking for revenge and the son he never happened to mention he had.  The Galaxy awaits and its fate rests in the hands of two handy dandy Plumbers.

Making a Super Mario movie should, in theory, be one of the easiest jobs imaginable.  You don’t need a super deep story, just some imaginative action sequences and the most basic of stories and understanding of what makes Mario special, and you have a slam dunk.  The Super Mario Movie understood this assignment and was an absolute blast.  Now we come to it’s much anticipated follow up, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.  Fundamentally, it does everything the first film did but takes things up a notch in terms of scope and spectacle.  Yet despite this, it doesn’t land as good as its predecessor.  Sometimes the movie does somethings right while also overdoing it in other areas, and in some cases not doing enough.  It’s underwhelming to say the least but does that mean it’s bad?
 
So let’s get the positives out of the way first.  After spending more than half the first movie apart, Mario and Luigi are united in shared screentime for much of Mario Galaxy and it’s good to see them play off of each other so naturally.  The addition of Yoshi?  Perfection.  I love how Yoshi is instantly accepted (by almost everyone, Toad’s not happy) cause that’s the way it should be.  Yoshi himself is a lot of fun too from his hilarious backstory to his little Yoshi’s Island segment, one of my personal favorite Mario characters feels right at home in this newly minted animated universe.  Surprisingly, one part I was nervous about when it was announced just days before the movies release, is something I definitely want more of: FOX MCCLOUD!!!  Yep, the Star Fox headliner isnt just here for a cameo and he instantly steals the show thanks to Glenn Powell infusing him with Top Gun level confidence, comedic timing and absolute coolness.  Clearly Fox is here to setup future spin off material but it works.  I want more Star Fox, particularly if we get to hear more of Brian Tyler’s symphonic Star Fox music, man that got me pumped. 
 
The other positives fold in with the negatives however.  For a movie called Mario Galaxy, it feels like the Galaxy part isnt tapped as much as it could be.  We visit one or two worlds when we could have at least glimpsed a good amount more as the group travels across the stars.  I mean sometimes the movie seems more interested in Easter Eggs and spin off teases than the actual story so why not have that mentality populate the galaxy?  The action also goes bigger with its spectacle but that doesn’t make it better, more serviceable than anything else.  As nice as it is to see Peach kicking ass with her parasol, it never meets the same level of fun and brilliance as the Mario Kart Rainbow Road scene from the first movie.  Much of the good action comes in the films last act, that’s where things get really fun with the callbacks and creativity.  Until then though, the action just feels ok, a sentiment that echoes my thoughts on the movie as a whole.
 
And while I said you don’t need a super deep story, I stand by what I said earlier that there’s less emphasis on story and more on Nintendo Easter Eggs.  It doesn’t help that the main reason for Mario’s new quest: Princess Rosalia, is barely in the movie after being hyped heavily in the previews.  Her biggest connection to anyone is through Peach and even they hardly have any screentime.  It’s kind of hard to care about someone we barely know even if theyre a legacy character but that’s something the first film did incredibly well.  Then there’s Bowser, who stole the show in the previous film.  Much of his role sees him bouncing back and forth between being wanting to make amends with Mario while also bonding with his long lost son and the films main antagonist, Bowser Jr.  This has some nice moments between father and son, probably even some of the best character beats in the movie, but also feels undercooked and rushed before ending up exactly where you thought it might end up so why have the redemption attempt in the first place?  I’m not asking for a serious contemplative script on par with Fallout or The Last Of Us but some more quieter character focused moments for our core group of heroes wouldn’t hurt either. 
 
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is a fun but ultimately underwhelming little romp.  When the movie is good, it’s good and there’s so much I want to see explored or expanded upon in future sequels/spin off…mostly Star Fox cause I wanna hear Brian Tyler adapt more Star Fox themes (Man I got pumped when those tunes kicked in).  Some of the Easter Eggs and shoutouts to the overall Mario legacy do get a chuckle or respectful nod but the movie is so focused on both of those aspects it neglects other important elements.  The Galaxy feels underexplored.  New and old characters either get too much or too little to do.  Is it a bad sequel?  No but like I said it’s just not as good as the first.  Hopefully the inevitable Super Mario Movie 3 will be able to fix this films shortcomings and bounce back flying into the cosmos wherever it may be heading (Smash Bros Movie maybe?)
 
6/10