2.5 out of 5 power stars (Decent)
I had far more fun than expected in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. Like The Super Mario Bros Movie before it, Galaxy pulsates with dazzling visuals and has plenty of easer eggs for its target audience of game fans and young kids, but this time, a bit more attention is paid to developing some of its characters, it carries a theme of parenthood, and significantly tones down the original’s more irritating aspects. While it won’t win many new converts and suffers from uneven pacing and an overpacked story, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is a slight, yet welcome improvement for its series.
Now that story: Across the galaxy, the Princess Rosalina (Voiced solidly by Brie Larson) is captured by the evil turtle Bowser Jr. (Voiced by Benny Safdie). One of her star children travels to the Mushroom Kingdom seeking the aid of Princess Peach (Voiced by Anya Taylor-Joy) to rescue her. Plumber brothers Mario (Voiced by Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Voiced by Charlie Day) agree to look after the kingdom for her… until Bowser Jr. breaks the door down looking for his pint-sized pop Bowser (Voiced by Jack Black). He fails, but the brothers take pursuit, starting their biggest challenge yet and encountering new friends along the way. Oh, did I mention they picked up a green dinosaur baby called Yoshi (Voiced by Donald Glover)?
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie does something many good sequels do: Move their story and characters forward while addressing the criticisms of what came before. Peach and Bowser get some decent development, I appreciate the commitment to an underlying theme bolstering its story, and the fan service moments and pop songs are better-integrated. The voice cast is once again solid, there are a couple of small quiet moments, and the action sequences have the energy of a kid on Red Bull. It’s overstuffed with characters and some of its story beats are rushed, but I enjoyed how bonkers it went.
Youngsters and Mario fans are still the target demo and the uninitiated will be lost, but I call em as I see em, and I saw a film that improved on what came before without losing what its fans enjoyed last time. While uneven and overstuffed, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is a step in the right direction that promises even cooler things to come. See it if your kids ask or if you enjoyed the last film, and if you didn’t, I’m sure Project Hail Mary is right next door.
Rated PG for Action, Mild Violence, and Rude Humor. There are 2 post-credits scenes