The Super Mario Galaxy Movie

Yoshi (Donald Glover), Luigi (Charlie Day) and Mario (Chris Pratt) try to save the Mushroom Kingdom in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (Distributed by Universal Pictures)

Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. series has succeeded with several generations of gamers, so it is only natural that it would cross over to the big screen (let’s all pretend the disastrous 1993 live-action version never existed). Unsurprisingly, the 2023 animated franchise-starter was a monster hit, earning $1.3 billion worldwide, creating the promise of an entire Nintendo Cinematic Universe in the process. Instead of mining some of their other properties, Illumination has followed that up with a sequel, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie was a totally fine family comedy that gave fans everything they wanted and that’s basically it. It used a logical backstory, paired with a simple plot about brotherly love, as a backdrop for tons of references and an introduction of many beloved characters. It was a mildly fun and amusing adaptation. For an encore, Galaxy packs in even more references, jettisoning any semblance of a story to make space for as much as possible. Calling this thin is a massive understatement.

There is also far less world-building, despite taking the Princess, Toad and the brothers to new places. There are quite a few sequences designed to look like a videogame, which is funny the first time, then comes off as very lazy the more it is done. This is the perfect definition of a product, even moreso than its predecessor. It exists so that consumers can spend money on things that have Nintendo stamped on it. Even the animation is dully unimpressive. That doesn’t, in and of itself, make it bad. But a product doesn’t have to be this hollow and soulless to achieve that goal.

Princess Rosalina (Brie Larson)

Mario and Luigi are living it up in the Mushroom Kingdom when Bowser Jr. appears, seeking to rescue his dad. Now they and their friends must go on an adventure to protect their land and save another princess.

Kids (possibly some adults, too) will mostly be interested in the characters who are brought into the action this time. In addition to Bowser Jr., Yoshi and Rosalina become main parts of the story. That’s not even mentioning the plethora of cameos. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (90 minutes, plus mid/post credit scenes) is so full of them that it feels very likely that the primary reason this was made was to put as many different Nintendo IPs on screen as they could. As an example, Yoshi is around for a lot of the movie, yet I can’t remember one notable thing he does. The filmmakers just assume people will be excited to see him, even if he does absolutely nothing entertaining.

That is true of seemingly everything here. If the anticipation surrounding its release is any indication, they’re probably right. This is going to make somewhere in the vicinity of a billion dollars and spawn so many products exactly like this. Perhaps some of their more complex properties will compel them to actually try to put together something engaging (the upcoming live-action Legend of Zelda does offer at least a sliver of hope). Maybe the next one won’t feel as though it is secondary to the title. I’ve heard studios accused of only caring about a release date when they begin work on a new entry in a popular franchise. This is definitely a good illustration of that concept.

2 out of 5

Voice Cast:

Chris Pratt as Mario

Charlie Day as Luigi

Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach

Keegan-Michael Key as Toad

Jack Black as Bowser

Benny Safdie as Bowser Jr.

Brie Larson as Rosalina

Directed by Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic, Pierre Leduc and Fabien Polack

Screenplay by Matthew Fogel