Three years after The Super Mario Bros. Movie gave old and new fans a fun, Easter-egg-filled adventure in the Mushroom Kingdom, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie goes even bigger and delivers another fun roller-coaster ride.
Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) are fully adjusted to life in the Mushroom Kingdom after defeating Bowser (Jack Black) in the first film. When a Luma crashes into the kingdom on Peach’s (Anya Taylor-Joy) birthday, it asks Peach to help rescue its mother, Rosalina (Brie Larson), who was kidnapped by Bowser Jr. (Benny Safdie). Peach and Toad head off into the greater galaxy, leaving Mario and Luigi in charge of the kingdom. When Bowser Jr attacks the Mushroom Kingdom, Luigi, Mario, and their new friend Yoshi (Donald Glover) also find themselves out in the bigger universe along with Bowser (Jack Black), who claims to have reformed himself while in shrunken captivity. The Mario games aren’t really known for their elaborate plots, and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has about as much plot as the game it’s named after. The Rosalina rescue story is just enough motivation to drive everyone to the finale, with plenty of space along the way for set pieces and cameos across the various worlds the gang explores. If you’re a Rosalina fan, she definitely does get short shrift here, as she’s basically just a MacGuffin for the entire film. Peach learns more about her origins, and the relationship between Bowser and Jr. is explored a bit. Still, most fans are probably not heading to this movie for an intricately plotted storyline or in-depth character development.
Galaxy does fix a few issues I had with the first movie, the first being Luigi and Mario being separated for basically the entire film. This time around, they are together for the whole film, which provides plenty of opportunities for fun banter between Chris Pratt and Charlie Day, and Yoshi fits in well with their dynamic, bringing tons of personality despite his limited vocabulary. The other big new addition revealed before the movie is Fox McCloud (Glenn Powell), who I was pleasantly surprised to find was way more than just a random cameo. If you’re a Star Fox fan, you’re going to be extremely excited to see Fox in action and hear big, orchestral versions of classic Star Fox music. Fox hangs around for pretty much the entire second half of the movie, and Powell gives him a fun cockiness that delivers several fun bits and jokes. Speaking of music, the other change I was happy to see was that the needle drops were toned down for Galaxy, compared to the sometimes incongruous, constant licensed music of the first film. Aside from one sequence set to “Hypnotize” by Notorious BIG, the rest of the movie leans into the classic Mario and Star Fox music, reimagined by composer Brian Tyler (there’s a track that switches between Mario and Star Fox music in a sort of mash-up that is definitely one of the highlights). Nintendo has some of the greatest music in video game history, and Universal and Illumination thankfully realized they can lean into that instead of trying to cram a-ha into a scene where it makes no sense.
The movie looks absolutely stunning, and the variety of worlds and places it explores is one of its best parts. There are also some really fun set pieces, like Peach continuing to be a badass and taking on a gang of criminals in a casino or Fox battling Bowser Jr.’s UFO in his Arwing. The backgrounds, much like the first movie, are absolutely jammed with easter eggs, characters, and references to the entire gamut of Mario games. However, this movie seems more focused on the 3D entries, such as Galaxy, Odyssey, and even Sunshine. Outside of Fox, there are several cameos from characters that will definitely excite Nintendo fans and possibly indicate that we’re heading into a Super Smash Bros. movie or a bigger Nintendo Cinematic Universe.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is a ton of fun for both new and longtime Nintendo fans, with gorgeous visuals, entertaining action, and plenty of fan service. It’s clearly not going to win any awards for its plot, but it’s pure popcorn entertainment, and I’m excited to see what else we might get from this Galaxy.
