The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is the original, powered by a superstar. It’s a 100-minute sugar rush that starts at 90mph and barely stops for breath.
The Nintendo and Illumination sequel is a sparkling spectacle that delivers an unapologetically silly and flashy adaptation of its video game namesake, with enjoyable character performances and plenty of nods to Nintendo’s filmic future thrown in.
Not everyone will be pleased with its approach. Largely, the same issues from the first movie remain – notably, the rapid pacing holding together a pretty threadbare plot (though thankfully, no jarring pop music this time) – but that’s unlikely to bother Nintendo diehards and families who go in expecting a fun popcorn film.
The sequel starts with a bang – namely, a Bullet Bill pummelling the entrance of Rosalina (Brie Larson)’s Comet Observatory spaceship, as she’s ambushed by fellow debutant Bowser Jr. (Benny Safdie) at the controls of a hulking Megaleg mech.
The young villain is out to rescue his father, Bowser (Jack Black), who was captured by Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) and the Mario Bros. (Chris Pratt, Charlie Day) at the end of the first film. What follows is essentially a conveyor belt of action sequences, as the Mario Bros. crew and new friends Yoshi (Donald Glover) and Fox McCloud (Glen Powell) traverse the stars in pursuit of the captured Princess.
Galaxy’s runtime contains some heartfelt moments and meaningful implications for Super Mario lore, however, like the first movie, and the Super Mario video games, a weighty plotline is unsurprisingly not the focus here. It’s almost admirable that, despite Bros.’ divisive critic reviews, Illumination has stayed resolute in who these films are for and essentially doubled down on the formula.
The filmmakers expect that most of those sat in the cinema recognise the characters and aren’t bothered about what Lumas are, or why they can spawn star-shaped booster rings. Instead, Illumination embraces the dazzling audio-visual spectacle of the Galaxy series (plus other more recent games in the series) with minimal exposition getting in the way.
And it’s a gorgeous movie to look at. Combined with Brian Tyler’s wonderfully reverential soundtrack, which again hits all the classic Koji Kondo themes, Galaxy is a Nintendo fan’s dream, its every frame blazing with exuberant color and layered with reverence to the plumber’s rich gaming history.
“Illumination embraces the dazzling audio-visual spectacle of the Galaxy series (plus other more recent games in the series) with minimal exposition getting in the way”
The movie’s brisk 100 minutes span the Mushroom Kingdom, spherical Galaxy worlds in the stars, a neon-clad underground labyrinth, and even drop into environments reminiscent of the Odyssey and 3D World games.
It’s helpful that these scenes are populated by a likeable cast who deliver enjoyable performances across the board. I still can’t quite believe Illumination was able to cast Donald Glover as Yoshi, but the character’s physical humour improves every scene he’s in. Similarly, Powell’s Fox is so much fun you won’t care that he’s very clearly been inserted as a cynical setup for a future spin-off (and, that said, it’s disappointing that Nintendo opted to spoil a potentially brilliant surprise, days before the film’s release).
Free of origin exposition, Pratt’s Mario is far less irritable than he could sometimes be in the original, and Jack Black’s Boweser, though not quite reaching the comedic height of Peaches, is a surprisingly layered character, torn between the appearance of his estranged son and unlikely relationships formed since Bros.
It’s just a shame, again, that these moments aren’t quite given time to breathe, because in the rare moments when Galaxy does slow down, it reminds you why, actually, despite these movies catering to families and kids, it’s fair to criticize them for not trying to develop their characters more.
In particular, when they’re allowed to, Anya Taylor-Joy and Brie Larson put in some genuinely heartfelt performances. But as quickly as their characters threaten to develop, they soon make way for another action sequence or gratuitous Nintendo cameo. As much fun as I had with Galaxy, I’d have loved another 15 minutes added to its runtime for these scenes.
However, I genuinely doubt most of the film’s target audience would agree. And that’s the debate at the heart of Nintendo’s cinematic expansion: when they’re this entertaining, this visually stunning, and undeniably authentic to the source material (with influence from the original creators, no less), should the films be criticised for not paying much mind to developing their cinematic language?
The Super Mario games have always been about breathless imagination and kinetic joy. On these frontiers, The Super Mario Galaxy movie delivers.
The Galaxy Movie doesn’t have Pixar-esque ambitions. It’s unashamedly a video game movie that doesn’t trouble itself with catering to audiences unlikely to spot the Nintendo 64 references hidden in its scenery. I would’ve personally liked more narrative depth, but I also don’t think it should be overly pummelled for achieving exactly what it’s set out to do: deliver a sparkling spectacle that channels the joy of the Super Mario video games.
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