The Super Mario Galaxy Movie

This movie is way too overstuffed.

I understand the desire for studios to make bigger sequels, but Illumination really filled this movie to the brim. Every single second of this film is packed with a million different things going on at once. And I think there's one clear reason for that: Illumination doesn't trust their audience's attention spans.

Super Mario Galaxy is a children's movie, I understand that, but so are films like Hoppers and Goat. And neither of those movies are as crowded as this one is. Let alone as narratively thin. So I think it's fair to say that, whether it’s made for children or not, Super Mario Galaxy is just a bad film. Period.

Regardless, the basic plot of the film is as follows:

Having thwarted Bowser’s plot to marry Princess Peach, Mario and Luigi must now face Bowser Jr., who is determined to liberate his father from captivity. Princess Peach, meanwhile, goes on a rescue mission across the galaxy, leading the entire gang to explore the cosmos and travel between various different planets.

Now, while this movie may technically be about the Mario Bros, Princess Peach clearly has the more engaging story here. And, given how little development the Mario Brothers have in this story, it's a shame that Peach doesn't act as the main character of this film. Especially since her story involves the introduction of Rosalina - a character who also doesn't get as much screen time as she should. Sure, she makes an incredibly strong impression during the film's opening sequence, but then she gets relegated to being the damsel in distress. Which is disappointing.

Still, Brie Larson does a solid job of bringing the character to life, and she acts as a natural addition to the film's voice cast. Which is more than I can say about Donald Glover's casting as Yoshi. Not that I have anything against it; his inclusion in the movie just feels like a giant troll to me. Because, whether he's doing a perfect Yoshi impression or if his voice has been Yoshi-fied in post-production, he's completely unrecognizable in this role. So I don't really understand why he was casted in the first place.

I will say that Chris Pratt's voice as Mario has grown on me, though. Not that I think it's great, but I do take less issue with it here than I did in the original film. So that's something, I guess. But he still gets outshined by the rest of the cast. Jack Black is perfect as Bowser, after all. As is Charlie Day as Luigi and Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach.

Other additions to the cast include Benny Safdie as Bowser Jr. and Glen Powell as a character that I wasn't expecting to see here. Of course, his role has already been revealed in some of the marketing material, but I'll refrain from spoiling anything in this review. All I'll say is: his character does make the movie feel a bit Star Wars-y. Which is fun.

Still, Powell's character has nothing to do with the story being told, and that goes back to the movie feeling unnecessarily crowded. But I guess, by not introducing the character in his own solo film first, Illumination successfully avoids going the Marvel route with these movies. Does that stop me from wanting an Avengers-style Super Smash Bros film? No, not at all. I just hope that these movies don't run out of steam before then. Because, given how much is stuffed into this movie, I can see Illumination running out of story ideas rather quickly.

I mean, despite being filled to the brim with Easter eggs and references, this movie doesn't have much of a “story” either. Just a series of somewhat entertaining set pieces. And, while it can be fun to watch Mario and the gang traversing across the stars, the film has literally nothing else going for it. There's no style or substance or thematic weight at all. It doesn't even have a meme-worthy song!

But, since the movie did open up this universe, I am curious to see where Illumination will take this franchise. I just hope that the next film will turn out to be better than this one.

Because The Super Mario Galaxy Movie would, unfortunately, not get a recommendation from me.