More Like Two-bit
It’s getting really tiring whining about the same old sequel issues in bulletproof IP but if the kids have fun…
The Super Mario Galaxy MOvie
Directors: Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic • Writer: Matthew Fogel, based on the games by Nintendo
Starring [English]: Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key
USA • 1hr 38mins
Opens Hong Kong April 1 • I
Grade: C+
I’ve made my share of nonsense, genius and boneheaded statements in these pages, but one thing I can never be accused of is not knowing my place (not like that). As a fully grown person as well as a non-Mario gamer, my opinion of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, the sequel to 2023’s US$1.3 billion (!) grossing The Super Mario Bros. Movie, the movie no one wanted but evidently everyone wanted, is 100% irrelevant. Cursed as it was with the The Worst Chris, Pratt, the first film stuck to the charming 8- to 64-bit graphics (in a super-high tech way) and leaned into the long-running game’s lore while never talking down to legacy gamers and younger audiences gripped by the bright, shiny images. It wasn’t revolutionary but it bridged the gap between die-hards and newbies and everyone came away entertained.
So just like any billion-dollar IP and in true sequel fashion, Galaxy Movie is more of the same (on meth) with less of the charm. This even as Pratt isn’t a focal point this time. I know. Mario sidelined in his own movie. But that’s indicative of Galaxy Movie’s true motives: Expand the story parameters, double down on the worldbuilding, set up the inevitable third entry. That’s cynical Universal/Illumination/Nintendo thinking, but the four (four!) kids in the row beside me DGAF about any of that. They had a good time. Mission accomplished.
Still looks nice
In the “If it ain’t broke…” filmmaking model the writing and directing squad of Matthew Fogel, Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic return for part 2 – really more project managers than filmmakers – adding a retconned (I think, hey I didn’t play but it doesn’t mean I didn’t pay attention to everyone who did) sister for Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy), the sister who dumped her in the Mushroom Kingdom to protect her and the stardust (what now?) they’re made of from Bad Dudes. When Galaxy Movie begins, this sister, Princess Rosalina (Captain Marvel Brie Larson and butt hurt fanboys will start melting down in 3… 2…) is kidnapped away to, I don’t know, Bowserville or something, a spacefaring stronghold where Bowser Junior (director Benny Safdie in a bananas bit of casting) plans on using her in his galactic conquest – right after he busts his dad, Koopa king Bowser (Jack Black), out of ’Shroom jail. Everyone gets jumbled up together when Peach rushes off to save Rosalina with Toad (Keegan-Michael Key), leaving Mario and Luigi (Pratt and Charlie Day) in charge of the castle. It doesn’t go well, and Mario, Luigi and a freed and reformed Bowser wind up following Peach through the Honeyhive kingdom and a casino world on the wretched hive of scum and villainy that is Gateway Galaxy.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is exactly the sequel you’d expect. Weaker storytelling, (marginally) better visuals (good god the re-creation of golden hour light on Tosterena is spectacular) and non-stop movement. Anyone looking forward to more of the same will be tickled, and there are some genuinely funny nuggets along the way anyhow – not including the endless Easter eggs and novel setpieces regular players are going to be watching for. It’s frantic and colourful and predictable, but the cast shows up to do their jobs so it’s yonks more palatable than it could be. Donald Glover is unrecognisable as new addition Yoshi, but Glen Powell is perfect as the Han Solo-ish space pilot Fox McCloud, and my man, Luis Guzmán almost steals the show as Gateway Galaxy gangster Wart. Guzmán is a treasure and he makes every line so casually hilarious you wish he’d come back into the story. This is wholesome, inoffensive, unchallenging entertainment with a ginormous built-in audience and an endless capcity for cultlivating future consumers. I’m tired of hopping up and down about crass content creation rather than filmmaking so I’m not going to bother itemising Galaxy Movie’s busted mechanics, thin characterisations and commodification of an amusing, goofy game about a plumber. That’s not what it’s here for and we all know it.