Super Mario Galaxy Movie Review | Visuals Shine, But Story Misses the Mark

SALT LAKE CITY, UT (See It or Skip It) – The Super Mario Galaxy Movie sees our heroes Mario and Luigi going where no Plumber has gone before… space. Their mission? To help Princess Peach in her quest to save the galactic Princess Rosalina from Bowser Jr., who is trying to free his father to be the most evil father-son duo in space!

At least… this is what I THINK the movie is about. We also have some new characters like Yoshi (Donald Glover), Starfox (Glen Powell), and a couple that have not already been spoiled by the marketing team.

In my review of the first film, I noted how the simple story and continuous exposition relegated it to a young kids’ movie, and that has not changed here. What has changed is the creativity, the breakaway moments that led to a debut of 83 on the Billboard top 100 list, and most importantly, the heart.

Visually speaking, this is a funfetti cake in space. So many vibrant, varied colors smashed into your face and moving at a TikTok reel pace. The action and animation by far supercede the story and motivations these characters have. The strongest points of the story come from Bowser and Bowser Jr., which, for having so many storylines in a 90-minute runtime, I have to say I’m impressed they were able to make me for a moment care about Bowser’s relationship to lil’ ol’ Jr.

But the thing I hoped for never came. How on earth can you make a sequel to a film with one of the most silly yet inspired hits, “Peaches”, and not even attempt to follow up on that success? Where was the duet with Bowser and Bowser Jr?!

The MVP supporting performance is clearly Yoshi. He has an adorable introduction and is a dynamite and kinda unstoppable force in this. I like that the writers decided to go the way of Groot and keep his word count to just saying “Yoshi”. Sadly, there was not enough time to really flesh him out into an emotional arc like Groot has in the first Guardians of the Galaxy, but that is the bigger issue.

Maybe it’s just not for me, but I grew up playing these games, so shouldn’t it be, even a little? I found myself realizing that “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” could be one of the many new examples of tailored movies for people with short attention spans, and addicted to the algorithms that can only hold their gaze for 1-3 minutes at a time.

This is not acceptable for children’s entertainment to reward addictive brain-rot with a movie dedicated to not teaching kids anything. The first movie had more heart and substance to it, and you can feel its absence. Will it make a boatload of money? Absolutely. But that comes from the promise of the first film, not the substance of the second.

P.S. Yes, there are two post-credit scenes, so be sure to stay after for those.

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