“The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” is a fresh take on a classic adventure. Following its predecassor, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” in 2023, this story picks up with the consequences of the first. Spoiler: a tiny Bowser, Princess Peach crush, and a pair of plumbers-turned-heros brothers. Although it’s nice to make these connections between films, the second story is not dependent on the first. Whether it’s your first Mario film or you’ve been following the mustache man for decades, head to Village Theatre, grab your popcorn, and get comfy for a galaxy adventure and beyond.
The film starts with Princess Rosalina reading to tiny lumas, who resemble stars and are her version of children. When there’s a loud noise outside, Princess Rosalina puts down the book and braces for the worst. Outside her home is Bowser Jr., ready to kidnap the princess. While she initially fights back, giving warrior-princess vibes, one of the lumas opens the front door and witnesses the attack, startling Rosalina and leading to both of them being imprisoned. So the adventure begins.
Told in two tales, one of Princess Peach who goes to rescue her sister, and the second of the Mario Bros who are in charge of Princess Peach’s castle while she’s away, “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” is double the fun. The cast of characters from the Nintendo Universe grows to include Yoshi (Donald Glover) and Fox McCloud (Glen Powell), who help on the journey to reunite the sisters. There is a light secondary storyline of parenthood, centered on Bowser’s relationship with his son, Bowser Jr., and the question of whether villains can ever become good.
This film reminds me of “Zootopia 2.” It’s fast-paced fun for all ages, and you don’t need to have seen the first film. As a millennial, I enjoyed the nostalgia of the places the team visited. In particular, the floating battlefields I used to play on as Yoshi in Super Smash Bros. Older Nintendo fans will love the nod to the original 2D Mario side-scrolling game. There were also new Power Ups, such as the fire, ice, and bee versions. As someone who has played these games, I found it fun to see them. For my children, they thought they were the coolest things ever, and it brought even more joy to watch them figure these out for the first time.
There were some laugh-out-loud moments, but it was really a general enjoyment of the film and the nods to the Nintendo universe that made “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” entertaining. While the story literally jumped from place to place, it felt more like an opportunity to explore different characters and backdrops than a need to deepen the story. Enjoy the Easter eggs and stay for Lumalee after the credits with his weird, dark commentary.
Audience opinion
Melyssa (age 5) rates this movie “one hundred stars” on a scale of 1-5. “I loved the blue dress Princess (Rosalina) wore, and when she and Princess Peach did … [spoiler].”
Calliope (age 4) most enjoyed Captain Falcon as a space-loving child.
Greg (age 36) enjoyed that the movie felt like it was for Nintendo fans and didn’t try hard to make it more mainstream.
Movie times: Click here
Genre: Action Epic, Adventure, Computer Animation
Director: Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic
Actors: Chris Pratt, Jack Black, Brie Larson, Charlie Day
Running Time: 1 hour, 38 minutes
Rating: PG for action, mild violence, and rude humor
