“The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” shoots for the stars, but struggles to make its landing: Film Review  – The Prospector

Wahoo! “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” was released on April 1, with the original characters, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser and Toad returning from the first film. While also introducing a new set of characters with an amazing cast such as Rosalina, played by Oscar-winning actress, Brie Larson, the iconic Starfox played by Glen Powell, Bowser Jr. played by Ben Safdie and most surprisingly of all, Yoshi, who is played by Donald Glover known as Grammy Award-winning artist, Childish Gambino!  

The film’s story is a sequel to “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” where Mario and Luigi are threatened by Bowser Jr. who wants to take his father, Bowser, back after the infamous brothers have imprisoned him, having Mario and Luigi travel across many galaxies to find Peach while she goes off to rescue Rosalina after being captured by Bowser Jr.  

The film has many memorable moments that Nintendo fans can appreciate, with various cameos in the film (which won’t be spoiled here) and memorable scenes throughout that reference past and current games.  

While the film offers fan service moments, it does take away from the plot and animation itself. The animation is stunning, especially during the moments where the stars, lumas and galaxies are being shown, but the story seems like it’s trying to tell too much without letting it breathe.  

University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) sophomore and longtime Nintendo fan, Ricardo Torres Moreno, found the film nostalgic, but also found the plot struggling to keep itself cohesive.  

“I really liked it,” Torres said. “I think it’s just a matter of nostalgia because that was the very first game I ever played about Mario. However, I noticed that almost at the end it kind of felt that they were rushing to end and wrap things up. And that felt kind of awkward, but it’s good overall.” 

UTEP senior and a Nintendo fan for about 13 years, Jesus Gaddiel Fragoso Vallejo agreed in some respects, but also believes that too much fan service can cause trouble for a film.  

“I think it’s a bad movie if you try to understand the plot, but I think it can be a good movie for kids if you just want to turn off your brain,” Vallejo said. “I think they were just trying to be nostalgic and trying to put a lot of fan service on this movie. They don’t put that much focus on the characters, on developing them and trying to get a story.”  

Personally, as a longtime Nintendo fan, it is a fun movie, with pretty visuals, incredible voice acting (minus Chris Pratt as Mario) and fun references. But it does lack a lot of focus on the story and character development. I mean, why would the film be called “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” if the galaxy references were going to be so minimal and Rosalina would only have less than 11 minutes of screentime? That’s where it mostly falls flat.  

“The Super Mario Galaxy” movie is out now in theatres, with no Yoshi and Luma popcorn buckets in stock near you.  

Aziel Ramos is a contributor and may be reached at [email protected]