Timew: 98 Minutes
Age Rating: PG – violence
Cast:
Chris Pratt as Mario
Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach
Charlie Day as Luigi
Jack Black as Bowser
Keegan-Michael Key as Toad
Benny Safdie as Bowser Jr.
Donald Glover as Yoshi
Glen Powell as Fox McCloud
Brie Larson as Princess Rosalina
Director: Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic

I had low expectations going into the previous animated Super Mario Bros movie, and while I wouldn’t say it was good, I think it was actually fine when considering that it’s a Mario animated movie from Illumination studios. I went into its follow up with similar expectations, but it felt like a worse version of that first movie overall.

My actual experience with the Mario games are limited, having only played most of Super Mario Bros 3 when I was younger. But I’m familiar enough with the characters that it wasn’t a problem watching the movie. Despite the sequel getting past the origin story stuff and increasing the scale notably, Galaxy felt quite boring and was even more generic. I don’t remember the previous movie having much depth, but it felt like there was so little of it here. Galaxy’s plot goes by so fast as if it’s in a rush to get to the next set piece, the characterization feels rushed and underdeveloped, the exposition and dialogue weren’t engaging, and it was hard to care what was happening in the movie. It definitely doubles down on the Mario references, I could recognise some aspects like Yoshi being in this movie, but there’s plenty more that I’m sure I missed, and I’m sure the nostalgia will work for some people. The level of humour is about the same as the first movie, not that annoying but never personally funny either. Overall, it’s another average animated movie for kids, and I’m caught between saying that kids deserve better movies and just shrugging and saying “what did I expect from The Super Mario Bros Galaxy Movie?”. That being said; I found the previous movie to be okay, and this is somehow a step down from that. Based on that, Galaxy should’ve been more than what it was.

The voice cast is also a mixed bag. Chris Pratt’s continued the trend of pretty much talking like himself more than actually Mario, and of the returning cast, really only Charlie Day as Luigi and Jack Black as Bowser worked well. The highlights of the new additions were Benny Safdie as Bowser Jr, Donald Glover as Yoshi, and Glen Powell as Fox McCloud. Fox McCloud was such a surprise standout considering he isn’t even a Mario character, but he was so good to the point that I wished the movie focussed more on him. I liked Brie Larson as Rosalina, but the character unfortunately isn’t in the movie that much despite playing a key role in the story.

Directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic return from the first movie for the sequel. The visuals and animation are appealing, maybe even better than in the previous movie. I like the art direction and colour palette, and there are a couple of fun set pieces. Brian Tyler’s score does well at incorporating classic Mario themes here, and I especially liked the lack of needle drops, which were among my biggest annoyances with the last movie.

Despite some nice visuals, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is a dull, bland, and middling animated movie that’s somehow a step down from its passable predecessor.