Richard Crouse: ‘Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ a chaotic, theme-park-style distraction

Film critic Richard Crouse shares his take on ‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,’ ‘Dead Lover,’ and ‘The Drama.'

Made with Nintendo fans in mind, “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” is a visually spectacular but chaotic, theme-park-style distraction for aficionados that’s light on story but heavy on action.

The last time around, in 2023’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” the evil Koopa king Bowser’s (Jack Black) plan to marry Mushroom Kingdom ruler Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) was thwarted by mustachioed plumbers Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day).

Shrunken down to the size of a small toy by Peach and imprisoned in a jar by Toad (Keegan-Michael Key), Bowser’s reign of terror appears to be over until Bowser Jr. (Benny Safdie), the power-hungry heir to the Koopa throne, kidnaps Princess Rosalina (Brie Larson) in a mission to save his father and restore his family’s power.

“From the ashes of his father’s defeat rises a new conqueror,” he says. “The Bowser name shall be feared once more!”

To prevent the Bowsers from creating cosmic chaos, the brothers team up with Princess Peach, Toad, and a green dinosaur named Yoshi (Donald Glover) on an intergalactic adventure to outwit, outsmart and outplay Bowser Jr.

A blast of colourful pop-art adrenalin for Mario enthusiasts, “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” blazes through its breakneck 95-minute runtime without ever taking its foot off the gas pedal.

Packed with Easter eggs, unexpected cameos, endless merchandizing opportunities and galactic scale nostalgia, it is so overstuffed there’s barely any room to tell an interesting story.

The previous film grossed US$1.36 billion worldwide and is the highest-grossing film based on a video game ever, so a sequel was inevitable, but there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

Even when the unnecessary additions are fun, as it is with the introduction of Fox McCloud (Glen Powell) from “Star Fox,” the superfluous stuff doesn’t add much to the overall effect. Less would have been more.

Pratt, as the titular character, leads a high-energy, all-star voice cast, but it’s Black and Safdie as Bowser and Bowser Jr. who steal every scene they appear in.

They stand out in a sea of characters mouthing forgettable dialogue because the father-and-son duo is given most of the movie’s best lines and shares a tender familial connection that brightens up their scenes.

Not that there’s anything dreary about “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.” It all pops.

But when there are only peaks and no valleys in the storytelling, it becomes overstimulated; all bang and no buck.

Ultimately, “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’s” maximalist approach creates something that feels like a sensory experience, ram packed with IP, rather than a proper movie.

I wasn’t expecting a kid-friendly “Super Mario’s “2001: A Space Odyssey,” but the film’s emphasis on eye candy and Easter eggs over detailed storytelling or character arcs lessens the story’s impact.

It’s family entertainment, intended for younger gamers and nostalgic parents, but just because it’s aimed at the whole family doesn’t mean it can’t level up.

2 Power Stars out of 5