Nate At The Movies

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.

I know it’s a bit silly for a 25-year-old father-of-none to be anticipating The Super Mario Galaxy Movie for as long as I have been, but what can I say? I’m a kid at heart, and that includes at the cinema. With the introduction of Rosalina, I would be at the theater opening weekend whether the product was great or terrible, but I was silently hoping that Illumination was going to turn a corner and crank out a really great animated movie. While I didn’t waste my money (it wasn’t my money—Morgan and I took the kids she nannies to see this), it looks like we’ll be waiting on that “really great animated movie” a bit longer.

While I was a big Mario fan as a kid (I still am), I had never actually played Super Mario Galaxy, so I bought it for our Switch a few months ago and have really enjoyed it. I was a bit disappointed with how little this movie adhered to that game’s story, especially when it came to Rosalina. She’s been my favorite Mario character since elementary school, and I didn’t love that she was the character that got sidelined like Luigi did in the first movie. Her misuse was a microcosm of the fan service in this movie. The story was severely overstuffed and didn’t utilize some of its big-ticket names well—Rosalina and Fox. There were a couple fan service moments I enjoyed, like Mr. Game and Watch, but beyond that, the movie left a lot on the table.

As was to be expected with Illumination, the character development was less than stellar. Even with some of the film’s biggest players left out to dry, the ones that were involved didn’t change much. I was surprised by the pure, fatherly turn Bowser took in Act 2, and I was not surprised when the movie ditched that idea 15 minutes later. That was the only real moment of character development, and I know I may sound like a snob for saying that about an animated kids’ movie, but there needs to be something for adults in this besides fan service. Despite some misses in the character department, some new faces did get to shine—like Yoshi and Bowser Jr.—and I think this movie was funnier than the last. “The castle? It died.” Good stuff.

Fortunately, there were plenty of places outside of the story where this movie improved upon the first. The score from Brian Tyler was outstanding yet again, bringing back some of his great themes from the original while tying in iconic tunes from the Super Mario Galaxy soundtrack. The animation was also the best I’ve seen out of Illumination, and not just the traditional 3D sequences. I loved the few times that they got experimental, from Fox’s comic book-anime style introduction to Bowser’s puppets and a more creative utilization of the 2D scroller aesthetic. Both the puppet story scene (and the puppets in the credits) were so cool; I love when big, complacent animation studios try something new! It also felt like the writers were more comfortable getting a bit loony and silly, and the fast-paced, stuffed-to-the-gills story benefitted from some unconventional, wacky humor.

Was The Super Mario Galaxy Movie as bad as the talking heads online were making it out to be? As I should have known, of course not. Was it better than the first movie? Sadly, I don’t think so. Maybe if they hadn’t done my girl Rosalina so dirty, they would’ve had a chance. Brian Tyler and the animators can’t do it all for this franchise. With this cinematic universe expected to expand for at least the next decade, some competent writers are going to need to enter the fold. Illumination and Nintendo won’t lose the family audience if the writing doesn’t improve, but they’ll lose me and the rest of the nostalgic Gen Zers and Millennials. For now, I’ll still be seated for these films, if only because Brian Tyler is giving these scores his all, and the animation has surprisingly continued to improve.