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Going into “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” I had pretty high expectations, considering the first movie, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” was colorful, charming and fun to see on the big screen. Though sadly, I walked away feeling like it missed the mark.
In essence, “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” follows Mario and his friends as they leave the Mushroom Kingdom behind for a much larger, space adventure. Along the way, they encounter new allies, explore different galaxies, and face a growing threat that pushes them far beyond to new enemies that they’ve never dealt with before.
Let’s start with what worked: the movie is stunning to look at. The galaxy setting gave the animation team plenty to play with, and it shows. The coloring is beautiful in every scene, and the environments feel alive and vibrant. There’s a scale to everything that makes the film feel like a huge step up from its predecessor.
Credit must also be given to Glen Powell for his performance as Fox McCloud. His voice stood out to me, carrying many scenes, stealing the show from an equally stacked roster, and confidence and personality that other characters lack. Much of the cast fell flat, including Chris Pratt as Mario, who uses a strange East Coast accent about half the time–the one-liners Pratt delivers also miss the mark every time, a huge step down from his dynamic and expressive voice work in “The Lego Movie.” When Fox was on the screen, I found myself paying more attention. Powell captured McCloud perfectly, successfully bringing the character from the game to the big screen, easily one of the biggest highlights of the film.
Positives aside, the movie’s biggest issue is its overall soullessness. As I rewatched it, through a more critical lens, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was directed by a company rather than a creative voice. Everything feels calculated to be safe, as it’s a basic hero’s journey setup with Mario learning confidence and rescuing Luigi from Bowser. That choice partially makes sense, as Mario is one of the most beloved characters of all time and is a heavily protected IP. But there are still no changes in Mario and Luigi’s characters. I expected more development, but instead, they just moved the characters from scene to scene without any growth, leaving nothing meaningful or memorable behind. It’s polished, but it lacks soul.
In addition, the movie leaned way too heavily on nostalgia. There were so many moments that just felt like they existed just to say, “Hey, remember this from Mario?” instead of putting effort into the already thin plot. At a point, it started to feel like a checklist of recognizable items. For example, the Sand Kingdom from Super Mario Odyssey feels more like a visual callback rather than a meaningful narrative element.
Despite its flaws, I can see why the movie works for many others. I think it was a hit with parents and children. It’s easy to watch, nothing is offensive, and it delivers enough action and beautiful animation to keep audiences engaged. But that’s part of the problem. It plays things so safe that it ends up just feeling tired. All style, no substance.
Overall, I don’t think “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” is terrible, but I do think it’s forgettable. A good 2.5 out of 5. The animation and visuals are stunning, and Powell’s performance stands out, but I was hoping for just a little bit more development and more personality. Instead, the movie looked great but had no impact.
