'The Super Mario Galaxy Movie' Lacks Star Power
Children have low expectations. Because their brains are underdeveloped, they are mostly drawn to shiny objects. Yet even as I watched my six-year-old niece’s reaction to The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, that sense of awe was missing in her eyes. Her post-review analysis amounted to an unenthusiastic nod when asked whether she liked the movie. She knows many of the references, as I’ve indoctrinated enough of my nostalgic Mario fandom into her. Yet even with all those callbacks to things she knows, a child can tell when the movie lacks a core narrative to sustain their emotional attention. So, if this movie may not work for most of the kiddos, who is it appealing to?
There’s a reason children keep coming back to movies like KPop Demon Hunters or Hoppers. They either have great music or an appealing story anyone can follow, yet it has some meaning behind it. Although the first of these Illumination Studios Mario Movies wasn’t that great, at least it had a more character-driven narrative that centered on the Mario Bros. Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) are struggling middle aged plumberes who still live with their parents. Their motivation throughout the film is to prove they’re valuable people. By the end of the movie, they get their family's approval. Despite getting lost in all of its action scenes, the movie kept the core of the narrative in focus.
Mario Galaxy shifts its themes to Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) and Rosalina (Brie Larson). Peach never knew who her parents were. She was raised by the little floating starchildren from the Mario Galaxy games. Her sense of purpose, or need for a parental figure aren’t examined. I’m fully aware that this is a kids' movie, but there’s a reason people cry at the end of Toy Story 3 or get swept up in How to Train Your Dragon. Although made for kids, those movies still know how to establish relationships and change between their characters. It’s what separates a great animated film from a soulless Minions Studio clone. Whatever feelings Peach could be feeling about her upbringing are left out of the script. As is any character development for Mario.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is a film that’s written by a boardroom of studio heads putting in every discernible highlight from Mario’s long history into one movie. Almost forty years of references are crammed into this film like an overstuffed mystery box. Instead of figuring out why each reference is integral to the story, or at least makes sense within the narrative, everything is used as a cheap distraction from the extremely thin story. The film is so obviously trying to reassure fans that it will never deviate from the source material like the disastrous 90s original did that they stretch the story thinner than Paper Mario. There’s a reason many movies don’t include every story beat from their previous material into one picture. Look no further than Batman v Superman. 90% of this cartoon is wall-to-wall action interspersed with moments of dull humor. When that action is motivated by a fetch quest-like game structure, the action sequences aren’t very exciting.
Structurally, the film is telling its audience, “sorry Mario, the Princess is in another castle.” The movie barely has a plot, which is a shame because it has the potential to go places. It carries the theme of wanting a parent. Whether it be Peach’s lonely past or Bowser Jr.’s (Benny Safdie) need to accomplish his father’s dreams. The formula for a cute little story with a touch of meaning is there. But the ideas are scattered among aimless action meant to keep children’s attention rather than respect their intelligence.
By the movie's finale, everything feels underwhelming. Despite all the shiny colors, this film is missing a soul that could potentially let itself out. The picture is so unoriginal that its funniest bit from the movie is a direct ripoff of the DMV scene from Zootopia. If the goal of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is to get the audience to buy more copies of Mario, then mission accomplished. Instead of watching the movie, folks would be much more enamored by the magic that the Mario Galaxy games can bring to players. In the games, you don’t need a story. In movies, you do, and there’s barely anything here. Just because the Mario movies look right doesn’t mean they feel right. All the eye candy in the world can’t fix a movie that’s missing a heart among studio meddling. For a Mario flick, Mario hardly plays any big role in the movie. He primarily exists in the script to help Peach with her mission.
If there’s one good aspect that can be said about the film (other than the casting and visuals) is that the women aren’t damsels in distress. Peach doesn’t shake in fear, asking for Mario’s help. Although she gets it anyway. Rosalina is a megapowered super being whose magic can tackle gigantic foes. Ironically, they’re cooler than Mario. Despite all the celebrities voicing Nintendo’s beloved characters, there’s just not enough star power in the writer’s room to make The Super Mario Galaxy Movie soar.
