The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is another crowd-pleasing film for the popular video game icons. Photo: Universal Studios.
It is incredible to think that the Super Mario Bros have been a part of the pop culture zeitgeist for the past 40 years.
Since 1981, Mario has appeared in more than 250 games, with more than 900 million copies of those games sold.
While the Italian plumber might be justified as the biggest gaming icon of all time, it did take four decades for him to become a movie star too.
Aside from being in one of the worst movies ever put on film in 1993, Mario and Luigi were absent from the big screen until 2023, when they starred in Illumination Studio’s smash box office hit, The Super Mario Bros Movie.
Amassing $1.3 billion and becoming the second-highest grossing movie of 2023, the Mario franchise deserved a second film, and that’s exactly what it has got with the release of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.
With the villainous Bowser still shrunk down following the events of the first film, his son – Bowser Jr – has picked up where he left off by kidnapping the Mother of Stars, Princess Rosalina.
With the distress call sent out, Princess Peach attempts to rescue Rosalina, leaving Mario and Luigi in charge of the Mushroom Kingdom.
Despite their best efforts, the Mario Brothers end up joining Princess Peach in her crusade and, as a result, we have a new movie.
I have to be honest with you all, I love these movies.
Are they cinematic masterpieces? Hell no! But are they 90 minutes of nostalgic fun? Hell yes! So to that, I say, make 100 of these things, and I will see them all.
In terms of animation, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is stunning. The colours pop, the motion is clear, the characters are stylised yet iconic, and the visual gags are funny.
All of these combine to make something very entertaining to look at, at the very least.
The voice actors here, led by the returning Chris Pratt as Mario, Charlie Day as Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach and Jack Black as Boswer are all really solid.
The additions of Benny Safdie as Boswer Jr and Brie Larson as Rosalina are also great additions. Keep your ears open for a surprise from Glen Powell as well.
In terms of story, there is next to nothing here, which is pretty much in line with the games they are adapting.
Essentially, Princess is captured, so our heroes need to rescue her. But, if we are being honest, no-one is watching these movies for a sophisticated and layered narrative.
You come for a family-friendly fun time at the movies to see beloved characters do what made them popular in the first place. In this case, that’s plumbers jumping on turtles to collect stars and coins.
Much like the Sonic the Hedgehog movies, the Super Mario Bros movies know what they are, and because of that, they’re bona fide crowd-pleasers.
Children will eat this up, and parents won’t be bored. For a family movie coming out just before school holidays, that’s about all you can ask for.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is now showing in cinemas across the country.
Original Article published by Jarryd Rowley on Region Canberra.
